American actress
Mother of Vincent Barret Price (b. 1940).
Noted stage actress, who made her first appearance in a walk-on in "Cyrano de Bergerac" on Broadway in 1923.
From 1930, was in more than 500 performances of "Mrs. Moonlight", by Benn W. Levy. She was also critically acclaimed for her roles in "Michael and Mary" and "Parnell" , the latter being referred to by Brooks Atkinson as possibly the best performance of her career.
She was the granddaughter of Lawrence Barrett, a business and acting partner of Edwin Booth and co-founder of New Yorks Players Club.
Brown-eyed former child actress, with fair complexion and birdlike features. She had a very successful 25-year career on the stage, which were never matched by her later performances on screen. According to actor Roddy McDowell, who knew her as a child, she suffered from mental illness from very early on. Her condition deteriorated -- exacerbated by alcoholism and an addiction to amphetamines -- as the years went on and her career began to peter out. She became more and more reclusive and bitter, her marriage to Vincent Price ending in an acrimonious divorce. Though she received alimony, her addictions left her continually destitute. She died in a nursing home of a heart attack in 1977. Her decline is well documented by Victoria Prices excellent biography of her father ("Vincent Price", St. Martins Griffin, Oct.2000).
