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Anthony Perkins

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For other people named Anthony Perkins, see Anthony Perkins (disambiguation).
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins in 1975, by Allan Warren
Born(1932-04-04)April 4, 1932
New York City, New York,
United States
DiedSeptember 12, 1992(1992-09-12) (aged 60)
Hollywood, California,
United States
Occupation(s)Actor, Musician
Years active1953–1992
SpouseBerry Berenson (1973–1992)

Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, best known for his role as Norman Bates in the Psycho film series and his Oscar-nominated role in Friendly Persuasion.

Early life

Perkins was born in New York City, the son of Janet Esselstyn (née Rane), and stage and film actor James Ripley Osgood Perkins.[1] He is 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, five years after his father's death.[2]

Career

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") 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".[3] His single "Moon-Light Swim" was a hit in the United States, peaking at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957.[4] He starred with Shirley Booth and Shirley MacLaine in the film The Matchmaker (1958).

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 starred in Green Mansions (1959) with Audrey Hepburn and the college comedy Tall Story (1960) with 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 would garner him the Best Actor Award from the International Board of Motion Picture Reviewers.

In 1961, Perkins would receive 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.

After that came a successful career in Europe, including the role of Joseph K. in Orson Welles' 1962 adaptation of Kafka's The Trial. Upon returning to America, he took the role of a disturbed young murderer in Pretty Poison (1968). 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 starred in The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean with Paul Newman, Jacqueline Bisset and Victoria Principal. Perkins was one of the many stars featured in the 1974 hit Murder on the Orient Express, reuniting him with Bisset and co-starring Albert Finney, Sean Connery, Ingrid Bergman, Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Cassel, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Widmark, Colin Blakely and Michael York. 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 Frank Loesser musical Greenwillow (1960), for which he was nominated for another Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and 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 Psycho IV: The Beginning in 1990, over which he had much creative control although he was turned down for director.

Films in which Perkins appeared in which his character had much resonance with Norman Bates include the sexually provocative Crimes of Passion (1984) opposite Kathleen Turner, and the Hungarian-produced Jekyll-Hyde remake Edge of Sanity and Daughter of Darkness.

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 Hollywood, California.

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' life was documented in the 1996 biography Anthony Perkins: Split Image written by Charles Winecoff.[5]

Personal life

On August 9, 1973, Perkins married photographer 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 Jane Fonda and Brigitte Bardot, who had tried to seduce him during his youth. He was a very shy actor, especially in women's company.[6] He reportedly had affairs with actors Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter, dancer Rudolf Nureyev, composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim and dancer-choreographer Grover Dale prior to marrying Berenson. He had his first intimate heterosexual experience at the age of 39 while working on the 1971 film The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean to an actress who also appeared in the film. According to an interview with People magazine Perkins declined to identify the actress, but "other sources" have identified her as Victoria Principal.[6]

Perkins died on September 12, 1992, from complications of AIDS. He was cremated, and his ashes were given to his family. His widow, Berry Berenson, was killed on American Airlines Flight 11 during the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.[7]

Filmography

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

References

  1. ^ Osgood Perkins, stage star, dies; Stricken after premiere of Susan and God, in Which He Was Leading Man, The New York Times
  2. ^ "Anthony Perkins Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2007-06-18.
  3. ^ Tony Perkins at Allmusic
  4. ^ Charts & Awards, Allmusic.com
  5. ^ Winecoff, Charles (1996). Split Image: The Life of Anthony Perkins. New York: Dutton. ISBN 0525940642.
  6. ^ a b Return of Psycho, People, June 13, 1983
  7. ^ Obituary: Berry Berenson, The Guardian, 14 September 2001

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