Vincent Price

Price and Christopher Lee were born on the same day (May 27th) and Peter Cushing was born on the 26th. All three are considered legends of the horror genre, and all three appeared together in Scream and Scream Again and House of the Long Shadows .

An avid gourmet chef, he wrote a number of cookbooks.

Was notoriously superstitious. He once joked that he kept a horseshoe, a crucifix and a mezzuza on his front door.

Shortly before his death, he said that one of his most favorite roles was the voice of Professor Ratigan in the Disney feature The Great Mouse Detective , especially since two original songs had been written for him.

Prices first wife, Edith Barrett , gave birth to his son Vincent Barret Price on August 30, 1940.

Had his own mail-order book club in the 1970s, "Vincent Price Books", specializing in mystery and detective novels.

He was the Wednesday night host for CBS Radios "Sears Mystery Theater" . He was still Wednesdays host when it became "The Mutual Radio Theater" on Mutual Radio.

Host of BBC Radios "The Price of Fear" (1973-1975, 1983).

His ashes were scattered off the Californian coast of Malibu together with his favorite gardening hat.

Had started an egg-throwing fight while making a guest spot as the villain Egghead on the television series "Batman" .

Although always a gentleman, he was considered an eccentric and often engaged in over-the-top theatrics while discussing his favorite subjects, cooking and poetry.

In 1964, at the request of a personal friend, he narrated a brief history of Tombstone, Arizona (titled, "Tombstone, The Town Too Tough to Die"), for use in the diorama at the site of the O.K. Corral gunfight. He reportedly recorded the 20-minute piece in a single take at a recording studio in Hollywood, and when asked about his fee, asked for his pal, the owner of the exhibit at the time, to buy him lunch. Price never visited Tombstone but his narration is still used in the diorama.

Made a short speech about the black widow on Alice Cooper s album "Welcome to My Nightmare".

Attended and graduated from the St. Louis Country Day School in St. Louis, Missouri.

Had appeared in eight movies with "house" in the title -- most of them horror movies -- including The House of the Seven Gables , House of Wax , House on Haunted Hill , House of Usher , La casa de las mil muecas , "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein" , Madhouse , and House of the Long Shadows .

He received a Bachelors degree in art history from Yale University and wrote a syndicated art column in the 1960s. An avid art collector, he founded the Vincent Price Gallery on the campus of East Los Angeles College and encouraged others to develop a personal passion for art.

He often expressed an interest in doing Shakespeare, which is why Theater of Blood was one of his favorite roles.

Charlton Heston starred in The Omega Man and Will Smith starred in I Am Legend , the remakes of Prices The Last Man on Earth . Prior to this, Heston and Price worked together in The Ten Commandments .

He starred in "How to Make a Movie", a short film that was included in the "Vincent Price: Moviemaking the Hollywood Way", a home movie outfit sold by Sears, Roebuck and Company.

Prices second wife, Mary Grant , gave birth to his daughter Victoria Price on April 27, 1962.

He was a longtime member of St. Victors, and his wife Coral Browne was buried there with a Mozart Requiem Mass accompanied by a full orchestra.

He attended the opening night of the first production of Richard OBrien s The Rocky Horror Picture Show .

Had provided quasi-"rap" voice-over for Michael Jackson s music video Michael Jackson: Thriller .

Close friends with Cassandra Peterson , the actress whose most famous character is Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.

In 1951, Price founded the Vincent Price Gallery and Art Foundation on the campus of the East Los Angeles Community College. It is celebrating its 45th year.

In the 1960s, Price and Peter Lorre starred as crimefighting antique dealers in the unsold pilot, "Collectors Item".

Had played the Spirit of the Nightmare in Alice Cooper s television special Alice Cooper: The Nightmare .

In 1990, Price was hired by Walt Disney Imagineering to voice the role of the Phantom for "Phantom Manor", a new ride for the upcoming Euro Disneyland, scheduled to open in 1992. He was given a French script, but the takes were so bad, the entire performance was deemed unusable. After working on the French script for over three hours, Craig Fleming , who adapted the script and directed the recording sessions, gave him an English version of the script. Price recorded the entire piece in two takes. The English recordings were placed in the attraction, but after several months of operation, Euro Disney (the company that owns and operates the resort) felt there was not enough French in Euro Disneyland. So by 1993, in an attempt to add more French to the park, Prices narration was removed from the attraction and replaced by the French spiel, this time recorded by Grard Chevalier. Prices narration can be found on a Disney Haunted Mansion CD. The CD, which contains a full ride-through of the attraction, claims Prices narration was "never used at Disneyland Paris", but thats because the park was still called Euro Disneyland when it was used. Today, the park is now known as Parc Disneyland (as of 2002) and, although his narration is long gone, one part of his performance remains in Phantom Manor: his laugh. Although the spoken dialog of the Phantom character was changed, Prices original recordings of the Phantoms evil laughter still remain intact, inside the attraction.

According to Price, when he and Peter Lorre went to view Bela Lugosi s body at Lugosis funeral, Lorre, upon seeing Lugosi dressed in his famous Dracula cape, quipped, "Do you think we should drive a stake through his heart just in case?".

Was a member of the family that started the company that makes Magic Baking Powder.

He would often attend showings of his films in costumes; often to play pranks on moviegoers.

At times, he struggled to get roles early in his career due to his 6 4" frame, as producers often avoid casting actors who are much taller than their leading men.

Converted to Catholicism shortly after marrying Coral Browne , a Roman Catholic. According to Prices daughter, the Australian-born Browne then became an American citizen for him.

His role in Edward Scissorhands was intended to be much larger, but since Price was very ill from emphysema and Parkinsons disease he was only able to appear in two scenes.

Price voted for Republican candidate Wendell Willkie in the 1940 presidential election, since both his parents were conservatives. Shortly thereafter, his political views altered completely, and he later became one of the most active liberal Democrats in Hollywood.

Had played the Devil in The Story of Mankind .

Won $32,000 in an appearance on the game show "The $64,000 Question" .

Is remembered by some Canadians for his narration on "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein" .

A transcript of an on-stage Q&A with Price (from a 1990s Fangoria convention) appears in Tom Weavers book "Attack of the Monster Movie Makers" (McFarland & Co., 1994).

His likeness appeared on such Milton Bradley games as "Hangman" and "Shrunken Head Apple Sculpture" in the 1970s.

Vincent once told the story of a middle-aged woman who came up to him while on a flight to Barcelona for a fantasy film festival. She was quite excited and said, "Oh sir, could I have your autograph? I cant tell you how many years I have enjoyed your films, Mr. Karloff." Always the perfect gentlemen and not wanting to disappoint her, Vincent brought Boris Karloff back to life and gave the woman an autograph fifteen years after the actor had died.

Gave over 800 performances in the United States and Australia between 1977 and 1980 in his one-man show "Diversions & Delights" (invariably to standing ovations), playing Oscar Wilde in 1899 (set at the Parisian concert hall in the Rue de Pepinier). The play was written by John Gay and directed by Joseph Hardy. Price was at his brilliant best, particularly at smaller, more intimate venues.

Was a prime mover in the success of the La Jolla Playhouse in California, starring in many of their productions, including "The Winslow Boy" and "Billy Budd".

Made his acting debut at Londons Gate Theatre.

He was awarded 2 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6201 Hollywood Boulevard; and for Television at 6501 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

In his later years, when asked for his autograph, he would often sign "Dolores Del Rio" instead of his actual name. When once asked why, he replied, in complete seriousness, "I promised her on her deathbed that I would do what I could to keep her name alive!".

Price served for decades on the board of directors of the Los Angeles County Museum.

His father was president of a company that made jelly-beans and jawbreakers as well as Prices Baking Powder, which was sold to Royal in 1890.

During breaks in the long filming The Song of Bernadette , Price and former "Vicoria Regina" co-star George Macready opened an art gallery, which they called The Little Gallery.

In 1948, Price joined Fanny Brice , Edward G. Robinson , and other art lovers to open his museum in Hollywood called the Modern Institute of Art. It closed within two years because of lack of funds.

Was a staunch liberal Democrat.

In October 2013, Price was honored as being Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month.

Was originally cast in Forever Amber but when filming was suspended after a month for further work on the script he was dropped and replaced with Richard Greene.

When Price filmed While the City Sleeps , he became friends with Fritz Lang because of their mutual love of art.

Although he turned down Jose Ferrers offer to play one of the leads in "My Three Angels" on stage, he did consent to play the Duke of Buckingham in Ferrers "Richard III" at New Yorks City Center in 1953.

Price was scheduled by Universal to make his screen debut in Prescription for Romance , but Kent Taylor replaced him. Next he was set for That Certain Age , but was deemed too young and replaced by Melvyn Douglas.

When Lillian Gish first met him on The Whales of August , she said, "I finally got my Prince Albert," a reference to "Victoria Regina".

During the 1970s, Price said that George C. Scott was his favorite current actor although Cary Grant (then retired) was his all-time favorite.

He was the visual inspiration for the original illustrations of the comic book superhero Doctor Strange/Stephen Strange (created in 1963). Price was 52 years old at the time. Stranges full name is Stephen Vincent Strange.

The 2013 song "Vincent Price" by the hard rock band Deep Purple is dedicated to him. Price was friends with the band, and in 1975, appeared on Roger Glover s live version of "The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper Feast" as a narrator.

Price was known as an art connoisseur, and was a champion of American Indian / Native American art in particular. Price was appointed to the Indian Arts and Crafts Board under Eisenhower, he supported the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and he has been the subject of discussions at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe.

In what would have been a most memorable event, Charles Ludlam (The Ridiculous Theatrical Company, "The Mystery of Irma Vep") was to have directed a production of Shakespeares ultra bloody "Titus Andronicus" at the New York Shakespeare Festival in Central Park, starring, guess who... Vincent Price, thereby fulfilling Vincents long standing desire to play Shakespeare. Unfortunately, Ludlam died during the initial planning stage.

He was awarded a Star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame on June 25, 1989.

Price was supportive of his daughter who came out as lesbian, and he was critical of Anita Bryant s anti-gay campaign in the 1970s.

Sesame Street made a puppet with his likeness, Vincent Twice Vincent Twice, when he found out about it he was ecstatic and considered it a great honor.

In the 1970s, Tom Baker and Ian Marter attempted to develop a film script which was specifically intended to co-star Price entitled " "Doctor Who" Meets Scratchman", which would have been directed by James Hill. However, copyright issues prevented this film from ever being realized.

Died less than a week before Halloween, fitting considering his status as a horror movie icon.

A man who limits his interests limits his life.

Doing a religious picture is a boring thing because everybody is on,their best behavior - hoping for the keys to the kingdom, I guess.

The horror thriller offers the serious actor unique opportunities to,test his ability to make the unbelievable believable.