Vincent Price

**Vincent Leonard Price Jr.** (May 30, 1908 – July 10, 1989) was an American actor best known for his performances in horror films, although his career spanned other genres. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television.

Price's first film role was as leading man in the 1938 comedy *Service de Luxe*. He became well known as a character actor, appearing in films such as *The Song of Bernadette* (1943), *Laura* (1944), *The Keys of the Kingdom* (1944), *Leave Her to Heaven* (1945), *Dragonwyck* (1946), and *The Ten Commandments* (1956). He established himself as a recognizable horror-movie star after his leading role in *House of Wax* (1953). He subsequently starred in other successful or cult horror films, including *The Fly* (1958), *House on Haunted Hill* (1959), *Return of the Fly* (1959), *The Tingler* (1959), *The Last Man on Earth* (1964), *Witchfinder General* (1968), *The Abominable Dr. Phibes* (1971), and *Theatre of Blood* (1973). He was particularly known for his collaborations with Roger Corman on Edgar Allan Poe adaptations such as *House of Usher* (1960), *The Pit and the Pendulum* (1961), and *The Masque of the Red Death* (1964). Price occasionally appeared on television series, such as in Batman as Egghead.

In his later years, Price voiced the villainous Professor Ratigan (which he cited as his favorite character he played) in Disney's classic animated film *The Great Mouse Detective* (1986), then appeared in the drama *The Whales of August* (1987), which earned him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male nomination, and in Tim Burton’s *Edward Scissorhands* (1990), his last theatrical release. For his contributions to cinema, especially to genre films, he has received lifetime achievement or special tribute awards from Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, Fantasporto, Bram Stoker Awards, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Known for his iconic voice, Price narrated several animation films, radio dramas and documentaries, as well as the monologue on Michael Jackson's song "Thriller". For his voice work in *Great American Speeches* (1959), Price was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album.

Price was also an art collector and arts consultant, with a degree in art history, and he lectured and wrote books on the subject. The Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College is named in his honor. Price was also a noted gourmet cook. He also served as the first vice president of the children's network Nickelodeon (founded by Paul Winchell, the first president of the network), serving from 1990 until his death in 1993, being succeeded by CEO Geraldine Laybourne and executive Vanessa Coffey. Also for the network, he created the children's anthology horror series *Are You Afraid of the Dark?* along with R.L. Stine and Stephen King, with Price playing the series' host and narrator, the Woodland Vampire, was the narrator for *Rocko's Modern Life* from episodes 2-39, when the show went back to having no narrator, and the voice of the Bog Dragon in *The Loud House* and the Flying Dutchman in *SpongeBob SquarePants*.

## Biography

### Early Life and Career

Vincent Leonard Price Jr. was born on May 27, 1911, in St. Louis, Missouri, the youngest of the four children of Vincent Leonard Price Sr., president of the National Candy Company, and his wife Marguerite Cobb (née Wilcox) Price. His grandfather was Vincent Clarence Price, who invented "Dr. Price's Baking Powder", the first cream of tartar-based baking powder, and it secured the family's fortune. Price was of Welsh and English descent and was a descendant of Peregrine White, the first white child born in colonial Massachusetts, being born on the *Mayflower* while it was in Provincetown Harbor.

Price attended the St. Louis Country Day School and Milford Academy in Milford, Connecticut. In 1933, he graduated with a degree in English and a minor in art history from Yale University, where he worked on the campus humor magazine *The Yale Record*. After teaching for a year, he entered the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, intending to study for a master's degree in fine arts. Instead, he was drawn to the theater, first appearing on stage professionally in 1934. His acting career began in London in 1935, performing with Orson Welles's Mercury Theatre.

In 1936, Price appeared as Prince Albert in the American production of Laurence Housman's play *Victoria Regina*, which starred Helen Hayes in the title role of Queen Victoria.