Despite having appeared on the stage throughout his career, Vincent Price’s greatest theatrical triumph was undoubtedly his 1977 one-man show, Diversions & Delights, in which he played the playwright and author Oscar Wilde. The play was transferred to Broadway at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in 1978.
Vincent Price (1911–1993) was one of the most recognizable actors in American film, celebrated for a career that spanned more than half a century and encompassed classic Hollywood drama, film noir, horror, comedy, television, radio, and the visual arts. Born in St. Louis and educated at Yale University and London’s Courtauld Institute of Art, Price originally trained as an art historian before an unplanned turn toward the stage in London launched him into a lifelong acting career. He made his professional debut in 1935 and quickly found success on Broadway opposite Helen Hayes in Victoria Regina, followed by work with Orson Welles’ famed Mercury Theatre company.
While Price is best remembered by film audiences for his commanding presence in Gothic horror classics such as House of Wax, The Fly, House on Haunted Hill, and his celebrated collaborations with director Roger Corman on a series of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations, his talents reached far beyond the horror genre. He appeared in prestige dramas like Laura and The Song of Bernadette, took on comedic and character roles throughout his career, and later became a beloved presence on television as the longtime host of PBS’s Mystery! and as the voice of Professor Ratigan in Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective. His unmistakable voice also lent an air of theatrical menace to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.”
Price brought his celebrated one-man stage show, Diversions & Delights, to the Historic Elitch Theatre in the summer of 1979. In the play, written by John Gay, Price portrayed Oscar Wilde late in the writer’s life, delivering what many who knew him — including his own family — considered the finest acting performance of his career. His Elitch appearance came the same summer he performed the piece at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado, another historic stage with a personal connection to Wilde, who had lectured Leadville miners on art nearly a century before. Beyond acting, Price was a respected art collector, arts consultant, and author who worked to make fine art accessible to the general public, notably through his long partnership with Sears, Roebuck and Co. He and his second wife, Mary Grant Price, donated a substantial art collection to found the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College. An avid gourmet, he also co-authored several popular cookbooks. Price’s warmth, wit, and generosity off-screen made as lasting an impression as his onscreen villainy, and his legacy endures today through continued screenings, tributes, and honors across the entertainment industry.
Seasons at the Theatre
- 1979
Elitch Theatre Productions/Roles:
- Diversions and Delights (as Oscar Wilde) — 1979
Notable Roles, Awards, and Other Work:
- Stage: Prince Albert in Victoria Regina on Broadway opposite Helen Hayes (1935–1937); member of Orson Welles’ Mercury Theatre company (1938); Mr. Manningham in Angel Street (1941–1942); title role of Oscar Wilde in Diversions and Delights (1977–1980s, considered by many his finest performance)
- Film: Laura (1944), The Song of Bernadette (1943), The Ten Commandments (1956), House of Wax (1953), House on Haunted Hill (1959), The Fly (1958), The Last Man on Earth (1964), Witchfinder General (1968), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), Theatre of Blood (1973), the Edgar Allan Poe cycle with director Roger Corman (1960–1964), The Whales of August (1987), and Edward Scissorhands (1990), his final film role
- Television: Egghead on the Batman TV series (1966–1967); longtime host of PBS’s Mystery! (1981–1989); voice of Vincent Van Ghoul on The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo
- Voice/Music: Narrator on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” (1982); narrator of Tim Burton’s short film Vincent (1982); voice of Professor Ratigan in Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
- Awards/Honors: Two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (film and television); Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Male, The Whales of August (1987); Grammy Award nomination for Best Spoken Word Album, Great American Speeches (1959); inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame (1989); lifetime achievement/tribute honors from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, Fantasporto, the Bram Stoker Awards, and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association
- Arts & Other Work: Art historian, collector, and consultant; co-founder of the Vincent Price Art Museum at East Los Angeles College (1957); longtime art consultant for Sears, Roebuck and Co.; author of multiple books, including cookbooks co-written with his wife Mary
Elitch Theatre Connections:
- 1956 – Alum, Cecil B. DeMille’s film, The Ten Commandments, featured multiple Elitch Theatre alum, including: Edward G. Robinson, Vincent Price, Addison Richards, Douglass Dumbrille, and Maude Fealy.
- 1957 – Cesar Romero The Story of Mankind (Romero joined the all-star cast alongside Price’s “Mr. Scratch”)
- 1964 – Cesar Romero Batman (1966–68) — both were part of the show’s rotating villain roster (Romero’s Joker, Price’s Egghead); they appear together in reunion/franchise material even where their episodes didn’t always overlap directly
- 1968 – Julie Newmar Batman (1966–68) — same series, as Catwoman opposite Price’s Egghead
- 1973 – Shelley Winters Batman — Winters played villain “Ma Parker” in the same series
- 1975 – Shelley Winters Journey Into Fear (remake, both in the ensemble cast)
- 1979 – Cloris Leachman Scavenger Hunt (ensemble comedy)
- 1987 – Ann Sothern The Whales of August (with Bette Davis & Lillian Gish)
- 1988 – Darren McGavin Dead Heat
