Vincent Price facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vincent Price
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Price in the film trailer for House on Haunted Hill (1959)
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Vincent Leonard Price Jr.
May 27, 1911 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
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| Died | October 25, 1993 (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
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| Years active | 1935–1993 |
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| Awards | Hollywood Walk of Fame: 2 stars (TV, Film) |
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was a famous American actor. He was also an art historian, art collector, and a great cook. Vincent Price acted on stage, television, and radio. He appeared in more than 100 films. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One star is for his movies and the other is for his TV work.
Price's first movie role was in the comedy Service de Luxe (1938). He became known as a character actor. He appeared in films like The Song of Bernadette (1943) and Laura (1944). He became a well-known horror movie star after his main role in House of Wax (1953). He then starred in many other horror films. These included The Fly (1958) and House on Haunted Hill (1959). He also worked with director Roger Corman on movies based on Edgar Allan Poe's stories. Some of these were House of Usher (1960) and The Pit and the Pendulum (1961). Price also appeared on TV shows, like Batman as the villain Egghead.
In his later years, Price voiced Professor Ratigan in Disney's animated film The Great Mouse Detective (1986). He also appeared in Edward Scissorhands (1990), which was his last movie in theaters. He received many awards for his work in films, especially horror movies. Price narrated several animated films, radio shows, and documentaries. He also did the famous monologue in Michael Jackson's song "Thriller".
Price was also an art collector and an art expert. He had a degree in art history. He gave lectures and wrote books about art. The Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College is named after him. Price was also known for being a great cook.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Vincent Leonard Price Jr. was born on May 27, 1911. He was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He was the youngest of four children. His father, Vincent Leonard Price, was the president of the National Candy Company. His grandfather, Vincent Clarence Price, invented "Dr. Price's Baking Powder." This invention made the family rich.
Price went to the St. Louis Country Day School. In 1933, he graduated from Yale University. He earned a degree in English and studied art history. After teaching for a year, he went to the Courtauld Institute of Art in London. He planned to study fine arts. However, he became interested in theater. He first acted on stage in 1934. His acting career began in London in 1935. He performed with Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre.
In 1936, Price played Prince Albert in the play Victoria Regina. This play starred Helen Hayes as Queen Victoria.
Acting Career
Early Film Roles
Price started his film career as a character actor. His first movie was Service de Luxe (1938). He became well-known in the film Laura (1944). He played different roles, like Joseph Smith in Brigham Young (1940). He also played Vital Dutour in The Song of Bernadette (1943).
Price's first horror movie was Tower of London (1939). He later became very famous for horror films. The next year, he played the main character in The Invisible Man Returns. He also had many villain roles in thrillers. These included The Web (1947) and The Bribe (1949).
Price's first main role was as a con man in The Baron of Arizona (1950). He also played a funny role as a rich businessman in Champagne for Caesar (1950). This was one of his favorite movie roles.
1950s Success
Price was very active in radio. He played the crime-fighter Simon Templar in The Saint from 1947 to 1951. In the 1950s, Price began taking more horror film roles. He had the main role in House of Wax (1953). He played a sculptor who turned people into wax figures. This was the first three-dimensional film to be a top hit that year. His next roles were in The Mad Magician (1954) and the monster movie The Fly (1958). He also starred in its sequel, Return of the Fly (1959).
In the same year, Price starred in two thrillers by director William Castle. These were House on Haunted Hill and The Tingler. He also appeared in the radio drama Three Skeleton Key. This story was about a lighthouse attacked by rats.
Outside of horror, Price played Baka in The Ten Commandments (1956). He also appeared in TV shows like Science Fiction Theatre and Playhouse 90.
1960s Films and TV
In the 1960s, Price had many successful low-budget films. He worked with Roger Corman and American International Pictures (AIP). This started with House of Usher (1960). This movie made over $2 million and led to more films based on Edgar Allan Poe's stories. These included The Pit and the Pendulum (1961) and The Masque of the Red Death (1964). He starred in The Last Man on Earth (1964). He also played witch hunter Matthew Hopkins in Witchfinder General (1968). Price also appeared in comedy films.
In the 1960s, Price became a regular guest on the TV game show Hollywood Squares. He continued to appear on the show in the 1970s.
Price made many guest appearances on TV shows. These included The Red Skelton Show and Get Smart. He had a repeating role in the Batman TV series. He played the villain Egghead from 1966 to 1967. In 1964, he narrated the Tombstone Historama in Tombstone, Arizona.
1970s Projects
In the early 1970s, Price hosted a BBC Radio horror series called The Price of Fear. He also had a small role in the Canadian children's TV show The Hilarious House of Frightenstein (1971). In this show, he recited poems about different characters. He appeared in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971) and its sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972). He also starred in Theatre of Blood (1973).
Price admired the works of Edgar Allan Poe. In 1975, he visited the Edgar Allan Poe Museum in Richmond, Virginia. He recorded dramatic readings of Poe's short stories and poems.
Price reduced his film work after 1975. He did more narration and voice work. He also appeared in commercials for Milton Bradley's Shrunken Head Apple Sculpture.
Price provided a monologue for the Alice Cooper song "Devil's Food" in 1975. He also appeared in the TV special Alice Cooper: The Nightmare. He made guest appearances on Here's Lucy and The Brady Bunch. In October 1976, he was a guest on The Muppet Show.
In 1977, Price began performing as Oscar Wilde in the one-man play Diversions and Delights. He performed this play around the world. His daughter, Victoria Price, said that many people thought this was his best acting performance.
In 1979, Price starred with his wife in the TV series Time Express. He also hosted a TV special called America Screams. He rode on several roller coasters and talked about their history.
Later Career
In 1982, Price narrated Vincent. This was Tim Burton's short film about a boy who imagines he is Vincent Price. That same year, Price provided the spoken part in the Michael Jackson song "Thriller". He also appeared in the British horror film Bloodbath at the House of Death (1983). He was in House of the Long Shadows with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and John Carradine. This was the first time all four actors worked together. One of his last big roles was voicing Professor Ratigan in Walt Disney Pictures' The Great Mouse Detective (1986). This was one of his favorite roles.
From 1981 to 1989, Price hosted the PBS TV series Mystery!. In 1985, he voiced "Vincent Van Ghoul" in The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. He was a lifelong fan of roller coasters. He narrated a 1987 documentary about their history. He also appeared in horror-themed commercials for Tilex bathroom cleaner.
In 1984, Price appeared in Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre. He was the Mirror in "Snow White" and the narrator for "The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers". In 1987, he starred in The Whales of August. His performance earned him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male nomination.
In 1989, Price was added to the St. Louis Walk of Fame. His last important film role was as the inventor in Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands (1990).
In 1990, Price recorded narration for Disneyland Paris's Phantom Manor. Parts of his original narration were restored to the attraction in 2019.
Art and Collecting
Price studied art history at Yale University. He loved art and was a collector. He was a commissioner for the Indian Arts and Crafts Board.
In 1957, Vincent and Mary Grant Price gave 90 pieces from their art collection. They also gave money to start the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College. This was the first "teaching art collection" at a community college in the U.S. They eventually donated about 2,000 pieces. The collection now has over 9,000 pieces.
Price also worked as an art consultant for Sears-Roebuck. From 1962 to 1971, Sears sold the "Vincent Price Collection of Fine Art." They sold about 50,000 art prints to the public. Price chose or ordered works by artists like Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dalí. Price believed that everyone should have access to fine art. His daughter, Victoria, said he saw the Sears deal as a way to "bring art to the American public."
Price had his own large art collection. In 2008, a painting bought for $25 was identified as being from Price's collection. It was painted by Australian artist Grace Cossington Smith. It was later valued at AU$45,000.
Cooking
Price was a gourmet cook. He wrote several cookbooks with his second wife, Mary. Some of their books include:
- A Treasury of Great Recipes (1965)
- Mary and Vincent Price present a National Treasury of Cookery (1967)
- Mary and Vincent Price's Come into the Kitchen Cook Book (1969)
- Cooking Price-Wise with Vincent Price (1971)
Many of their cookbooks stayed in print through the 1970s. Two of their books were reprinted years later. A Treasury of Great Recipes was reprinted in 2015. Mary and Vincent Price's Come into the Kitchen Cook Book was reprinted in 2016.
In the movie "His Kind of Woman", Price has a funny scene where he is holding a duck. He is ready to cook it "soaked in sherry with only salt, sage and pepper."
In 1971, Price hosted his own cooking show on British television. It was called Cooking Price-Wise. Price promoted his cookbooks on many talk shows. On November 21, 1975, he showed how to cook a fish in a dishwasher on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Price also recorded audio cooking lessons. These were called International Cooking Course. He also recorded an audio wine course.
In August 1982, he co-hosted A Taste of China for Thames Television. He also prepared a fish recipe on Wolfgang Puck's Cooking with Wolfgang Puck VHS.
Personal Life
Price was married three times. His first marriage was to actress Edith Barrett in 1938. They had one son, Vincent Barrett Price. They divorced in 1948. Price married Mary Grant in 1949. They had a daughter, Victoria Price, born in 1962. Their marriage lasted until 1973. He married Australian actress Coral Browne in 1974. She had been one of his victims in the movie Theatre of Blood (1973). Their marriage lasted until her death in 1991.
Price was a liberal and spoke out against prejudice. He said that Americans must fight against racial and religious prejudice. He was appointed to the Indian Arts and Crafts Board. He said this was a surprise because he was a Democrat.
Price was very supportive of his daughter. He was also one of the first celebrities to film a public service announcement to help people understand HIV/AIDS.
Death
Price had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and Parkinson's disease. His health problems made it hard to film Edward Scissorhands. He also retired from Mystery! in 1989 because of his illness. He died at age 82 from lung cancer on October 25, 1993. He died at his home in Los Angeles, California. His remains were cremated. His ashes were scattered off Nicholas Canyon Beach in Malibu.
Legacy
The A&E Network aired an episode of Biography after Price's death. It focused on his horror films. Later, A&E made an updated episode called Vincent Price: The Versatile Villain. In 1991, Tim Burton started a documentary about Price called Conversations with Vincent, but it was never finished.
The ZZ Top album Rhythmeen (1996) includes a song called "Vincent Price Blues".
Price was a strong supporter of the Witch's Dungeon Classic Movie Museum in Bristol, Connecticut. The museum has life-sized wax figures of characters from his films. A theater at Price's old school, Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School, is named after him.
Tim Burton directed a short stop-motion film called Vincent as a tribute to Price. Price narrated the film. He was also parodied on Sesame Street and The Simpsons. Bill Hader and other actors have played Price in sketches on Saturday Night Live.
In 1999, Price's daughter, Victoria, published a biography about him. In May 2011, an event celebrated what would have been Price's 100th birthday.
Price was friends with the rock band Deep Purple. In 1975, he appeared on Roger Glover's live album The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast as a narrator. In 2013, Deep Purple released a song called "Vincent Price" dedicated to him. That same year, director John Waters wrote a tribute to Price for Turner Classic Movies.
Filmography
Audio Books
- Price, Vincent (1974). A Graveyard Of Ghost Tales. Caedmon Records (TC 1420) (LP record (57 minutes)).
See also
In Spanish: Vincent Price para niños
