Dead of the Nite

He was known as the King of the Grand Guignol, the Merchant of Menace or
simply as Bink. A master of many talents; gourmet chef, art collector, writer,
painter and actor of stage, screen and television, his film career alone spanned
more than 100 films. This tall (6' 4") eccentric, polished gentleman with the singularly
distinctive voice and sometimes over the top theatrics is best remembered
for his performances in classic camp and horror films of the 50s, 60s and
early 70s. He often played the anti-hero who wants revenge on those who
wronged him. These atmospheric thrillers were always filled with a sense of black
humour with Vincent frequently playing the villain who died screaming.
Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. (May 27, 1911 - October 25, 1993), born in St. Louis,
Missouri to Vincent Leonard Price and Marguerite Willcox Price. His family
started the National Candy Company. Vincent attended the St. Louis, Missouri
private high-school, Christian Brother's College continued his education at Yale
University where he received degrees in Art History and English then taught
school for a year. Price returned to college to take his Masters in Fine Arts at
the Courtauld Institute in London, he also studied briefly in Vienna.An avid art
collector, Price and his second wife Mary donated hundreds of works of art and
a large monetary gift to East Los Angeles College in the early 1960s in order to
endow the Vincent and Mary Price Gallery there, which stands to this day. He
wrote a syndicated art column in the 1960s always encouraging others to develop
a passion for art.
He became interested in theater in the 1930s, appearing
professionally on stage from 1935. He made his film debut in
1938 with Service de Luxe and established himself as a competent
actor, notably in Laura (1944), directed by Otto Preminger.
He acted as Joseph Smith, Jr. in the movie Brigham
Young (1940). In the 1950s he moved into horror films, enjoying
the role in the successful curiosity House of Wax
(1953), the first 3-D film to land in the year's top ten at the
North American box office. He also starred in the original
House on Haunted Hill (1959) as eccentric millionaire
Fredrick Loren. (The actor playing the same character in the
1999 remake was made to not only resemble, but was renamed
after Price.) In the 1960s, Price and Peter Lorre starred as crimefighting antique dealers in the unsold
pilot, "Collector's Item." According to Price, when he and Peter Lorre went to view Bela Lugosi's body
at Lugosi's 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?"