Vincent Price

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Vincent Price as Mr. Manningham in the 1942 Broadway production of Angel Street

Vincent Price (born May 27, 1911 in St. Louis , Missouri , † October 25, 1993 in Los Angeles , California ; actually Vincent Leonard Price Jr. ) was an American actor and author . He made a name for himself in particular as an actor in horror films .

Life

Vincent Price with his wife Coral Browne at the 1989 Academy Awards

Vincent Price was the youngest of four children. His father, Vincent Leonard Price Sr., was the president of the National Candy Company, a St. Louis candy factory. The family had become prosperous after his grandfather Vincent Clarence Price invented "Dr. Price's Baking Powder", the American cream of tartar or tartar baking powder (potassium bitartrate). After graduating from St. Louis Country Day School, he began studying English and art history at Yale University in 1929 , where he graduated in 1933. Subsequently, despite his good references, due to the difficult labor market situation during the American economic crisis, he initially worked for a year as a teacher at the Riverdale Country School in New York before the 1.93 meter tall Vincent Price continued his own studies in Europe. In addition to his stay at the Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London , he lived in Frankfurt and Nuremberg for a year to write a doctoral thesis on Albrecht Dürer . Aside from his academic interests, however, he was increasingly drawn to the theater. As early as 1934 he made his first stage experiences at "The Gate Theater Studio" in London with the plays "Chicago" and "Victoria Regina". With the latter piece by Laurence Housman, Price then moved across the Atlantic to debut in the same role as Prince Albert Victor with other ensemble and female lead Queen Victoria played by Helen Hayes on December 26, 1935 at the Broadhurst Theater on Broadway . While guest appearances in other cities were planned for the successful play after two years of performance in New York, Vincent Price stayed there to join the group at Orson Welles ' Mercury Theater . There he met his first wife, fellow actor Edith Barrett, whom he married in 1938.

That same year, Price signed a contract with Universal Pictures , which marked the beginning of his film career. He played his first film role alongside actress Constance Bennett in the screwball comedy "Service de Luxe". After four more films with Universal Pictures, in which Price was rather dissatisfied with the one-dimensionality of the roles offered, he switched to 20th Century Fox in 1940 for a seven-year contract .

In addition to his stage and film presence, he was also known for his distinctive voice , which can not only be heard as the narrator in Michael Jackson's thriller , but also in radio productions (BBC, NBC). Vincent Price played the villain Egghead in the television series Batman in the 1960s . He also wrote some cookery and recipe books . He was a well-known art collector , ran his own gallery and worked as an art expert. In 1974 he got married for the third time after two failed marriages from which two children had descended; for Coral Browne he converted to Catholicism in 1987 . Vincent Price, who also had Parkinson's disease, died of lung cancer on October 25, 1993 . His body was cremated and the ashes scattered off the California coast. As his daughter Victoria reported, the seals played for a long time at the funeral with the actor's straw hat, which had also been thrown into the Pacific , which gave even this memorial service a cheerful note.

Vincent Price was related to the golfer Simeon Price .

Marriages and children

  • 1938–1948 (divorce): Edith Barrett (1907–1977) - son: Vincent Barrett Price (born August 30, 1940)
  • 1949–1973 (divorce): Mary Grant (1917–2002) - daughter: Mary Victoria Price (born April 27, 1962)
  • 1974–1991 (death of wife): Coral Browne (1913–1991)

Movies

first appearances

In 1938 Vincent Price played his first film role as the young inventor Robert Wade in the comedy Service de Luxe . He made his first horror films in the following year. In Tower of London ( The Executioner of London ) he only played a supporting role as Duke of Clarence , who is drowned in a red wine barrel, alongside Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff .

the 1940s

1940 lent Vincent Price his voice to the invisible in the film The Invisible Man Returns ( The Invisible Man Returns ). His face can only be seen briefly at the end of the film, otherwise he is either invisible or bandaged. Price played or spoke a guest appearance in the role of the invisible again in 1948 in the horror comedy Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein ( Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein ).

Vincent Price stopped making horror films until 1953. He played mainly supporting roles, including as a prosecutor Dutour in The Song of Bernadette ( The Song of Bernadette ) on the side of Jennifer Jones , as a bishop in Keys of the Kingdom ( The Keys of the Kingdom ) on the side of Gregory Peck and as cardinal Richelieu in the three Musketeers ( the three Musketeers ) on the side of Lana Turner and Gene Kelly .

Two of his best roles from the 1940s were the playboy Shelby Carpenter in the noir classic Laura (Laura) and the arrogant liege lord Nicolas van Ryn in the dark melodrama White Oleander . There were leading roles for Price during this period a. a. seen in the detective film Shock and in Samuel Fuller's adventure film The Baron of Arizona .

the 1950s

In 1951, Vincent Price appeared as the conceited but likeable film star Mark Cardigan at the side of Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell in the criminal adventure film His Kind of Woman ( A Satan Woman ). The film, and in particular the character played by Vincent Price, were a favorite project of multimillionaire producer Howard Hughes , who was head of the RKO studios at the time. The filming of the film dragged on for over a year because Hughes kept adding new scenes for Price's character, who was originally more of a supporting role.

In 1953 Vincent Price himself became a star, through the role of Henry Jarrod (in the German version Henry Bondi ) in the horror film House of Wax ( Das Kabinett des Professor Bondi ), a remake in 3D of the horror film The Mystery of the Wax Museum (The secret of the wax museum) with Lionel Atwill in the lead role. House of Wax became a huge success and saw regular screenings in cinemas well into the 1980s. A year later, Vincent Price directed The Mad Magician , in which he played Don Gallico , an inventor of magic tricks who murders a magician with the help of a giant circular saw, removes the corpse and assumes the identity of the murdered man.

Vincent Price took a supporting role as a builder Baka in Cecil B. DeMille's biblical film The Ten Commandments ( The Ten Commandments ), in which he, among many other film stars such as Charlton Heston , Yul Brynner and Edward G. Robinson was seen before he his next horror film turned. In The Fly ( The Fly ) he played Francois Delambre , the brother of the inventor André Delambre . André Delambre has constructed a device with which he transports objects and living beings from one place to another. After a self-experiment, the inventor suddenly has the head and arm of a fly. Although Vincent Price did not impersonate the victim or a villain in the film, he is still associated with the film The Fly to this day . In 1985 there was a modernized remake of the material with Jeff Goldblum in the role of the inventor Seth Brundle , whose genes are mixed with those of a fly, whereupon he gradually transforms into such an insect . Price himself thought Goldblum's portrayal was thoroughly successful, but rejected the slime and blood effects of the finale as excessive and untrustworthy.

In 1957, Price took on the role of the devil in Irwin Allen's film The Story of Mankind . There he was an angel's opponent in a tribunal that was supposed to decide the fate of mankind.

Vincent Price then played the eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren in House on Haunted Hill in 1958 , who throws a party in a haunted house while his hated wife tries to murder him. In 1999 came a remake called House on Haunted Hill ( Haunted Hill ) with Geoffrey Rush in the lead role. The character of Frederick Loren was renamed Stephen Price in honor of Vincent Price.

the 1960s

In the 1960s Vincent Price made seven films based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe , directed by B-Movie King Roger Corman . In these films he developed the character of the decadent-mad eccentric, with whom he became a cult star of the horror genre. In the House of Usher ( The Cursed ), he played the sensitive Roderick Usher, the last scion of the old, condemned to extinction family Usher. In Pit and the Pendulum ( The Pendulum of Death ) he played Don Nicholas Medina, who is driven insane by his wife and his family doctor. Tales of Terror ( The Horrible Mr. X ) was an episode film; the three episodes are based on Poe's short stories The Black Cat , Morella and The Valdemar Fall . In the episode on the case Valdemar based, and Basil Rathbone went on in the episode on The Black Cat is based, Peter Lorre .

In The Raven ( The Raven - Duel of the Wizards ) embodied Vincent Price on the side of Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson the sorcerer Doctor Erasmus Craven who fights with the magician Doctor Scarabus who imprisons his wife. In The Haunted Palace (the torture chamber of the witch hunter) he played the warlock Joseph Curwen, who takes possession of the body of his descendant Charles Dexter Ward. The Haunted Palace is actually based on the story The Case of Charles Dexter Ward by the American author HP Lovecraft , but used the title of a poem by Edgar Allan Poe. In Masque of the Red Death ( Satanas - The Castle of the Bloody Beast ) he played Prince Prospero, a decadent nobleman from 11th century Italy . In The Tomb of Ligeia ( The grave of Lygeia ) embodied Vincent Price Englishman Verdon Fell, who is haunted by his dead wife Ligeia. In another film based on a story by Poe by Roger Corman, Premature Burial ( Burial Alive), not Vincent Price, but Ray Milland took the lead role in 1961 - for contractual reasons .

Between the Poe films Vincent Price took over, among others, the role of the Robur in Master of the World ( Robur, the Lord of the seven continents ), a film adaptation of the novel Robur the Conqueror and The Lord of the world of Jules Verne . In addition to Vincent Price, Charles Bronson was also involved. In 1962 Vincent Price entered as Richard III. in a film titled Tower of London ( The mass murderers of London ) on; the role of Richard III. played Basil Rathbone in the 1939 version. He also shot The Comedy of Terrors ( Ruhe Sanft GmbH ) with Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone , a pitch-black comedy about the operators of a funeral home. In 1963 he played the role of the last survivors of an epidemic in The Last Man on Earth , the first film adaptation of Richard Matheson's science fiction -novel I Am Legend ( I am Legend ), by director Sidney Salkow . (Further adaptations: 1971 as The Omega Man ( The Omega Man ) with Charlton Heston in the lead role and 2007 I Am Legend with Will Smith .) In 1966 he played the villain Egghead in the Batman television series, who was mainly on his high forehead and his puns with the words "Ei" and "Egg" could be recognized.

In the late 1960s, Vincent Price made three horror films. In Witchfinder General (The Witch Hunter) he played the ruthless witch hunter Matthew Hopkins. In Cry of the Banshee , he played Lord Edward Whitman, who was cursed by a witch. In The Oblong Box ( The Oblong Box ) he played Julian Markham falling revenge his brother's disfigured victim. In addition to Vincent Price , Christopher Lee also worked on The Oblong Box . Vincent Price also starred in the western More Dead than Alive (Killer Cain) and in the comedy The Trouble with Girls , in which he appeared as Mister Morality alongside Elvis Presley .

the 1970s

Vincent Price celebrated his last major successes in the cinema in the early 1970s with the horror films The Abominable Dr. Phibes ( The cabinet of horrors of Dr. Phibes ) and its continuation Dr. Phibes Rises Again ( Dr. Phibes Rises Again ) and Theater of Blood ( Theater of Blood ) in which it cruel revenge and imaginative murders goes. In The Abominable Dr. Phibes played Vincent Price the theologian Dr. Anton Phibes, whose wife died on the operating table due to the mistake of a medical team. For this, Dr. Phibes by murdering the doctors; the types of death are based on the ten biblical plagues. One of the doctors was played by Joseph Cotten .

There were more stars in the Theater of Blood than in The Abominable Dr. Phibes with, among others Diana Rigg and Robert Morley . Vincent Price played the actor Edward Lionheart, who appeared exclusively in plays by William Shakespeare . When the Association of Theater Critics awards its Critics 'Prize to another actor, he appears to commit suicide in front of the Critics' Association. He later murders the critics; he takes the types of death from the works of William Shakespeare. One of the murder victims also played his future third wife, Coral Browne .

In the mid-1970s, Price turned back more to the theater; Among other things, he celebrated success as Oscar Wilde in the one-person play Diversions and Delights .

the 1980s
Vincent Price at the 1989 Academy Awards

In 1982 Price took on the narration role in Tim Burton's animated short Vincent , which is about a little boy (in an autobiographical fashion Tim Burton himself!) Who is a huge Vincent Price fan. In the same year he starred in Pete Walker's horror thriller House of the Long Shadows , in which he got one last opportunity to face the camera with other genre icons Christopher Lee , Peter Cushing and John Carradine to stand. In 1982 he spoke the recitation in Michael Jackson's song Thriller .

In 1986 he dubbed the evil professor Rattenzahn in the cartoon Basil, the great mouse detective , which gave him the opportunity to bring in his singing talent. He had a more important role in 1987 in the romantic melodrama The Whales of August ( whales in August ) by Lindsay Anderson alongside Bette Davis and Lillian Gish .

last works

His penultimate role played Vincent Price in 1990 alongside Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands ( Edward Scissorhands ), directed by Tim Burton . The inventor he plays in this film dies in the course of the film. The last time Price appeared in an interactive movie called The Heart of Justice by his old friend Dennis Hopper .

music

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.
  • Vincent Price gives the intro to Werewolf , an instrumental piece by the American sixties surf rock band The Frantics .
  • In 1975 Price was featured as a narrator in Alice Cooper's song The Black Widow on the LP Welcome to my Nightmare .
  • In 1982 there was an unusual performance in the form of a chant on the album Thriller by Michael Jackson .
  • Also in 1982 Price was to contribute the intro of the song The Number of the Beast as the title track of the album of the same name for the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden . Price asked for £ 25,000 for this speaking role, which is why the opening words from Revelation were recorded by Barry Clayton instead.
  • As a singer, Price was in his edition of the Muppet Show (first season), in Basil, the great mouse detective (including the song Goodbye So Soon ) and in the TV adaptation of the operetta Ruddigore ( Gilbert & Sullivan ). On the Muppet Show, he sang the song You've Got a Friend with the monsters on the show .
  • In 1992 Price recorded the text for the Disneyland attraction Phantom Manor , which, however, was soon replaced by a French text due to problems of understanding among the rather French-speaking audience.
  • Kool G Rap mentions Price in a verse on his legendary farce track The Symphony in 1988 .
  • ZZ Top wrote a song about Vincent Price on the 1996 album Rhythmeen .
  • Price is sung about in many texts by the musician Wednesday 13 , for example in the song The Ghost of Vincent Price by the band Wednesday 13 .
  • The American horror punk band Misfits honors Vincent Price with their song Return of the Fly .
  • The British horror garage rock band Zombina and The Skeletones released the song Vincent Price on their album Out of the Crypt and into Your Heart .
  • In 2004, the American crossover band Body Count was joined by a new bassist with the stage name "Vincent Price".
  • In April 2013 the English hard rock band Deep Purple released on their album Now What ?! a title called Vincent Price - apparently as an homage to the great mimes it says in the chorus: "It feels so good to be afraid - Vincent Price is back again". The track was released as a single in June. The accompanying video is staged like a horror film. Price had been a friend of the group during their lifetime, and in 1976 appeared as a narrator in the live performance of Deep Purple bassist Roger Glover's concept album, "The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast."
  • The British punk band The Bollock Brothers mentions films with Vincent Price and himself in their song Horror Movies.

Fonts (selection)

Autobiographical

  • I like what I know. A Visual Autobiography. Doubleday & Co., New York 1959.
  • Vincent Price, his movies, his plays, his life. Garden City 1978, ISBN 0-385-11594-6 .

novel

  • The Book of Joe. About a Dog and His Man. Garden City 1961.

Books on art

  • Vincent Price Collects Drawings. Catalog of the Exhibition Held September, 1957. Oakland 1957.
  • The Drawings of Delacroix . Los Angeles 1961.
  • The Vincent Price Treasury of American Art. Country Beautiful Corporation, Waukesha 1972, ISBN 0-87294-031-4 .

Cookbooks

  • together with Mary Grant Price, Darlene Geis: A Treasury of Great Recipes. Famous Specialties of the World's Foremost Restaurants Adapted for the American Kitchen. Ampersand Press 1965.
  • together with Mary Grant Price, Helen Duprey Bullock, Charles M. Wysocki: Mary and Vincent Price Present a National Treasury of Cookery. New York 1967.
  • with Mary Grant Price, Helen Duprey Bullock, Charles M. Wysocki, Nicholas Amorosi: Mary and Vincent Price's Come Into the Kitchen Cook Book. A Collector's Treasury of America's Great Recipes. New York 1969, ISBN 0-87396-020-3 .

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • James Robert Parish and Steven Whitney: Vincent Price Unmasked. A biography. Drake Publishers, New York 1974, ISBN 0-87749-667-6 .
  • Raul A. Lopez, Alan Curl (Eds.): Vincent Price, Actor and Art Collector. Riverside Museum Press, Riverside (California) 1982.
  • The Vincent Price Appreciation Society (Ed.): Journal. (12 issues from 1988 to 1990).
  • Lucy Chase Williams: The Complete Films of Vincent Price. Citadel Press (Carol Communications), New York and Secaucus 1995, ISBN 0-8065-1600-3 .
  • Rainer Dick: Vincent Price. Maitre de Plaisir of horror. In: Rainer Dick: The stars of the horror film. Tilsner, Munich 1996, ISBN 3-910079-63-6 , pp. 118-128.
  • Victoria Price: Vincent Price. A Daughter's Biography. St. Martin's Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-312-24273-5 .
  • Robert Zion: The Continuity of Evil. Vincent Price in his films. belleville, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-933510-21-X .
  • Denis Meikle: Vincent Price. The Art of Fear. Reynolds & Hearn, London 2004, ISBN 1-903111-53-6 .

German dubbing voices

Vincent Price was born in Germany a. a. dubbed by Friedrich Schoenfelder , Curt Ackermann , Siegfried Schürenberg , Jürgen Thormann and Wolfgang Lukschy .

Web links

Commons : Vincent Price  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Simeon Price in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
  2. ↑ The Frantics: Werewolf on YouTube .
  3. ↑ BRUCE DICKINSON: IRON MAIDEN To Tour In 2005
personal data
SURNAME Price, Vincent
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Price, Vincent Leonard Jr. (Full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and writer
DATE OF BIRTH May 27, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Louis , Missouri , USA
DATE OF DEATH October 25, 1993
Place of death Los Angeles , USA