The Late Great Vincent Price 1911-1993

[Soft Pillow]

I always admired & respected Vincent both as a very fine actor along with brilliant master of suspense. Vincent left us all with a rich legacy of splendid films. I have so many favourites including several of the Roger Corman Poe series which are now curiously out of print in North America. Please feel free to post your thoughts & memories on this elegant gentleman.

Yours,
SP

http://img164.imagevenue.com/loc473/th_35549_hires37866_123_473lo.jpg (http://img164.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=35549_hires37866_123_473lo.jpg)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9JtHcIZogs

[Trip]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dcQNdw_j5o

http://img121.imagevenue.com/loc501/th_98395_opiumvv5_123_501lo.jpg (http://img121.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=98395_opiumvv5_123_501lo.jpg)



My favorites as a kid were "The Tingler" and "House of Wax".

[Jeepster1973]

I remember watching him in I think the Pit and the Pendulum when I was young. Watching some of his films now you realise how tongue in cheek they were. Dr Phibes and Dr Phibes Rises Again have some really daft moments.

His voice was magnificent, which is why he was used on Thriller and Alice Cooper's Black Widow.

[buggeration]

His acting was so far over the top. Difficult to take him seriously. Perhaps that's the way he planned it.

[hollyfan]

Here is Mr Price in the first film version of "I Am Legend"

http://www.archive.org/details/the-last-man-on-earth

http://img.xxfx.org/images/524jawc7at0vittt9ecb.gif (http://img.xxfx.org/)

[steamjon]

He scared the wits out of me when I was a kid :eek:

[Trip]

Here is Mr Price in the first film version of "I Am Legend"

http://www.archive.org/details/the-last-man-on-earth

http://img.xxfx.org/images/524jawc7at0vittt9ecb.gif (http://img.xxfx.org/)

The Last man on Earth version of Richard Matheson's classic "I am Legend",
was 100 times better than "The Omega man" (1970), or "I am Legend" (2007)..
It was filmed in Italy, Price was great as the Dr. in that old film.

[svea4]

great actor and great voice!

as a child I feared him and I never knew If he was a comedian or a monster:)

but later I understood....

I always thought that he had spoken the intro of Iron Maiden`s "The number of the beast" but I`m not sure, there`s a rumour going around
that it was someone else...

or did he do some work to Mr. Michael Jackson`s "Thriller" Album?

anyway, I always (not as a child) appreciated his work

[hollyfan]

Nope, on Iron maiden it was supposed to be a voiceover actor named Barry Clayton doing a takeoff on Vincent Price and yes that was Mr. Price doing "The Rap" on Thriller.

For my British colleagues I believe it's the same Barry Clayton that narrated Count Duckula.

[BigAl123]

Some of his work was done as narrator, lending character & depth to the great BBC series
Rumpole Of The Bailey, with Leo McKern, another fine actor.

One comment I read a lot here is actually a tribute to his great skill as an actor. The man could flat out scare the beejezits out of a person, and do it while camping it up. Can you imagine the sheer terror he could have generated if he was ONLY trying to scare us? Arrgh!

[hollyfan]

233 MB AVI File at the Internet Archive

http://img.xxfx.org/images/yiyft4kz1r0sqjgbbt6.gif (http://img.xxfx.org/)

http://ia360930.us.archive.org/3/items/Jack_Benny_-_Irene_Dunne_Vincent_Price_Guests/Jack_Benny_-_Irene_Dunne_Vincent_Price_Guests.avi

[brausch]

"or did he do some work to Mr. Michael Jackson`s "Thriller" Album?"

He did, and Alice Cooper's classic Black Widow from Welcome To My Nightmare.

Here they are together http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVHUyDxmi_Q

A great actor in melodrama (Dragonwyck, his favourite film), comedy (Champagne For Caesar), film noir (Laura) and of course horror (Masque Of The Red Death, Dr Phibes and all time great Theatre Of Blood).

[Office Boy]

Don't think there is any film reference to Jack the ripper in his autobiography. Though I must say, he was at his most menacing in House of Usher/Masque of the Red Death. A brilliant actor and superb at comedy too. Anyone remember him as Egghead in Batman with Adam West? His favourite saying in that..Eggsactly. Camp as hell!

[hollyfan]

DOES ANYONE KNOW IF HE DID A FILM BASED ON JACK THE RIPPER ?

Don't know of any films, but he did play the Ripper inspired character in "The Lodger" on the Hollywood Star Time Radio Program.

You can either listen to streaming audio or download it from the Internet Archive http://www.archive.org/details/HollywoodStarTime

The show is about 30 minutes to listen to or 14 MB to download.

[aahz2005]

Vincent Price was perhaps the greatest horror actor of them all but he was also a truly great actor/comedian, One of my favorite movies is "The Comedy of Terrors" where he plays along side of the likes of Basil Rathbone, Peter Lorre and Boris Karloff it never fails to make me laugh out loud. If you haven't seen this particular side of the afore mentioned gentlemen you owe it to yourself to watch this movie I guarantee you will not regret it.

[ripley9]

his voice was unique but i also read he was a very nice man as well as a great actor

[brausch]

"does anybody here like the late great richard laymon who sadly passed in 2004 ?"

I'm a big fan, he wrote some truly perverse stuff, can't beat The Beast House series. Sadly, the unfinished stuff issued posthumously by his publishers is barrel-scraping garbage of the worst kind.

The film of The Lodger is in the Fox Horror Classics DVD box (with Hangover Square and The Undying Monster) and includes the Vincent Price radio play as an extra

[Trip]

Anyone remember him as Egghead in Batman with Adam West?
His favourite saying in that..Eggsactly. Camp as hell!

I remember Egg-Head. Very nice reference there. :)

How about this, his voice over at the end of
"Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein"
...a film made a few years earlier....

The 2 bumbling idiots have escaped all of the monsters,
then at the end of the movie, they are alone in the boat,
when a voice interrupts them.
"Allow me to introduce myself...I am the invisible man." :cool:

[romper69]

For me Price will always be at his best in the Dr Phibes films and Theatre Of Blood. Perfect roles for him.

[swashplate]

IMHO, he was excellent in 'Masque of the red death', with a very young Jane Asher.

But I think his creepiest performance was in 'Witchfinder General' :eek:, can't watch bits of this, but not Vincent Price!

[The Rev Lionel Hardcore]

Some of his work was done as narrator, lending character & depth to the great BBC series
Rumpole Of The Bailey, with Leo McKern, another fine actor.

Rumpole was not a BBC series, but for ITV, Thames to be precise. The reason why add-ons with Price, and people like Alistair Cooke, were added to stuff on PBS was to bulk the running time up to an hour, as being ITV series, they ran for fifty-odd minutes once the commercials were taken out. Had they actually been for the BBC, there would have been no commercial breaks. It's always weird how PBS would show average (to us Brits) series like The House Of Eliot or Bramwell, under the slogan "Masterpiece Theatre" -- "Adequate Time-Killer Theatre" would have been more precise. Shame the Yanks don't get to see our realistic, tough series. Not all period costume arseing around is good British drama, or vice versa.

Back to Price himself, yes he was fantastic, and many consider his best to have been Theatre Of Blood.

[number1perv2008]

Do any fellow Canadians remember Vincent on "The Hilarious house of Frightenstein?" A big time childhood favourite :) Used to watch it every morning before heading to school.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZKybIIyvG4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATOTtECYehY

[snorkie]

He was capable of playing the idle playboy in films like "His Kind of Woman" and "Laura."

[quacksacker]

I've always felt Vincent was underrated as an actor, and one of the few I ever wanted to meet.

[sephiroth]

Hey guys, you may want to check this out:
http://otrplus.com/viewtopic.php?t=5343

You need to register but it's worth it. You'll find about 4 Gigabytes of Vincent Price's audio recordings ranging from his early radio work in the 1940s to stage performances, appearances in musicals and his commercial LP recordings of the 70s and 80s. His radio work is even more underrated than his films.

[Trip]

http://img109.imagevenue.com/loc761/th_10160_abominable_dr_phibes_123_761lo.jpg (http://img109.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=10160_abominable_dr_phibes_123_761lo .jpg)http://img238.imagevenue.com/loc438/th_10266_Abominable_Dr._Phibes_123_438lo.jpg (http://img238.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=10266_Abominable_Dr._Phibes_123_438l o.jpg)

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3FT8LogQns

(Note the framed portrait of his deceased wife, is femme fatale Caroline Munro)

Cult Classic The Abominable Dr.Phibes (1971) stars Vincent as Anton Phibes,
a famous organist with doctorate degrees in Music and Theology,
who was thought to have been killed in a car crash while rushing
to the side of his sick wife, Victoria.

He was horribly disfigured in the accident, but survived only to discover his
wife had died on the operating table.
Phibes, convinced that his beloved wife was a victim of incompetent doctors,
spends several years planning a vendetta against those who operated on his wife.

Dr. Phibes takes his inspiration for the murders from the Old Testament, the Ten plagues of Egypt:

1. Boils: Prof. Thornton is stung to death by bees.
2. Bats: Dr. Dunwoody is mauled to death by bats.
3. Frogs: Dr. Hargreaves's throat is crushed by a mechanical mask of a frog.
4. Blood: Dr. Longstreet has all the blood drained out of his body.
5. Hail: Dr. Hedgepath is frozen to death by a machine spewing ice.
6. Rats: Dr. Kitaj crashes his plane when attacked by rats.
7. Beasts: Dr. Whitcombe is impaled by a brass unicorn head.
8. Locusts: Nurse Allen is eaten by locusts.
9. Death of the first born: Phibes kidnaps and attempts to kill Dr. Vesalius's son Lem.
10. Darkness: At the ending of the film, Phibes drains the blood from his own body,
while injecting embalming fluid, apparently joining his wife in death.

The quintessential last operation scene of the film details how Phibes will have acid
poured onto the bound son of Dr.Vesalius (Joseph Cotton) in 6 minutes
if Dr.Vesalius cannot operate and remove the key to the acid feed from
his son's body, lodged near his heart.
This is when Vincent Price speaks his classic line that haunted us as kids:
"He will have.....a face, like ....mine..."

That's when Vincent Price takes off his mask......

http://img130.imagevenue.com/loc815/th_11414_DrPhibes_123_815lo.jpg (http://img130.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=11414_DrPhibes_123_815lo.jpg)



There was a sequel called Dr.Phibes Rises Again made in 1972.


http://img124.imagevenue.com/loc1108/th_10992_phibes_2_poster_123_1108lo.jpg (http://img124.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=10992_phibes_2_poster_123_1108lo.jpg )http://img42.imagevenue.com/loc72/th_10986_DRPHIBES2_123_72lo.jpg (http://img42.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=10986_DRPHIBES2_123_72lo.jpg)

[scoundrel]

The Abominable Dr Phibes

Dr Phibes Rises Again.


I was not very old when I saw these films: they may have been on BBC2 for the first time when I saw them. I haven't seen either of them for at least 30 years but I still have vivid memories. They used a colour process which would probably seem antedeluvian to filmakers now but which complemented the story well. Nurse Allen is covered in a Chlorophyl slime to make her palatable to the locusts, a really satisfyingly lurid green. Dr Longstreet's blood is crimson and convincingly arterial.

Thank you trip, incidentally, for naming all the characters: except for Phibes and his late wife Victoria, I wouild have remembered none of them, yet if I were artistically gifted I could draw all their faces. As I said, these were striking visual films.

Price was perfect for the role: how well and evocatively he used that deadly voice. His performance would have chilled the blood of a frozen fish finger. They broke the mould when he was made.

Vincent Price: you entertained millions over many chill-packed years. May you sleep softly now.

[haldane4]

I saw him on telly today in Laura but thought he was very miscast as a sort of nasty fop. It was an early role when he hadn't really found his niche yet.

My own fav Price movie is Theatre Of Blood.

[Trip]

Thank you trip, incidentally, for naming all the characters: except for Phibes and his late wife Victoria, I wouild have remembered none of them, yet if I were artistically gifted I could draw all their faces. As I said, these were striking visual films.

Price was perfect for the role: how well and evocatively he used that deadly voice. His performance would have chilled the blood of a frozen fish finger. They broke the mould when he was made.


No problemo :cool:


My brothers and I snuck into the theatre to
be genuinely freaked out by those films.
Might be considered campy and cult classics now,
but back then as little kids, that was an insane ride for us.

The guy was just a great, great actor.

Again I can't stress enough that fans should
re-visit The Last Man On Earth.
This is the original screenplay adaptation
of the 1954 Richard Matheson novel, I am Legend,
and after much Hollywood contract-shifting,
was finally filmed in Italy on a small budget.
Don't watch it for the comparison to Will Smith
in the new I am Legend or Charlton Heston in
The Omega man, but for Vincent's finesse.

The tortured mental dialogs that he has with himself
in living through, and documenting his last days
of survival, after the death of his wife and child.
Brilliant portrayal, of a man at the end of his rope.
After the virus took over, the doctor even kept working
on an anti-viral serum, as well as reminiscing through
painful memories, flashbacks, as well as home movies
of his wife and child, and his now venomous brother in-law.

http://img162.imagevenue.com/loc73/th_19631_Last_Man_Screen_123_73lo.jpg (http://img162.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=19631_Last_Man_Screen_123_73lo.jpg)h ttp://img5.imagevenue.com/loc710/th_19359_lastman1b_123_710lo.jpg (http://img5.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=19359_lastman1b_123_710lo.jpg)

...another childhood memory of ours, is the the dialogue spoken
by his brother in-law, once a trusted medical student and assistant
to the doctor, as he haunted Vincent, surrounding the house with
his fellow feral ghouls and infected zombies every night:

"Morgan......come out........Morgan....come out, Morgan....."



Study Vincent Price in this film role.
Even his thoughts about the garlic
in the supermarket freezer he stashes....
The drinking of coffee, carrying the
coffee pot and cup around with him....
His garage generator...getting some sleep...

They just don't make films like that
anymore and they surely don't feature
the eloquence of such an actor.

He was a very detailed man in his craft, in his art,
in his cooking as a chef, and in every aspect quite
an accomplished man. I just saw this film again
recently after seeing the third version of
I am Legend starring Will Smith, and the original
film remains the best of the three.

It's a Classic.

http://img5.imagevenue.com/loc1054/th_20194_TLMOE_123_1054lo.jpg (http://img5.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=20194_TLMOE_123_1054lo.jpg)http://img231.imagevenue.com/loc224/th_20222_lastmanonearth_123_224lo.jpg (http://img231.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=20222_lastmanonearth_123_224lo.jpg)

[Mufflover]

I saw him on telly today in Laura but thought he was very miscast as a sort of nasty fop. It was an early role when he hadn't really found his niche yet....

Yes, he was not good in Laura. The fact is, he found his niche very early on, when on Broadway he played the creepy husband who seeks to drive his wife mad, in the play called Gaslight in London and Hollywood and Angel Street on Broadway.

[Mal Hombre]

I always remember Price for his roles in adaptations of the works of Edgar Allan Poe.My favourite is The Masque of the Red Death(1964) in which He played the evil Prince Prospero.Worshipping the Devil and maltreating peasants in a camp hat:
http://thumbnails20.imagebam.com/5377/2b762953762050.gif (http://www.imagebam.com/image/2b762953762050)

[John C. Holmes]

I always remember Price for his roles in adaptations of the works of Edgar Allan Poe.My favourite is The Masque of the Red Death(1964) in which He played the evil Prince Prospero.Worshipping the Devil and maltreating peasants in a camp hat:
http://thumbnails20.imagebam.com/5377/2b762953762050.gif (http://www.imagebam.com/image/2b762953762050)

Forget the crappy psychodellic effects, Price was never more terrifying than when he played a witch hunter in these films. Awesome examples of how human evil can be so much scarier than buckets and buckets of blood.

[Rick Danger]

IMDB.COM lists over one hundred eighty film and TV credits for Vincent Price.

Today many "A list" actors are doing voice over work for animation. But I had forgotten that Vincent lent his voice to the character "Vincent VanGhoul" in the cartoon series "The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo" way back in 1985.

I think Boris Karloff was the greatest character actor of all time, and I'm a die-hard Peter Cushing fan. But Vincent Price is still my favorite ! And my favorite film by Price is "Diary of a Madman". While not as heavy dramatically as "Witchfinder General", "The Pit and the Pendulum", "Masque of the Red Death", et. al., I enjoy it.

Google videos: http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=%2213+Ghosts+of+Scooby-Doo%22&hl=en&emb=0&aq=f#

The Big Cartoon Database: http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Hanna-Barbera_Studios/T/The_13_Ghosts_of_Scooby-Doo/index.html

http://thumbnails10.imagebam.com/5377/ed089053768290.gif (http://www.imagebam.com/image/ed089053768290)http://thumbnails20.imagebam.com/5377/dc131b53768289.gif (http://www.imagebam.com/image/dc131b53768289)http://thumbnails19.imagebam.com/5381/db045153805074.gif (http://www.imagebam.com/image/db045153805074) http://thumbnails17.imagebam.com/5381/c6fa4753805075.gif (http://www.imagebam.com/image/c6fa4753805075)



I told my wife, "How come when we kiss your eyes are always open?" She told me she's on the look out for her boyfriend. - Rodney Dangerfield (1921-2004)

[scoundrel]

I saw him on telly today in Laura but thought he was very miscast as a sort of nasty fop. It was an early role when he hadn't really found his niche yet.
Actually, I liked VP in Laura, where he played Laura's (Gene Tiernay's) unworthy cad of a fiance, Shelby Carpenter.
http://img256.imagevenue.com/loc106/th_31959_Vincent_Price_as_Shelby_Carpenter_122_106 lo.jpg
Had Laura been made 15-20 years later, Vincent Price would have been in his classic old roue prime and a natural for the part of the villain, except that Otto Preminger brought in Clifton Webb from a lifetime on Broadway precisely because he was an unknown actor in films and his past film performances/image would not spoil the surprise denoement for the audience. Instead, VP got to play the red herring and I think he did a workmanlike character actor's job in a part which wasn't natural to him. He conveys the pleasant charming veneer of this character well, and also the underlying corruption, deceitfulness and weakness which makes Shelby Carpenter so thoroughly and offensively unworthy of Gene Tierney's Laura. I liked his performance here, though like Dana Andrews as Detective Lieutenant Mark McPherson, he was not playing to his natural strengths. The real, huge stars of this really fine film are Gene Tierney and Clifton Webb, without a doubt.

One of Vincent Price's great virtues in his Gothic film roles was his sly and insidious sense of humour, which often added a frisson of cheerful sadism to his villainous characters: even when, as Phibes for example, he is driven by revenge and a misplaced sense of grievance rather than being merely bad, he still patently is being bad for the sheer fun of it as well. I recently saw his spoof horror movie The Raven (1963) where he sent himself up mercilessly and with evident relish: he was a damn good comedian when the part needed him to be.:) He also had a very successful sideline in his later years as one of the early TV chefs: he was a hugely talented amateur chef and dedicated gourmet, whose charm and humour made quite complex culinary feats seem both interesting and accessible, a sort of precursor to Keith Floyd.

Vincent Price was a really versatile actor and presenter. As horror movie villain he was truly in his element but he did lots more than just that and did it jolly well.:D

[tabler]

That is correct scounds, in fact he developed his own recipe for Bolognese which was very well respected and he was the author of several cook books (on the Johnny Carson show he once demonstrated how to poach a fish in a dishwasher).
I might google his Bolognese dish and post the results on the food thread.
By the way I saw him in a gothic thriller on Film 4 a few days ago, a governess went to work at his mansion and he was a murderer and was as mad as a box of snakes. Brilliant stuff from him in Dragonwyke.
Incidently did anyone know that Price played Simon Templar (The Saint) on radio from 1943 to 1951?

[NelsonsGoodeye]

I thought I'd already posted this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FID1CiB4bcU

[brianwp]

Like Basil Rathbone, and Edward G. Robinson, he was a wonderful and cultured man.

[Aragorn-King]

Just discovered this thread and wanted to pay tribute to Mr vincent Price.
Elegant, classy, funny, scary, tongue-in-cheek... I think I liked every single performance of his, even in the worst movies.

I truly believe he is missed, just like Rathbone, Cushing, Carradine...

[COP11]

http://s1.postimage.org/2kebg11ms/1_vincent_price.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2kebg11ms/) http://s1.postimage.org/2keld94lg/600full_vincent_price.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2keld94lg/) http://s1.postimage.org/2ketmxv2c/V_PRICE.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2ketmxv2c/) http://s1.postimage.org/2kf3k5y10/Vincent_Price4.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2kf3k5y10/) http://s1.postimage.org/2kflr2rgk/vincent_price01.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2kflr2rgk/) http://s1.postimage.org/2kfxbu6x0/Vincent_Price2.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2kfxbu6x0/) http://s1.postimage.org/2kg0mwvwk/vincent_price0101.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2kg0mwvwk/) http://s1.postimage.org/2kg2ag8ec/vincent_price_thriller_voice_1.jpg (http://postimage.org/image/2kg2ag8ec/)

[OBE]

Can only say I have about 15 of his movies
and when every one of his Movies comes on,
I don't need the remote until it's over.

A true Master.

[Brettro]

He was my idol growing up, I used to slick my hair straight back and tape one eyebrow up hoping it would stay that way. a CLASS ACT, Chef, art collector,Writer an all round rennaisance man. Sadly missed.RIP
I could have told you Vincent, this world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.

[steve40]

i loved the way he could narrate edgar allen poe poetry especially the raven and city in the sea from the film the film city under the sea.

[Nobody1]

http://img256.imagevenue.com/loc106/th_31959_Vincent_Price_as_Shelby_Carpenter_122_106 lo.jpg


http://hollywood.greekreporter.com/files/2009/02/john_cassavetes.jpg

John Cassavetes († 3. Februar 1989)

That's strange, looks like father and son. :)

[Mal Hombre]

Price is inevitably known for His horror roles but He was an accomplished comedy actor ,Here He is in Champagne For Caesar with British Actor Ronald Coleman.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDZChz40B90

Here Vincent poses with the titular Caesar

http://ist1-3.filesor.com/pimpandhost.com/1/_/_/_/1/C/3/o/s/C3os/vincent-price-champagne_0.jpg (http://pimpandhost.com/image/9069512-original.html)

[Markus R]

Some actors could read the telephone directory and keep you interested - Vincent Price and John Cassavetes were two great examples:thumbsup:

[jagturan]

This clip was my first introduction as a kid to Vincent Price who was a guest star in the American TV series, Mod Squad, circa 1970. He didn't have to say a word, and he scared the Baby Santo out of me. It's a long lead in time, but, he shows his face at/around 4:37....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQkA-0nL1Sw

[Office Boy]

Here's some pictures of the excellent man himself:



http://img219.imagevenue.com/loc822/th_60912_vincentprice1_123_822lo.jpg (http://img219.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=60912_vincentprice1_123_822lo.jpg)ht tp://img201.imagevenue.com/loc335/th_60918_vincentprice2_123_335lo.jpg (http://img201.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=60918_vincentprice2_123_335lo.jpg)ht tp://img230.imagevenue.com/loc346/th_60921_vincentprice3_123_346lo.jpg (http://img230.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=60921_vincentprice3_123_346lo.jpg)ht tp://img235.imagevenue.com/loc529/th_60923_vincentprice4_123_529lo.jpg (http://img235.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=60923_vincentprice4_123_529lo.jpg)
http://img258.imagevenue.com/loc339/th_60925_vincentprice5_123_339lo.jpg (http://img258.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=60925_vincentprice5_123_339lo.jpg)

I picked up the first one from a show a couple years back, the second and third are taken from his book written by his daughter Victoria. The fourth and fifth are front and back covers of said book.

[deepsepia]

He was a strange guy. He was, shall we say, "flamboyant" -- that kind of pre-Stonewall gay celebrity who was somehow both "out" and still closeted. Hollywood was very odd about sexuality-- gay folks had to have girlfriends (there were even tabloid stories about Liberace's girlfriends), and Vincent Price never failed to mention "my wife, the actress Coral Browne" who was herself famously bisexual (and very funny about it)


Browne’s outrageous razor wit was renowned, and endless anecdotes of her circulated in theatrical circles. At the first night of Peter Brook's production of Oedipus during which a giant golden phallus was unveiled onstage, Browne turned to her companion Val Gielgud in the stalls and said loudly: "Well, it's nobody we know, darling."


His acting ranged from wildly over the top to very calculated. His Witchfinder is a truly evil, sadistic man. Story has it that he and the director battled over the film, but it turned out quite brilliantly.

NB: note the similarity between Price's Dr. Phibes and Liberace's costumes . . .

[steve40]

i also loved his appearence on the muppet show where kermit the frog bit him, all i can say is what a fantastic actor with a great sense of humour no matter what role he played he was nothing short of the greatest

[steve40]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQALLGsn-Fk

[steve40]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYdRb2Sh5y8