Happy Vincentennial !

Vincent Price was born in St. Louis on May 27, 1911, to Marguerite Cobb Price and Vincent Leonard Price Sr. His grandfather, Vincent Clarence Price, had invented baking powder, which secured the family’s fortune. Price’s father was the president of the National Candy Company, which at one time was the largest candy company in the world, specializing in jawbreakers and jelly beans. The Price family had moved to St. Louis from Chicago to market their candy at the 1904 World’s Fair.

The 6-foot-4-inch actor first appeared onstage in 1934 in a London production of the play “Chicago.” He quickly won a leading role, as Prince Albert, in “Victoria Regina,” and the production proved so successful that it transferred to Broadway in 1935 as a vehicle for actress Helen Hayes. Price stayed with the production there for three years. He became a strong radio presence, and memorably served as the voice of “The Saint.”

In 1938, Price headed to Hollywood, where he made his screen debut in “Service Deluxe” and eventually landed roles in such significant films as “The House of Seven Gables” (1940), “Laura” (1944), “The Keys of the Kingdom” (1944), “Leave Her to Heaven” (1945), “Dragonwyck” (1946), “The Baron of Arizona” (1950), and “Champagne for Caesar” (1950). Price portrayed romantic leads and classical characters during this period, but he was especially memorable when playing villains, for either dramatic or comedic effect, as in the low-budget “Shock” (1946).

By the 1950s, Price had accumulated a diverse résumé but had yet to establish himself as a major star. His major big break came with the 1953 3D hit “House of Wax,” in which he played a murderous sculptor who uses human victims to populate his wax museum. The film established Price as America’s master of the macabre, and he solidified that reputation in horror films such as “The Fly” (1958), “House on Haunted Hill” (1958), and “The Tingler” (1959). Price was scarcely limited in his roles – he continued to demonstrate his range in such films as “Casanova’s Big Night” (1954), “While the City Sleeps” (1956), and “The Ten Commandments” (1956)

In the 1960s, Price reached the arguable height of his fame, starring in Roger Corman’s acclaimed series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations. Often appearing with fellow horror veterans Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre, Price delivered menacing performances in the films “House of Usher” (1960), “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1961), “Tales of Terror” (1962), “The Raven” (1963), “The Masque of the Red Death” (1964), and “The Tomb of Ligiea” (1964). During this fruitful period, Price attained cult-figure status, especially among the younger generation, and he gleefully parodied his own gothic image in comedies such as “Beach Party” (1963), “Comedy of Terrors” (1963), and “Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine” (1965). Demonstrating his versatility, Price also delivered one his most accomplished performances in the British cult horror classic “Witchfinder General” (1968). He made frequent television appearances as well, including a recurring role as the villain Egghead on “Batman.” Price’s popularity continued into the 1970s, with such movies as “The Abominable Dr. Phibes” (1971) and “Theatre of Blood” (1973).

Price’s menacing screen presence was in direct contrast to his offscreen reputation for compassion and generosity. In the mid-70s, Price cut back on his film roles to devote himself to the other passions in his life: collecting art and gourmet cooking. Art was a longtime passion: In 1951, he established the Vincent Price Gallery and Art Foundation on the campus of East Los Angeles Community College, to which he donated much of his celebrated private collection. He gave generously to schools, museums, and art foundations throughout his life, including MICDS and the St. Louis Art Museum. In 1972, he co-wrote the bestselling “A Treasury of American Art” with his second wife, Mary. They also co-authored several cookbooks and co-hosted television cooking shows throughout the 1960s and early ’70s. Their “A Treasury of Great Recipes” (1965) remains a well-regarded cookbook.

Married three times – to Edith Barrett (1938-48), Mary Grant (1949-73), and Coral Browne (1974-1991) – Price had two children, Vincent Barrett Price and Victoria Price.

Vincent Price passed away Oct. 25, 1993, in Hollywood.

Related Entries

The Haunted Palace
Dr. Phibes Rises Again
The Raven
Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine

Dr. Phibes Rises Again *HQ DVD Rip*

In this sequel, Fiona Lewis plays Diana the wife of a man named Biederbeck who has challenged the murderous wrath of the newly-risen Dr. Anton Phibes for access to the legendary River of Life, which can grant immortality to Phibes' beloved Victoria. Phibes has captured her and placed her in an ingenious death trap, where she has been sealed behind a wire mesh onto a tethered raft, and as the waters under her begins to rise, several metal-tongued cobras lower from the ceiling above, promising a gruesome death when the two meet- unless Biederbeck surrenders the key to unlock the gates to the river.

Trivia(From the IMDB)

• Just before being crushed in a giant press-screw, Baker can be seen reading "The Turn of the Screw".
  
  
• When the pregnant Virginia North was unable to reprise her role as Vulnavia for the sequel, Valli Kemp was cast instead.
  
  
• Many of the characters were named after famous jazz bandleaders, (Biederbeck and Lombardo being the most obvious).
  
  
• The desert sequences were filmed in Spain.
  
  
• There was a lot of hostility between Vincent Price and Robert Quarry, particularly when Price discovered that AI was planning on replacing him with Quarry as their major horror film star.
  
  
• Phibes originally had less dialogue. However, new lines were added after a lot of scripted sequences were cut out for budget reasons.
  
  
• Frankie Howerd was asked to be in this project.
  
  
• The Bach Singers, a volunteer group, worked for free, agreeing only to a donation to charitable purposes.
  
  
• In the original script Beiderbeck's first name was Jonathan.
  
  
• Shavers was originally meant to be impaled by a golden eagle, a la The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971).
  
  
• The Scottish fusiliers, who are mentioned in the finished film, were originally meant to have an on-screen role.
  
  
• Vulnavia was originally going to be a new character, but the studios insisted on keeping her name. This explains why the character returns despite having been killed in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971).
  
  
• The Pyramid which features in the climax was intended to consist of levels filled with traps and have boiling oil filling into it. It was changed for budget reasons.
  
  
• The second of a planned trilogy. The third would have either featured Phibes fighting a group of Nazis, or him searching for the key to Olympus. A film treatment still exists for the latter. The title would have been "Phibes Resurrectus," "The Seven Fates of Dr. Phibes" or "The Brides of Dr. Phibes".
  
  
• American International Pictures had planned at one stage to revive the character Count Yorga from the film Count Yorga, Vampire (1970) as an adversary for the abominable Dr. Phibes in this sequel. This plan was eventually dropped, however actor Robert Quarry (who plays Count Yorga) did appear in this film as Darius Biederbeck.
  
  
• Peter Cushing was originally cast in the Joseph Cotten role in the original film but was forced to withdraw due to his wife's ailing health.
  

Download the Clip