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Vincent Price's grandfather, Vincent C. Price, was the
inventor of Baking Powder. His invention resulted in a
very successful business and family wealth. |
Sadly, Dr. Price lost it all through bad investments.
Much of the family wealth was gone. |
Vincent's father, also Vincent Price, was able to buy and
successfully run a St. Louis business, the National Candy
Company. Here's an article he wrote for a professional
journal. |
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letterhead from the National Candy Company, showing
the main factory. Though the company was long ago sold
to another concern, the building still stands. |
Vincent attended the St. Louis Country Day School, and
maintained contact throughout his life. Here's an
article from the school's newsletter in 2009 which shows
Price making a visit.
Click here to see highlights of
his school yearbook! |
Following graduation, Vincent and a group of fellow students
toured Europe. It was during this trip that he fell in
love with the arts. |
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Vincent's Yale Yearbook picture and biography. |
After returning from England and his triumph in Victoria
Regina, Price met actress Edith Barrett. |
A
lovely magazine illustration of Edith Barrett from 1934. |
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Vincent
lovingly gazes up at Edith in this publicity photo. |
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Vincent and Edith married in 1938. |
Vincent and Edith. |
The
couple had a son, Vincent Barrett Price, in 1940. |
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Vincent and actress Gloria Jean, both newcomers to the
Universal Pictures stable in 1939. |
Price and Barrett divorced in 1948. Soon after,
Vincent married designer Mary Grant. The New York Times
article above got Price's son's name wrong! |
Mary and Vincent Price. |
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1962, Vincent and Mary had a daughter, Victoria.
Vincent's children were 22 years apart. He used to
joke that it was the finest example of planned parenthood
ever! |
Vincent's acting career took a new path in 1960 when he made
his first film for American-International Pictures. |
Price, along with Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney, Jr. and Hazel
Court (in the photo from Look) became the face of AIP. |
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Always busy, Price also found time to do favors for friends,
such as the narration for this attraction in Tombstone, AZ.
Done in the 1960s, it's still playing to tourists! |
Vincent and Victoria in 1967. |
Classic AIP advertising from the early 70s. Price's
affiliation with the company would soon come to an end. |
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While making the film Theatre of Blood, in 1972,
Price met Australian actress Coral Browne. Soon, he
would divorce Mary and marry Coral. |
Known for her roles in The Killing of Sister George,
The Ruling Class and Auntie Mame, one of her
best performances was in the hard-to-find Dream Child. |
An
indication of his lasting popularity was the fact that
Vincent remained recognizable to the general public, though
his film and TV appearances began to dwindle in the 1980s. |
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Vincent and Coral were a very close couple, and seemed very
much devoted to each other. This made her death from
cancer in 1991 even more tragic. Vincent himself was
also in poor health. |
Disney used Vincent in several voice-only projects, such as
this fireworks show. He was also the original voice of
Phantom Manor at EuroDisney. |
Just a week shy of Halloween in 1993, Vincent Price passed
away. |
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People magazine provided an obituary, but was roundly
criticized (deservedly so) for giving the cover story to
Loni Anderson. |
Even after his death, Vincent made headlines in the
tabloids! |
In
2000, Victoria Price used the unfinished manuscript for her
father's unpublished autobiography for her own book.
Due to some of the more sensational aspects, the book also
made headlines. |
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Thank you to Irene Leland for this article from
the St. Louis Country Day School newsletter from 1984, detailing
Price's revisit to his old school. |
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