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Vincent Price Biography (1911-)

Born May 27, 1911, in St. Louis, MO; son of Vincent Leonard (a businessman) and Marguerite Cobb (Wilcox) Price; married Edith Barrett, 1938 (divorced); married Mary Grant, 1939 (divorced); married Coral Browne, 1974; children: (first marriage) one son; (second marriage) one daughter. Addresses: OFFICE--315 S. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Full name, Vincent Leonard Price; born May 27, 1911, in St. Louis, MO; died of lung cancer, October 25, 1993, in Los Angeles, CA. Actor, lecturer, and author. Best remembered as the master of horror and suspense for his work in classic films such as Theatre of Blood, The Fly, and Masque of the Red Death, Price devoted nearly sixty years to entertaining the young and old alike. He first began his acting career on stage, performing in dramas like Victoria Regina. He made a similar entree into motion pictures, starring in The House of Seven Gables and The Song of Bernadette. He began his foray into villainous roles as a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater and with films like The House of Wax. During his acting career, Price starred in more than one hundred motion pictures, most recently in Whales of August and Edward Scissorhands. Healso found time to appear in some two thousand television productions, including Night Gallery, Batman, and Mystery. He continued his work on the stage, notably with the one-person-play Diversions and Delights, and even performed in a music video, Michael Jackson's Thriller.

An avid fine art historian and collector, Price served on the boards of various art organizations, including the Archives of American Artists and Center for Arts of Indian Affairs. He was a member of the Fine Arts committee to theWhite House, and he was a frequent lecturer on primitive and modern art, as well as on Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh. Price authored several books on thesubject of art, including The Vincent Price Treasury of American Art and, with his second wife, Mary, The Michelangelo Bible. He also wrote his memoirs in I Like What I Know and Vincent Price: His Movies, His Plays, His Life. Theauthor of The Book of Joe: About a Dog and His Man as well as several cookbooks, he also edited an anthology of stories by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. In 1992 he was awarded the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for life achievement.

Nationality

American

Gender

Male

Birth Details

May 27, 1911

St. Louis, Missouri, United States

Famous Works

• Credits
• STAGE DEBUT--Charles Murdock and the Judge, Chicago, Gate Theatre, London, 1935.
• BROADWAY DEBUT--Prince Albert, Victoria Regina, Broadhurst Theatre, 1935-37.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL STAGE APPEARANCES
• Prince Albert, Victoria Regina and Max, Anatol, both at the Gate Theatre,London, 1935.
• summer stock, 1937, leading roles in: What Every Woman Knows, Elizabeth the Queen, Parnell, The Wild Duck, The Passing of the Third Floor Back, Romance, Eden End, Turandot, and The Lady of La Paz.
• Jean, The Lady Has a Heart, Longacre Theatre, New York City, 1937.
• Master Hammon, The Shoemaker's Holiday, Mercury Theatre, New York City, 1938.
• Hector Hushabye, Heartbreak House, Mercury Theatre, New York City, 1938.
• Reverend William Duke, Outward Bound, Playhouse Theatre, New York City, 1938.
• Saint, Mamba's Daughters, Biltmore Theatre, Los Angeles, 1941.
• Mr. Manningham, Angel Street, John Golden Theatre, New York City, 1941.
• Arthur Winslow, The Winslow Boy, Playhouse Theatre, Las Palmas, CA, 1950.
• unidentified guest, The Cocktail Party, Curran Theatre, San Francisco, 1951.
• Thomas Mendip, The Lady's Not for Burning, La Jolla Playhouse, CA, 1952.
• Duke of Buckingham, Richard III, City Center, New York City, 1953.
• Dr. Nicholas Marsh, Black-Eyed Susan, Playhouse Theatre, New York City, 1954.
• Priam Farel, Darling of the Day, George Abbott Theatre, New York City, 1968.
• the Count, Ardele, Queen's Theatre, London, 1975.
• Fagin, Oliver!, Music Fair Theatre, Dallas, TX, 1976.
• Sebastian Melmoth, Oscar Wilde: Diversions and Delights, Marines MemorialTheatre, San Francisco, 1977, then Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York City, 1978.
• appeared in Night of 100 Stars II, Radio City Music Hall, New York City,1985.
• Also appeared as narrator with various symphony orchestras in the following operas: Moses, Peter and the Wolf, A Lincoln Portrait.
• Credits; MAJOR TOURS
• Goodbye Again, U.S. cities, 1952.
• Devil, Don Juan in Hell, Curran Theatre, San Francisco, Civic Opera House, Chicago, 1952.
• Charley's Aunt, U.S. cities, 1976.
• Sebastian Melmoth, Oscar Wilde: Diversions and Delights, U.S.
• cities, 1977.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL FILM APPEARANCES
• Service de Luxe, Universal, 1938.
• The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Warner Brothers, 1939.
• The Tower of London, Universal, 1939.
• Green Hell, Universal, 1940.
• House of Seven Gables, Universal, 1940.
• The Invisible Man Returns, Universal, 1940.
• The Song of Bernadette, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1943.
• Buffalo Bill, 1944.
• The Eve of St. Mark, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1944.
• Wilson, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1944.
• The Keys of the Kingdom, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1944.
• Laura, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1944.
• A Royal Scandal, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1945.
• Leave Her to Heaven, 1945.
• Dragonwyck, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1946.
• Shock, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1946.
• The Long Night, RKO, 1947.
• Moss Rose, 1947.
• The Web, Universal, 1947.
• The Three Musketeers, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 1948.
• Rogue's Regiment, 1948.
• The Bribe, 1949.
• Bagdad, 1949.
• Baron of Arizona, 1950.
• Curtain Call at Cactus Creek, Universal, 1950.
• Champagne for Caesar, Universal, 1950.
• His Kind of Woman, RKO, 1951.
• Adventures of Captain Fabian, Republic, 1951.
• Las Vegas Story, RKO, 1952.
• House of Wax, Warner Brothers, 1953.
• Dangerous Mission, RKO, 1954.
• Mad Magician, Columbia, 1954.
• Son of Sinbad, RKO, 1955.
• Serenade, Warner Brothers, 1956.
• The Ten Commandments, Paramount, 1957.
• Story of Mankind, Warner Brothers, 1957.
• While the City Sleeps, RKO Radio Pictures, 1958.
• The Fly, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1958.
• The Return of the Fly, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1959.
• The Big Circus, Allied Artists, 1959.
• The Bat, Allied Artists, 1959.
• The Tingler, Columbia, 1959.
• House on Haunted Hill, Allied Artists, 1959.
• House of Usher, American International, 1960.
• The Pit and the Pendulum, American International, 1961.
• Poe's Tales of Terror, American International, 1962.
• The Raven, 1962.
• Confessions of an Opium Eater, Allied Artists, 1962.
• The Tower of London, United Artists, 1962.
• Convicts 4, Allied Artists, 1962.
• The Comedy of Terrors, American International, 1963.
• The Masque of the Red Death, American International, 1964.
• The Last Man in the World, 1964.
• War Gods of the Deep, American International, 1965.
• The Tomb of Ligeia, American International, 1965.
• Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, American International, 1965.
• Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs, American International, 1966.
• The House of 1000 Dolls, American International, 1967.
• The Conqueror Worm, American International, 1968.
• More Dead Than Alive, United Artists, 1969.
• The Oblong Box, American International, 1969.
• Scream and Scream Again, American International, 1970.
• The Abominable Dr. Phibes, American International, 1971.
• Dr. Phibes Rises Again, American International, 1972.
• Theatre of Blood, United Artists, 1973.
• narrated, The Devil's Triangle, Maron, 1974.
• Madhouse, American International, 1974.
• Scavenger Hunt, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1979.
• The House of the Long Shadows, 1983.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL TELEVISION APPEARANCES; SERIES
• Jason, Time Express, CBS, 1979.
• host, Mystery!, PBS, 1979-83.
• Also appeared in over two thousand programs including: "Angel Street," Matinee Theatre, NBC; "The Three Musketeers," Family Classics, CBS; Alfred Hitchcock Presents, CBS; The Man from U.N.C.L.E., NBC; Night Gallery, NBC; The Tonight Show, NBC; The Saint, NBC; CBS Playhouse; The $64,000 Challenge, CBS; Hollywood Squares, NBC.
• Credits; MOVIES
• What's a Nice Girl Like You...?, ABC, 1971.
• Credits; PRINCIPAL RADIO WORK
• Torvald, "A Doll's House," Great Plays, WJZ Radio, 1939.
• The Saint, 1947-50.
• Lux Radio Theatre.
• Writings;BOOKS
• (Author of introduction and catalogue notes) Vincent Price Collects Drawings, Oakland Art Museum, 1957.
• (author of introduction) Drawings of Five Centuries, Santa Barbara Museumof Art, 1959.
• I Like What I Know (autobiography), Doubleday, 1959.
• (with Mary Price) The Book of Joe: About a Dog and His Man, Doubleday, 1961.
• (with Mary Price) Michelangelo Bible, 1964.
• (editor with Chamdler Brossard) Eighteen Best Stories by Edgar Allan Poe,Dell, 1965.
• (with Mary Price) A Treasury of Great Recipes: Famous Specialties of theWorld's Foremost Restaurants Adapted for the American Kitchen, Geis, 1965.
• (author of introduction) Eugene Delacroix, Drawings, Borden, 1966.
• (with Mary Price) Mary and Vincent Price Present a National Treasury of Cookery, Heirloom, 1967.
• (with Mary Price) Mary and Vincent Price's Come into the Kitchen Cookbook: A Collector's Treasury of America's Great Recipes, Stravon, 1969.
• The Vincent Price Treasury of American Art, Country Beautiful, 1972.
• Vincent Price: His Movies, His Plays, His Life, Doubleday, 1978.
• (co-author) The Monsters, 1981.
• Also author of introduction, Nineteenth and Twentieth Century European Master Graphics, Sears Vincent Price Gallery, Chicago.

Further Reference

BOOKS

• Who's Who in America, 48th edition, Marquis, 1994, p. 2773.

PERIODICALS

• Chicago Tribune, October 26, 1993, p. 11.
• Los Angeles Times, October 26, 1993, p. A3.
• New York Times, October 27, 1993, p. D23.
• Times (London), October 27, 1993, p. 19.
• Washington Post, October 27, 1993, p. D4.