Anthony Perkins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other people named Anthony Perkins, see Anthony Perkins (disambiguation).
Anthony Perkins
AnthonyPerkins.jpg
promotional photograph of Perkins, c. 1960s
BornApril 4, 1932
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedSeptember 12, 1992 (aged 60)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death
AIDS-related Pneumonia
Resting place
Cremated
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActor, Musician
Years active1953–1992
Spouse(s)Berry Berenson (1973–1992, his death)
ChildrenOz Perkins
Elvis Perkins
Parent(s)Osgood Perkins
Janet Esselstyn Rane
Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor and singer.
He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his second film, Friendly Persuasion, but is best known for playing Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and its three sequels.

Early life[edit]

Perkins was born in New York City, son of stage and film actor Osgood Perkins and his wife, Janet Esselstyn (née Rane). His paternal great-grandfather was wood engraver Andrew Varick Stout Anthony.[1] He was five when his father died.[2] Perkins was a descendant of a Mayflower passenger, John Howland. He attended The Brooks School, The Browne & Nichols School, Columbia University and Rollins College, having moved to Boston in 1942.[3]

Career[edit]

Perkins made his film debut in The Actress (1953). He received the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor and an Academy Award nomination for his second film, Friendly Persuasion (1956). The tall (6'2", 188 cm) Perkins also portrayed the troubled former Boston Red Sox baseball player Jimmy Piersall in the 1957 true story Fear Strikes Out.
Following this, he released three pop music albums in 1957 and 1958 on Epic and RCA as "Tony Perkins".[4] His single "Moon-Light Swim" was a hit in the United States, peaking at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957.[5] He starred with Shirley Booth and Shirley MacLaine in the film The Matchmaker (1958).
A life member of The Actors Studio,[6] Perkins also acted in theater. In 1958, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Look Homeward, Angel on Broadway. During this time he also co-starred in Desire Under the Elms (1958) with Sophia Loren, and played a basketball star in the romantic comedy Tall Story (1960) opposite Jane Fonda.
Perkins was cast as Norman Bates in the Alfred Hitchcock-directed film Psycho (1960). The film was a critical and commercial success, and gained Perkins international fame for his performance as the homicidal owner of the Bates Motel. Perkins' performance gained him the Best Actor Award from the International Board of Motion Picture Reviewers. In 1961, Perkins received considerable critical acclaim for his performance in the film Goodbye Again, opposite Ingrid Bergman, a performance which won him the Best Actor Award at the 1961 Cannes Film Festival.
With Charmian Carr in Evening Primrose, 1966
After that came a successful career in Europe, including the role of Joseph K. in Orson Welles' 1962 adaptation of Kafka's The Trial (both 1962). Upon returning to America, he took the role of a disturbed young murderer in Pretty Poison (1968) opposite Tuesday Weld. He also played Chaplain Tappman in Catch-22 (1970).
Perkins co-wrote, with composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim, the screenplay for the 1973 film The Last of Sheila, for which they received a 1974 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay.
In 1972, he appeared in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean, and was one of the many stars featured in the 1974 hit Murder on the Orient Express. In 1974, Perkins played the lead role in the romantic drama Lovin' Molly with Blythe Danner and Susan Sarandon. Perkins also hosted television's Saturday Night Live in 1976 and was featured in his only science fiction film, the box office-smash and space opus, Walt Disney's The Black Hole, in 1979.
His Broadway credits also included the 1967 Neil Simon comedy The Star-Spangled Girl, the Frank Loesser musical Greenwillow (1960), for which he was nominated for another Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musicaland Bernard Slade's 1979 play Romantic Comedy opposite Mia Farrow.
Perkins reprised the role of Norman Bates in three sequels to Psycho. The first, Psycho II (1983), was a box office success more than 20 years after the original film. He then starred in and directed Psycho III (for which he was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Actor) in 1986, but refused to reprise his role as Bates in the failed television pilot Bates Motel, famously boycotting the project in a very ardent, and well-received, oppositional public campaign. He did play Bates in the following made-for-cable film Psycho IV: The Beginning in 1990, over which he had much creative control, although he was turned down for director. He directed a comedy horror film in 1988 called Lucky Stiff.
Perkins has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an honor he received for his influential and exceptional contributions to the motion picture industry. It is located at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles.
In 1991, Perkins was honored with the Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
Although he was fighting AIDS, the actor appeared in eight television productions between 1990 and 1992, including Daughter of Darkness (1990) with Mia Sara and The Naked Target (1992) with Roddy McDowall. He made his final appearance in In Deep Woods (1992) with Rosanna Arquette.
Perkins had agreed to provide the voice for the role of the dentist, Dr. Wolfe, in The Simpsons episode "Last Exit to Springfield" after Anthony Hopkins and Clint Eastwood both turned the role down, but he died before the part could be recorded. In the end, the character was voiced by Simpsons regular Hank Azaria.[7]

Personal life[edit]

On August 9, 1973, Perkins married photographer Berinthia "Berry" Berenson. They had two sons: actor Oz Perkins (b. February 2, 1974), and musician Elvis Perkins (b. February 9, 1976).
He once said he felt too nervous around women, and resisted actresses Rhonda Fleming, Jane Fonda, Maureen O'Hara and Brigitte Bardot, who had tried to seduce him during his youth.[citation needed] He was a very shy actor, especially in women's company.[8] According to an unauthorized biography by Charles Winecoff, he had affairs with Christopher Makos, actor Tab Hunter, dancer Rudolf Nureyev, composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim, actor Nick Adams, and dancer-choreographer Grover Daleprior to marrying Berenson.[9] He had his first intimate heterosexual experience at the age of 39 while working on the 1972 film The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean with an actress who also appeared in the film. Perkins declined to identify the actress, but "other sources" have identified her as Victoria Principal. Principal confirmed this in a People magazine article about Perkins.[8]

Death[edit]

Perkins died at his Los Angeles home on September 12, 1992, from AIDS-related[10][11][12] pneumonia.[13]

Filmography[edit]

Film/TV
YearTitleRoleNotes
1953The ActressFred Whitmarsh
1956Friendly PersuasionJosh BirdwellNomination – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1957Fear Strikes OutJim Piersall
1957The Lonely ManRiley Wade
1957The Tin StarSheriff Ben Owens
1958This Angry AgeJoseph Dufresne
1958Desire Under the ElmsEben Cabot
1958The MatchmakerCornelius Hackl
1959Green MansionsAbel
1959On the BeachLt. Peter Holmes – Royal Australian Navy
1960Tall StoryRay Blent
1960PsychoNorman Bates
1961Goodbye AgainPhilip Van der BeshCannes Film Festival Best Actor Award
1962PhaedraAlexis
1962Five Miles to MidnightRobert MacklinFrench title: Le couteau dans la plaie
1962The TrialJosef K
1963Le glaive et la balanceNeedaEnglish title: The Sword and the Balance
1964Une ravissante idioteHarry Compton/Nicholas MaukoulineEnglish title: The Ravishing Idiot
1965The Fool KillerMilo Bogardus
1966Is Paris Burning?Sgt. WarrenOriginal French title: Paris brûle-t-il?
1966Evening PrimroseCharles SnellTV movie
1967The Champagne MurdersPaul Wagner
1968Pretty PoisonDennis Pitt
1970Catch-22Chaplain Capt. A.T. Tappman
1970WUSARainey
1970How Awful About AllanAllanTV movie
1971Someone Behind the DoorLaurence JeffriesOriginal French title: Quelqu'un derrière la porte
1971Ten Days' WonderCharles Van Horn – le fils déséquilibré de Théo
1972Play It as It LaysB.Z.
1972The Life and Times of Judge Roy BeanReverend LaSalle
1974Lovin' MollyGid
1974Murder on the Orient ExpressMcQueen
1975MahoganySean
1978Remember My NameNeil Curry
1978First, You CryArthur HerozTV movie
1978Les MisérablesJavertTV movie
1979Winter KillsJohn Cerruti
1979Twee vrouwen (nl)Alfred
1979The Black HoleDr. Alex Durant
1980Deadly CompanionLawrence Miles
1980North Sea HijackKramer
1983For the Term of His Natural LifeRev James NorthTV movie
1983The Sins of Dorian GrayHenry LordTV movie
1983Psycho IINorman Bates
1984The Glory BoysJimmyTV
1984Crimes of PassionRev. Peter Shayne
1986Psycho IIINorman BatesAlso director
Nomination – Saturn Award for Best Actor
1987Napoleon and Josephine: A Love StoryTalleyrandTV mini-series
1988DestroyerRobert Edwards
1989Edge of SanityDr. Henry Jekyll / Jack 'The Ripper' Hyde
1990Daughter of DarknessAnton/Prince ConstantineTV movie
1990I'm Dangerous TonightProf. BuchananTV movie
1990Psycho IV: The BeginningNorman BatesTV movie
1991Der Mann nebenan (fr)Arthur Johnsonbased on the novel A Demon in My View
1992The Naked TargetEl mecanoOriginal Spanish title: Los gusanos no llevan bufanda
1992In the Deep WoodsPaul Miller, P.I.TV movie

References[edit]

  1. Jump up ^ "Architecture of 196 Beacon Street, Back Bay, Boston".
  2. Jump up ^ "Osgood Perkins, stage star, dies; Stricken after premiere of Susan and God, in Which He Was Leading Man". The New York Times.
  3. Jump up ^ "Anthony Perkins Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  4. Jump up ^ Tony Perkins at AllMusic
  5. Jump up ^ Charts & Awards, Allmusic.com
  6. Jump up ^ Garfield, David (1980). "Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc. p. 279. ISBN 0-02-542650-8.
  7. Jump up ^ Jean, Al (2004). The Simpsons season 4 DVD commentary for the episode "Last Exit to Springfield"(DVD). 20th Century Fox.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Darrach, Brad (June 13, 1983). "Return of Psycho". People. Vol. 19, No. 23
  9. Jump up ^ Winecoff, Charles (1996). Split Image: The Life of Anthony Perkins. New York: Dutton. ISBN 0-525-94064-2.
  10. Jump up ^ Goodman, Mark (September 28, 1992). "One Final Mystery: Surrounded by Family, Friends and a Wall of Silence, Tony Perkins Succumbs to AIDS". People. Vol. 38 No. 13.
  11. Jump up ^ Weinraub, Bernard (September 16, 1992). "Anthony Perkins's Wife Tells of 2 Years of Secrecy". The New York Times.
  12. Jump up ^ Ferrell, David (September 13, 1992). "Anthony Perkins, 60, Dies; Star of 'Psycho' Had AIDS". Los Angeles Times.
  13. Jump up ^ "Anthony Perkins: Biography". TV Guide. Retrieved August 22, 2013.

External links[edit]

Portal iconBiography portal
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anthony Perkins.
Authority control