Vincent Price

Vincent Price
May 27, 1911 - October 25, 1993
Library of Congress
call number LC-USZ62-105249

Vincent Price

Vincent Leonard Price Jr., iconic horror actor, author, chef, art lover, voice-over artist and bon vivant, was born in St. Louis and attended Country Day, a private high school there, before going on to Yale and eventual stardom.

Best known for his work in low-budget horror films, like The House on Haunted Hill, for nearly sixty years he was a ubiquitous figure in American entertainment. He hosted Mystery on PBS, had his own cooking show and co-wrote a cookbook with his second wife, Mary Grant. He played guest characters in dozens of shows (I remember with particular fondness his turn as suave T.H.R.U.S.H. agent Victor Marton in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. episode The Foxes and Hounds Affair) and appeared as himself in scores of others. He was a semi-regular on Hollywood Squares (an old game show), made 11 visits to The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, was on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In five times, guest starred on The Muppet Show, and did an uncredited cameo on M*A*S*H*.

He did voice-over work in Scooby Doo and Tiny Toon Adventures and performed the voice of Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective (said to be one of his favorite roles). His work as a narrator included Michael Jackson's Thriller, Faerie Tale Theater, and 1972's An Evening of Edgar Allen Poe, among many others.

An avid art collector, he founded the Vincent Price Gallery on the campus of East Los Angeles College. His last appearance in a major motion picture was in 1990's Edward Scissorhands, in a role that had to be drastically cut because his health was failing. He died of lung cancer in late October of 1993 and his ashes were scattered off the coast of California.

Link to Vincent Price's IMDB page.
Link to a website about Vincent Price.