The
Undisputed King of
Grand Guignol
Vincent Price was born in St Louis, Missouri. He travelled in Europe, studied at Yale, and eventually became an actor. He made his screen debut in 1938, and after many minor roles he began to perform in low-budget horror movies such as House of Wax (1953), achieving his first major success with House of Usher (1960).
Famous for his atmospheric voice and his quizzical, mock-serious facial expressions, he went on to star in a series of acclaimed Gothic horror movies, such as Pit and the Pendulum (1961) and The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971). He abandoned films in the mid-1970s, going on to present cookery programmes for television.
However, he always maintained a sense of humour, portraying Vincent Van Ghoul, a cartoon version of himself in the 1984 cartoon series, "The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo and even starring as "The Spirit of Nightmare" in an Alice Cooper TV Special.
In 1951, Price founded the Vincent Price Gallery and Art Foundation on the campus of the East Los Angeles Community College.
He wrote A Treasury of Great Recipes in 1965 with his second wife, Mary Grant.
Eventually, he returned to cinema for two last roles in The Whales of August in 1987 and Edward Scissorhands in 1990.
He was also the voice of the Phantom of Phantom Manor at Disneyland Paris, but unfortunately, complaints about his English narration led to his eerie voiceover being replaced by a French-speaking phantom.
Obviously, most kids still remember him best for the final "Horror Rap" on the end of Michael Jackson's single, Thriller.
He died on the 25th October, 1993 and his ashes were scattered at sea.