Today we celebrate horror legend, Vincent Price, on what would have been his 114th birthday. The star of more than a hundred films, Price is an icon and a staple in the horror genre. Charismatic and dashing, his face, and his distinctive voice are known all around the world. He was one of those actors that appeared in everything, in whatever capacity, whether you recognized him or not.
The first time I remember hearing Vincent Price's voice was in The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo. While I was too young to recognize him at the time, there was no one else who could have played Vincent Van Ghoul, the mysterious magician who sends Scooby, Daphne, and Shaggy on a mission to capture thirteen wayward ghosts. The timbre of his voice and the way he spoke provides such a cozy, old school horror feeling. Especially, when you're a little kid falling in love with the genre for the first time.
Price has been the star of numerous iconic movies. To name a few, The Fly, House of Wax, and House on Haunted Hill. He was a frequent collaborator with cult-director, Roger Corman and together, they made The Pit and the Pendulum, Tales of Terror, and The Raven.
Of his film roles, I loved him in House on Haunted Hill. Playing Frederick Loren, the dubious host of a party being held at a haunted house, Price is both charming and utterly despicable. What unfolds is a story of jealousy, revenge, and madness. He's far from the good guy in this movie, but he's Vincent Price, and watching him be the villain is just as fun. There's a scene where he puppets a skeleton and from a closet drives his scheming wife and her affair partner into a vat of acid conveniently located in the basement of the house. It's truly iconic and the ending leaves you wondering whether or not the ghosts or anything else that happened in the house on haunted hill was real or not.
One of his last films and one he might be most recognized for by modern fans was as the Inventor in Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands. Burton and Price had previously worked on another one of Burton's films, Vincent, together before Burton wrote the role of the Inventor for him. Long before that, Tim Burton was a fan of Price and had sited him as an inspiration. In Edward Scissorhands, Price plays the creator of the eponymous Edward, who dies before he can complete him. It's a small role, but an important one to the film. It portrays Vincent as this kind, but very strange older man which seems a little true to life.
Vincent Price was not only an icon on the big screen, but in life. A frequent advocate for human and LGBTQA+ rights, we celebrate not just the characters he played, but the human being he was.
Happy birthday, Vincent!
Fun fact: Vincent Price shares a birthday with another horror icon, Christopher Lee!