VINCENT PRICE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Vincent Price was born May 27th, 1911 in St. Louis, MO to parents, Marguerite Cobb and Vincent Leonard Price Sr.  Vincent attended St. Louis Country Day school and then he graduated from Yale University with a degree in art history and a  fine arts degree at the University of London.  It was in the mid 30's that he began developing an interest for theater.  Price made his theatrical debut in the 1935 production of, "Chicago" at the Gate Theatre.  He continued his acting career with work on Broadway.

When offered a contract with Universal Pictures he traveled to Los Angeles, California and made his screen debut on, "Service de Luxe" (1938).  While under contract with Universal, he was never offered anything more then supporting roles, so when he completed his contract, Price was excited to move to working with 20th Century Fox.  His first films with them was a pair of tales, "Brigham Young" (1940) and "Hudson Bay" (1941). 

Even under his new contract, he was not gaining the popularity or admiration that he felt he deserved.  He decided to go back to the stage working on Broadway's "Angel Street" for three years.

Upon his return to films he starred in, "The Song of Bernadette" (1943) and finally received some decent roles in, "Wilson and Laura" (1944) and "Leave Her to Heaven" (1946).       

It was starting to become clear that his niche was in portraying villain like characters such as in the film, "Dragonwyck" (1946).  Even though he was getting cast in better roles and better films, when his contract expired with 20th Century Fox, they chose not to renew.   

Price continued to work in Hollywood but as a freelance actor.  He soon became so frustrated with Hollywood and the industry he decided to return back to his love of the stage.  He worked on the following productions, "The Cocktail Party" and "Don Juan in Hell". 

Vincent Price returned to film as a supporting character in the film, "House of Wax" (1953) with Warner Brothers.  This film turned out to be a huge success.  Price as now getting numerous offers for similar type 3D films and he next appeared in, "Dangerous Mission" (1954).  His film career was finally at an all time high and he did not return to stage work for fourteen years.  His next film role was on, "The Fly" (1958) and when the 60's came, Price was for the most part only working film and almost always for the horror genre.

Some of his more prominent roles were on, "The Masque of the Red Death" (1964), "The Conqueror Worm" (1968) and "The Trouble with Girls" (1969).  He slowed down slightly moving into the 70's but did not yet come anywhere near retirement.  He did star on, "The Abominable Dr. Phibes" (1971) and "Theatre of Blood" (1973).  Price also hosted and starred in BBC Radio's horror series, "The Price of Fear". 
 
Price had other talents besides acting.  He had an interest in art and chose to in his spare time lecture art classes and also published some books.  Vincent was also a very good cook.  In 1979, Price along with his wife, Coral Browne worked together on, "CBS", however it did not last very long.  Price continued to work with voice over work and narrative work as the horror genre had slowed down in the mid 70's.  Hhe did make a television appearance as a guest star on "The Brady Bunch" (1972) portraying a deranged archeologist. 

Price returned to stage where he performed a one man stage play portraying, Oscar Wilde in, "Diversion and Delights" (1977).  The play toured all over and was a success except for in New York City.  Vincent Price was an actor with no need to slow down.  He went again back to films taking a role in another horror film, this time a British film called, "Bloodbath at the House of Death" (1983).  Price also did the voice over work for thirteen episodes of "Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo" (1985-1989).  One of his final major roles was playing the voice of a professor in Walt Disney's, "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986) and his last significant work was as an inventor in, "Edwards Scissorhands" (1990).

Vincent Price passed away on October 25th, 1993 in Los Angeles, California from Lung Cancer after suffering from emphysema and Parkinson's disease.  He was cremated and his ashes were scattered off Point Dume in Malibu, California.    

Price married three times throughout his lifetime and had one son with his first wife, Edith Barrett, and then Mary Grant Price was his second wife and together they had a daughter.  His final marriage was to an Austrian actress, Coral Browne.  

Price was a very passionate man and generous with his talents.  He donated about ninety pices of his own art to the East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, California.  The Vincent Art Gallery was created and today it remains one of his most enduring legacy's.  Vincent Price's daughter, Victoria Price wrote a biography about her father in 1999 and it was published by St. Martin's Press.
 

Filmography

1938  Service De Luxe
1939  The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
1939  Tower of London
1940  The Invisible Man Returns
1940  Green Hell
1940  The House of the Seven Gables
1940  Brigham Young
1941  Hudson's Bay
1943  The Song of Bernadette
1944  The Eve of St. Mark
1944  Wilson
1944  Laura
1944  The Keys of the Kingdom
1945  A Royal Scandal
1945  Leave Her to Heaven
1946  Shock
1946  Dragonwyck
1947  The Web
1947  The Long Night
1947  Moss Rose
1948  Up in Central Park
1948  Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
1948  Rogues' Regiment
1948  The Three Musketeers
1949  The Bribe
1949  Bagdad
1950  The Baron of Arizona
1950  Champagne for Caesar
1950  Curtain Call at Cactus Creek
1951  Adventures of Captain Fabian
1951  His Kind of Woman
1952  The Las Vegas Story
1953  House of Wax
1954  Dangerous Mission
1954  Born in Freedom: The Story of Colonel Drake
1954  Casanova's Big Night
1954  The Mad Magician
1955  Son of Sinbad
1956  Serenade
1956  While the City Sleeps
1956  The Vagabond King
1956  The Ten Commandments
1957  The Story of Mankind
1958  The Fly
1959  House on Haunted Hill
1959  The Big Circus
1959  The Tingler
1959  Return of the Fly
1959  The Bat
1960  House of Usher
1961  Master of the World
1961  The Pit and the Pendulum
1961  Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile
1961  Rage of the Buccaneers
1962  Confessions of an Opium Eater
1962  Tales of Terror
1962  Convicts 4
1962  Tower of London
1963  The Raven
1963  Diary of a Madman
1963  Beach Party
1963  The Haunted Palace
1963  Twice-Told Tales
1964  The Comedy of Terrors
1964  The Last Man on Earth
1964  The Masque of the Red Death
1964  The Tomb of Ligeia
1965  War-Gods of the Deep
1965  Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
1966  Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs
1967  The Jackals
1967  The House of 1,000 Dolls
1968  Spirits of the Dead
1968  Witchfinder General
1968  More Dead Than Alive
1969  The Oblong Box
1969  The Trouble with Girls
1970  Scream and Scream Again
1970  Cry of the Banshee
1971  The Abominable Dr. Phibes
1971  Here Comes Peter Cottontail
1971  Mooch Goes to Hollywood
1971  What's a Nice Girl Like You...?
1972  An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe
1972  Dr. Phibes Rises Again
1973  Theatre of Blood
1974  Madhouse
1974  Percy's Progress
1975  Journey Into Fear
1976  The Butterfly Ball
1979  Scavenger Hunt
1980  The Monster Club
1980  Pogo for President: 'I Go Pogo'
1983  House of the Long Shadows
1983  Michael Jackson's Thriller
1984  Bloodbath at the House of Death
1984  Terror in the Aisles
1985  The Little Troll Prince
1986  The Great Mouse Detective
1986  Escapes
1987  Sparky's Magic Piano
1987  The Nativity
1987  The Whales of August
1987  From a Whisper to a Scream
1988  Dead Heat
1990  Catchfire
1990  Edward Scissorhands
1993  The Thief and the Cobbler