VINCENT PRICE
"“
Darkness falls across the land, the Midnight Hour is close at hand;
Creatures crawl in search of blood, to terrorize y’alls neighborhood...”
Immortalized forever in Michael Jackson’s perennial Halloween classic “
Thriller”, Vincent Price enjoyed one of the longest, most varied and most illustrious acting careers in horror history.
Price’s early film career is an interesting one – his first starring role in a horror film wasn’t until 1953’s
House of Wax, but he was active in films long before that. One of his earliest notable roles was in
Tower of London, a rather loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s
Richard III, where he played the Duke of Clarence opposite genre masters Basil Rathbone and Boris Karloff. (Many years later, Price would appear in another film version of the story, this time playing the villainous Richard himself). Despite his small role here, he appeared in the titular role the next year in Universal’s
The Invisible Man Returns, a role which showcased Price’s superb voice – the one feature which he is arguably most remembered for.
Early in his career, Price also starred in many non-horror roles, including
The Song of Bernadette, which was nominated for an incredible 12 Oscars in 1944 – sadly, Price was overlooked, though his performance in the film is doubtlessly one of the greatest in his career.
By the 1960’s, Price was working almost exclusively in horror. He famously teamed up with Roger Corman for a series of films based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe – a string of films that are among the greatest in either man’s resumes.
Vincent Price is remembered by most as a schlocky, over-the-top actor that starred mostly in B-grade horror flicks. While that is true of most of his films and performances, it’s most certainly not because he was untalented, or because he was a one trick pony. No, he was an actor that always looked to have fun with his roles, and put that above everything else. His love for acting shows through in every single one of his roles – be it as a hambone actor killing off his critics, a bedridden old west prospector, a kindly old inventor, a millionaire playboy planning a rather sadistic party, or a nobleman descending into madness, Price was always having the time of his life in front of the camera.
Not only was he a master of his craft, he is a huge inspiration to young actors such as myself: he proves that whether the role is dark, brooding and serious, or campy, cheesy and over-the-top, the key to a great performance is to always have fun, above all else. This is one of the most important lessons that I’ve learned, and I give full credit to my hero and my idol :- Mr. Vincent Leonard Price, Jr." -
The Return
WES CRAVEN
WILLIAM CASTLE
WILLIAM GAINES
WILLIAM PETER BLATTY
