Anthony Perkins
 |
Anthony Perkins |
Anthony Perkins (
April 4,
1932 –
September 12,
1992) was an
American actor best known for his role as the
serial killer Norman Bates in
Alfred Hitchcock's
Psycho (1960).
He was the son of American stage and film actor Osgood Perkins (James Ripley Osgood Perkins, 1891–1937) and his wife, Janet Esseltyn Rane.
Perkins' first movie was
The Actress (
1953); he received an
Academy Award nomination for his role in his second film,
Friendly Persuasion (
1956). After other acclaimed performances both in film and on
Broadway, he starred as Norman Bates in the
1960 film Psycho. Many people feel he deserved to win an Oscar for this role, but he was not nominated. Following the success of
Psycho, he did have a decade-long successful career in Europe, where many fans did not associate Perkins with the
typecasting image of Norman Bates.
He went on to create a critically-lauded portrayal of
Joseph K. in
Orson Welles' cinematic adaptation of
Franz Kafka's
The Trial, and upon returning to America, he took the role of a disturbed young murderer in
Pretty Poison, which served to affect the rest of his career. He starred in the sequels and prequel to
Psycho, including
Psycho II,
Psycho III (which he directed) and
Psycho IV: The Beginning. He also played a few memorable characters, such as the chaplain in
Catch-22 (
1970). Despite these successes, most of his later work was
made-for-TV movies.
Perkins also co-wrote the screenplay for the
1973 film
The Last of Sheila together with
composer/
lyricist Stephen Sondheim.
Perkins's life was meticulously documented in the biography
Anthony Perkins: Split Image by Charles Winecoff (Alyson Books, 2006).
Perkins was
bisexual, having had affairs with a number of men, including
1950s and
60s film star
Tab Hunter, dancer
Rudolf Nureyev and dancer-choreographer
Grover Dale, with whom Perkins had a six-year relationship prior to his marriage to
Berry Berenson. He claimed to have been exclusively
homosexual until his late thirties, when he met the actress
Victoria Principal.
Perkins died in
1992 of complications from
AIDS, at age 60.
His son, Osgood Perkins, credited as
Oz Perkins, is also an actor and his other son, Elvis Perkins, is a musician.
One day before the ninth anniversary of his death, his widow,
Berry Berenson, was killed on
American Airlines Flight 11, the flight that was hijacked by Islamic terrorists and crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center during the
September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks.
I have learned more about love, selflessness and human understanding from the people I have met in this great adventure in the world of AIDS than I ever did in the cutthroat, competitive world in which I spent my life.*
In the Deep Woods (1992)
*
The Naked Target (1992)
*
The Man Next Door (1991)
*
Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990)
*
Ghost Writer (1990)
*
I'm Dangerous Tonight (1990)
*
Daughter of Darkness (1990)
*
Chillers (1990)
*
Edge of Sanity (1989)
*
Destroyer (1988)
*
Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987)
*
Psycho III (1986)
*
Crimes of Passion (1984)
*
The Glory Boys (1984)
*
Psycho II (1983)
*
The Sins of Dorian Gray (1983)
*
For the Term of His Natural Life (1982)
*
North Sea Hijack, also known as Ffolkes (1980)
*
Double Negative (1980)
*
The Black Hole (1979)
*
Twice a Woman (1979)
*
Winter Kills (1979)
*
Les Misérables (1978)
*
First, You Cry (1978)
*
Remember My Name (1978)
*
Mahogany (1975)
*
Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
*
Lovin' Molly (1974)
*
The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972)
*
Play It As It Lays (1972)
*
Someone Behind the Door (1971)
*
Ten Days Wonder (1971)
*
How Awful About Allan (1970)
*
WUSA (1970)
*
Catch-22 (1970)
*
Pretty Poison (1968)
*
The Champagne Murders (1967)
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Evening Primrose (1966)
*
Is Paris Burning? (1966)
*
The Fool Killer (1965)
*
Agent 38-24-36 (1964)
*
The Sword and the Balance (1963)
*
The Trial (1962)
*
Five Miles to Midnight (1962)
*
Phaedra (1962)
*
Goodbye Again (1961)
* Psycho (1960)
* Tall Story (1960)
* On the Beach (1959)
* Green Mansions (1959)
* The Matchmaker (1958)
* This Angry Age (1958)
* Desire Under the Elms (1958)
* The Tin Star (1957)
* The Lonely Man (1957)
* Fear Strikes Out (1957)
* Friendly Persuasion (1956)
* The Actress'' (1953)
*
Mad About Tony - Anthony Perkins fan site*
Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Anthony Perkins*
The Psycho Movies Web Site*
Psycho star Anthony Perkins on playing Norman Bates
