Febr-«ary 10, 1969
The N.C. Essay
Page 2
"END OF AN ERA”
by David Wood
Last week someone casually ask
ed me in the cafeteria, "Did you
know that Boris Karloff died yester
day?" I froze in my. tracks and my
mouth flew open in disbelief. Not
Karloff. He was immortal, an insti
tution—a legend in his own time.
He was the salt of the three greats:
Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, and Boris
Karloff, and his death brings a mar
velous era to an end.
Chaney died a success, but his
personal life was riddled by heart
break and pain. Lugosi turned to
drugs toward the end of his life and
died a tragic and lonely man.
Lugosi asked to be buried in
CS A
NORTH
CAROLINA
SCHOOL
OF
THE
ARTS
The N. C. ESSAY
STAFF
Editor Tony Senter
Co-editor Lynn Bernhardt
Feature David Voo d
Dance Editor. . . . Sandra WilliconB
Political & Editorial D. Willimason
Design & Layout Tony Senter
Advertising Manager. . Totly Croaker
Art Loma Frady
David Wood
Typists Harold Ingram
Pat Yanaey
Carol Johnson
Staff Kathy Fitzgerald
the Dracula costume, and he was.
His body lay in state as the line of
mourners filed past. The last to
view the body, before the sealing of
the lid hid his face forever, was
Boris Karloff.
Karloff leaned over the ear of
the corpse and whispered: "You're
not putting me on, are you sweetie?"
Monsters never die, you see, only
the men who breathed life into them.
Boris Karloff enjoyed his work,
and was active in movie making until
a year before his death. He was
eighty-one.
I weep for his passing, for
William Henry Pratt, Boris Karloff
was only a stage name, has influ
enced our lives in many ways. We
grew up with the Frankenstein mons
ter, Count Dracula and the Wolfman.
They are as American as apple pie—
and part of the family-every family
The motion picture, Franken
stein, in which Karloff immortaliz
ed himself as the monster became the
most famous horror movie of all time
and revolutionized movie advertising
because Universal sutdies discovered
people could be frightened into buy
ing tickets.
Karloff's passing marks the end
of an era. He was a kind and won
derful man, who except for an ill
ness, would have come to the school
to direct and even act in a play
here— the first year.
So, Boris Karloff—good-bye for
awhile. Good-bye until I catch you
one the late show—Good-bye until I
turn every light off in the house
and like Bill Cosby say: "Yeah!
come on — scare me! Scare me!"
School replaaes Cafeteria Staff
Jirrrny Greenwood (left) and D a vid
Wood (rigth) serve food in the cafe
teria line.
Crafts
Finishes
THRUWAY SHOPPING CENTER LOWER MALL