The Price of Fear Program Log

The Price of Fear Radio Program Biographies

"A man who limits his interests limits his life."
-- Vincent Price

A fitting epitaph for one of America's truly great Renaissance Men. Vincent Price, or 'Bink' as his closest friends often addressed him, was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1911, the son of Vincent Price, Sr., president of the National Candy Company, and the former Marguerite Cobb. Price's grandfather was Vincent Clarence Price, the inventor of the first cream of tartar-based baking powder--Dr. Price's Cream Baking Powder--and president of Steele and Price Manaufacturing.

Having broadened his education at Yale and London's Courtauld Institute, Vincent Price's interest turned to the Stage. Price made his Stage debut in 1935's Victoria Regina, as Prince Albert. The tall (6' 4"), handsome actor soon found work in Film, making his debut in 1938's Service Deluxe for Universal.

Price's debut over Radio was in Rudy Vallee's Fleishmann's Yeast Hour in 1936, the first of over 1,000 appearances over Radio. Price's Radio career spanned forty-three years of appearances in virtually every Radio genre of the era. Price's straight dramatic roles were the most eagerly anticipated and received, but Vincent Price's versatility over Radio found him appearing as a guest star and personality in many of the popular drama and variety programs of The Golden Age of Radio. Price starred as Simon Templar in the Frederick Ziv-synidated interpretation of The Saint, from 1947 through 1951.

Several of Vincent Price's appearances in Escape (1950) and Suspense (1943) represent some of most widely prized recordings from either canon. Price's appearance in Three Skeleton Key is often cited as one of the most thrilling recordings from The Golden Age.

Price was also featured in several Gov't sponsored and public service programs during World War II and later, including The World In Music (1946), The Constant Invader for the National Tuberculosis Association, Command Performance (1948), Treasury Star Parade, Guest Star (1955), The New National Guard Show, and Crusade for Freedom. Indeed as late as the 1970s, Price enjoyed lead and hosting roles over Radio in The Saints and The Sinners (1970), the BBC's The Price of Fear (1973) and Vincent Price's Hall of Horrors (1973). Price also shared hosting duties in 1979's Mutual Radio Theatre, one of the last successful attempts to revive Drama over Radio.

Vincent Price's understandable fame and entre into other media arose from Price's extraordinary Film career, during which he portrayed every character from Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon religion, to a regional medieval witchfinder--and every imaginable characterization in between. And though his over 140 films comprised only forty or less of the supernatural and horror variety, those are the films for which the great actor is most remembered by his millions of fans.

His background of having come from great wealth, then losing that great family wealth wasn't lost on him as he pursued his own film career. Price's attitude in accepting roles was based almost entirely on acquiring a paycheck. And he made no bones about it. Having invested a great deal of those paychecks in some of the finest art in world history, Price's own take on 'turning lemons into lemonade' clearly served both a higher purpose as well as a constant reminder of fortunes made and lost from his family's own past.

By the time that Vincent Price began pursuing Television roles, his reputation for both his abilities as an actor and his well-earned reputation as a humanitarian and Renaissance Man found him appearing as often in dramatic roles as he appeared as himself, in either parodies of his macabre portrayals on the big screen, or as the fascinating, urbane and widely read and experienced personality he'd become in his own right. His Television career spanned another 4oo performances over forty-five years.

As Vincent Price's own career and fame progressed, it became obvious that Price's acting appearances were simply a means to an end. Though he took every endeavor he associated himself with very seriously, the overarching passions in his life remained The Arts in general, his love of gourmet cooking, and his family and friends.

While characterized, rather starkly, as a social climber in the words of his daughter, it's clear that the social networking Price engaged in invariably benefited both parties. Price, though bedeviled by some of his own insecurities--as is everyone to one degree or another--always seemed to find a silver lining in everything he pursued. And his inherent talent for turning lemons into lemonade continued to preserve his optimism, ebullience, and joie de vivre throughout his long and storied life.

His quickness with a quip found him a regular guest on Television's Hollywood Squares, as well as endearing him to fans and peers alike throughout his entire career. As he became an elder-statesman of sorts in The Arts, his quickness of wit, charm, and hard-fought--and won--mastery of a multitude of artistic disciplines ultimately found him an international expert in food preparation, wine, fine art, and sculpture. Indeed, after years of what his daughter referred to as social climbing, Vincent Price ultimately achieved a position of preeminence as the one whom many sought to climb up to in his own right. Indeed, in Price's case, longevity was its own reward.

And yet, to the very end of his life, he remained remarkably accessible to fans and peers alike, irrespective of their fame, fortune or background--a testament to his own long history of both denouncing inequality and walking that walk by example.

Vincent Price clearly understood that his public persona had become larger than Life from the 1950s, forward. Indeed, in public and private interviews, Price continually downplayed his own amazing success. This, from all appearances and written accounts, wasn't posturing in any way. Price, perhaps owing to his own multidisciplinary background, seemed to grow not only more tolerant of others throughout his life, but at the same time acquired a more charitable view of his own shortcomings.

Price was first married to the former Edith Barrett, an actress, from 1938 to 1948, a union that produced a son, Vincent Barrett Price, in 1940. Divorced for a year, Price met and married designer Mary Grant in 1949, a union that produced his daughter, Victoria, in 1962. Divorced again in 1973, in 1974 Price married former Australian-born actress, Coral Browne, a union that lasted until her death in 1991.

Widely characterized as the love of his life, Price converted to Catholicism as a condition of marrying Ms. Browne, and Ms. Browne applied for American citizenship as a condition of marrying Mr. Price. Their relationship for the remainder of their lives together was widely reported as a life-long love affair. Upon Coral Browne's death in 1991, she was eulogized and buried at Beverly Hills' St. Victor's Catholic Church, to a full orchestral rendition of Mozart's Requiem Mass. Upon Vincent Price's own death in 1993, he was cremated and reportedly had his ashes, with that of his favorite gardening hat, scattered over the coast near Malibu.

From the October 26, 1993 edition of the Post-Standard (Syracuse NY):

Vincent Price, Hollywood's Perfect Villain, Dead at 82

     His reputation as a scare merchant was established in the 1953 thriller, "House of Wax."

     LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vincent Price, the stage-trained actor whose gaunt face and creepy voice made him the perfect villain in such thrillers as "House of Wax," "The Pit and the Pendulum" and "The Raven," died Monday at age 82.
     Price died of lung cancer, his personal assistant, Reg Williams, said from the actor's home.
     A versatile actor who once played Prince Albert to Helen Hayes' "Victoria Regina," Price became known in his later years as the prince of menace. He was amused by his reputation and exploited it by contributing a ghostly voice on Michael Jackson's hit record, "Thriller."  He also served as the host of the PBS series "Mystery."
     From the beginning of his film career in 1938, Price performed in a wide variety of films, from the sublime ("Laura," "The Ten Commandments") to the ridiculous ("Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine " "Dr. Phibes Rises Again").
     His philosophy:  "It's awfully easy to get out of the business.  It's not easy to stay in.  I never thought that the great parts were the only ones you should do.  That's a great mistake, because there are so many interesting things available."
     Price's interests ranged beyond movies.  He wrote several art books, including "I Like What I Know" and "The Michelangelo Bible."
     He was born in St. Louis on May 27, 1911, the son of a candy manufacturer.  His upbringing reflected his father's wealth:  tours of Europe and education at Yale University, where he graduated in art history and English.
     Aiming for a career as an art teacher, Price enrolled for a master's degree at the University of London.  Accepting a dare from a friend, he auditioned for a role in a play, "Chicago" starring John Gielgud, and won it.

There's little question as to Vincent Price's contributions to The Arts, both nationally and internationally. Price's life remains a testament to one of his most often cited quotes: "A man who limits his interests limits his life."

Vincent Price introduces his signature art collection for Sears (1960s)

Vincent Price clearly never limited his interests, as his multidisciplinary history of achievements and contributions fully demonstrates. His only reported regret was growing older--a characteristically humble regret, in the greater scheme of things, given his continued record of accomplishments and contributions into his 80s.

A man of great and noble passions, Vincent Price set a very high bar for those that might hope to emulate his accomplishments. His career in The Arts spanned his entire adult life. He rarely forgot the vagaries of life's fortunes, and remained a loyal friend, gentleman and unflagging and generous supporter of a myriad social and Arts-related causes. He invested both his wealth and his considerable passion into every cause he supported.

Renaissance Man is an often abused sobriquet. In Price's case, it's entirely appropriate. Vincent Price's life stands as proof positive that the only limit to one's life achievements is mortality itself. If he hadn't felt he'd achieved all he could achieve by the time of his passing, it wasn't for lack of demonstrating his willingness to beat Father Time to the finish line.