Some Fun With Vinnie

Today is Vincent Price's 100 birthday.  He was a man of many characters.  As a horror actor he was a big as Christopher Lee (also born today), but didn't have nearly as many roles as Lee in the genre. In fact, though he did make appearances in films that included early horror gods like Boris Karloff, such as 

Tower of London (1939), his early career is more typified by roles in Films Noir.  He sort of stumbled into his role of horror icon, but after his appearance in House of Wax (1953) was followed up by his iconic role in The Fly some 5 years later (after numerous television roles and a smallish part in The Ten Commandments (1956)), and then on to a starring role in William Castle's House On Haunted Hill (1959), his horror credentials were firmly established (he did ultimately record for BBC radio horror in the early 1970's).  With directors and producers like Roger Corman coming in the 1960's as American counterparts to the British Hammer institution, Price found himself in world of endless, garishly colored horror  roles.  From there he just seemed to have fun with the notion of being a "horror icon."  If anyone has seen his stint in the Canadian TV production The Hilarious House of Frankenstein (1971), his fun with the notion of being a "horror actor" is clear--I saw this as a re-run here in the States years later and it remains a favorite role for me as a Price fan.  He had always expressed a desire to play a Shakespearean role; yet when the outrageous role of Edward Kendal Sheridan Lionhart came up in a film called Theater of Blood (1973) he didn't shirk from assaying the role of a really bad actor of Shakespearean material.  A serious sense of humour was at work.  Ultimately, Price would end his career in the animation and film-work of a young director who grew up feasting his eyes on classic Universal horror films--Tim Burton.

Vincent Price was less known for his love of serious food, nonetheless, he was a very discerning gourmet.  He even had a short lived television program in 1971, "Cooking Price Wise."  His cookbook with his second wife Mary Grant Price,  A Treasury of Great Recipes, published in 1965 is considered an international classic.  I am privileged to own a family copy of the book gifted to me from my mother -in law.  This semi-formally trained chef be featuring some of Mr. Price's food insight throughout this Friday.