Vincent Price

Vincent Price in 'Edward Scissorhands'

Vincent Price (1911 - 1993)

Film Deaths

• Tower of London (1939) [Duke of Clarence]: Drowned in a vat of wine by Boris Karloff after being knocked unconscious by Basil Rathbone.
• Green Hell (1940) [David Richardson]: Shot with an arrow by a native.
• Brigham Young, Frontiersman (Brigham Young) (1940) [Joseph Smith]: Shot to death by an assassin in a courtroom.
• Dragonwyck (1946) [Nicholas Van Ryn]: Shot in the chest by a villager after Vincent points his own gun at Glenn Langan.
• The Long Night (1947) [Maximilian]: Shot to death by Henry Fonda.
• The Bribe (1949) [Carwood]: Shot to death by Robert Taylor.
• House of Wax (1953) [Professor Henry Jarrod]: suffocated after he falls into a vat of molten wax during a struggle with police in his laboratory. (See also Lionel Atwill in the 1933 version Mystery of the Wax Museum.)
• Dangerous Mission (1954) [Paul Adams]: Crushed to death when the glacier collapses on him after he used his gun to try and hit Victor Mature.
• The Mad Magician (1954) [Don Gallico 'The Great]: Burned to death after he's knocked onto the conveyor belt to the crematorium at the end of a struggle with Patrick O'Neal.
• The Ten Commandments (1956) [Baka]: Neck snapped at the end of a struggle with Charlton Heston, after Charlton finds Vincent preparing to torture the bound John Derek.
• The Bat (1959) [Dr. Malcolm Wells]: Shot in the chest or stomach when his own gun goes off during a struggle with Gavin Gordon.
• The Fall of the House of Usher (House of Usher) (1960) [Roderick Usher]: Burned to death after being trapped in the burning building while struggling with his sister (Myrna Fahey).
• Master of the World (1961) [Robur]: Killed in an explosion when Charles Bronson blows up Vincent's airship.
• Queen of the Nile (Nefertiti, regina del Nilo; Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile) (1961) [Benakon]: Killed by Liana Orfei.
• Confessions of an Opium Eater (Souls for Sale) (1962) [Gilbert De Quincey]: Drowned, along with Linda Ho, during a struggle in the sewers.
• Tales of Terror (Edgar Allan Poe's Tales of Terror) (1962) [Locke/Fortunato/Valdemar]: Has three different deaths in the three different stories. (1) "Locke" is burned to death when he drops his lantern, setting the house on fire, during a struggle with Leona Gage (his body is shown through the flames after Leona's body transforms back into Maggie Pierce's). (2) "Fortunato" is suffocated when Peter Lorre chains him up beside Joyce Jameson's body in an alcove, then builds a wall to seal them in. Their bodies are shown afterwards when the police break down the wall. (3) "Valdemar" dies of an unspecified illness in bed; however, having been placed in a hypnotic trance by Basil Rathbone, he remains in a state between life and death, unmoving and speaking in a disembodied voice. He eventually snaps out of his trance and rises from his bed in order to defend Debra Paget from Basil, decomposing/ melting as he does so.
• Tower of London (1962) [Richard of Gloucester]: Falls onto a fallen soldier's axe after being thrown from his horse on the battlefield, he then sinks into a pond.
• Diary of a Madman (1963) [Simon Cordier]: Burned to death in a house fire he caused himself to destroy the spirit (Joseph Ruskin).
• Twice-Told Tales (The Corpse-Makers; Nights of Terror) (1963) [Alex Medbourne/ Rappaccini/Gerald Pyncheon]: Playing three characters in three different stories, he dies in two of them. (1) "Rappaccini" commits suicide by grabbing hold of a poisonous plant in his garden, after the death of his daughter (Joyce Taylor). (2) "Gerald Pyncheon" is strangled by a skeleton while the house collapses around them.
• The Comedy of Terrors (The Graveside Story) (1964) [Waldo Trumbull]: Poisoned when the well-meaning Boris Karloff pours his "medicine" down Vincent's throat. (Played for comic effect.)
• The Last Man on Earth (Naked Terror; The Night Creatures; Night People) (1964) [Dr. Robert Morgan]: Mortally shot in the stomach by the mutated survivors, then stabbed in the chest when one of them throws a spear at him in the church.
• The Masque of the Red Death (1964) [Prospero]: Dies of the Red Death after the embodiment of the disease (also played by Vincent) appears during the party in Vincent's castle.
• The Tomb of Ligeia (1965) [Verden Fell]: Burned to death when the house catches fire while Vincent is struggling with a cat possessed by Elizabeth Shepherd's spirit; his body is shown afterwards, lying in the flames next to Elizabeth's body (changed from the cat to human form in death).
• 'Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs' (Spie vengono dal semifreddo) (1966) [Dr. Goldfoot/General Willis]: Playing a dual role, "General Willis" is killed in an explosion when one of the "girl bombs" kisses him. ("Dr. Goldfoot" survives the movie.)
• The Conqueror Worm (Matthew Hopkins: Witchfinder General) (1968) [Matthew Hopkins]: Shot to death by a soldier, as a mercy killing when the soldier discovers Ian Ogilvy hacking Vincent to death with an axe in a dungeon.
• Scream and Scream Again (Screamer) (1969) [Dr. Browning]: Dissolved in a vat of acid after a confrontation with Christopher Lee. (Because of the use of extreme close-ups of Vincent and Christopher in this scene, it's unclear whether Christopher pushes Vincent into the vat or whether Vincent falls in while backing away from Christopher.)
• Cry of the Banshee (1970) [Lord Edward Whitman]: Presumably killed (off-screen) by Patrick Mower, after Vincent gets into the carriage and finds his son (Carl Rigg) and daughter (Hilary Dwyer) dead; the movie ends with Vincent screaming as Patrick drives the carriage away.
• The Abominable Dr. Phibes (The Curse of Dr. Phibes) (1971) [Dr. Anton Phibes]: Commits suicide by embalming himself in his secret hideout, lying next to Caroline Munro's preserved body. (The 1972 sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again reveals that he was actually only putting himself into temporary suspended animation, but it's clear that the filmmakers originally intended this as a death scene.)
• Theatre of Blood (Much Ado About Murder) (1973) [Edward Lionheart]: Falls to his death when a blast of fire knocks him off the roof of the burning theatre, as he carries the body of his daughter (Diana Rigg) in his arms.
• Scavenger Hunt (1979) [Milton Parker]: Dies of a heart attack while playing a video game in his bedroom, with Carol Wayne at his side. (Played for comic effect.)
• Bloodbath at the House of Death (1984) [Sinister Man]: Burned to death when his robes catch fire while he and the rest of his cult are preparing a ceremonial fire. (Played for comic effect.)
• The Great Mouse Detective (1986; animated) [Professor Ratigan]: Providing the voice of a rat, he falls to his death from Big Ben after been struck by the loud sound of the bell.
• The Offspring (From a Whisper to a Scream) (1987) [Julian White]: Stabbed in the throat when Susan Tyrrell throws a knife at him in his library.
• Edward Scissorhands (1990) [The Inventor]: Dies of a heart attack in his laboratory just as he is about to give Johnny Depp his new hands.
• The Thief and the Cobbler (Arabian Knight; The Princess and the Cobbler) (1995; animated) [Zigzag, the Grand Vizier]: Eaten by crocodiles after falling into a pit; we only see the character's eyes and mouth in the darkness before the crocodile's mouth snaps shut. (Vincent's lines were recorded in 1968, but the film was not completed and released until 1995 two years after his death.)

TV Deaths

• Summer Theatre: Dream Job (1953) [Cooper Fielding]: Falls to his death when he backs away out the window when his aunt (Virginia Farmer) points a gun at him.
• What's a Nice Girl Like You...? (1971; TV Movie) [William Spevin]: Shot in the back by Roddy McDowall.
• Night Gallery: The Return of the Sorcerer (1972) [Mr. Carnby]: Playing a dual role as twin brothers, one brother was killed by the other several years before the story begins; the dead brother comes back to life and decapitates the living brother with an axe (off-camera). We only see the axe start to come down, then hear the impact from the other room.
• The Bionic Woman: Black Magic (1976) [Manfred/Cyrus Carstairs]: Playing a dual role as twin brothers, "Cyrus" dies of an unspecified illness with his brother "Manfred" at his bedside. "Manfred" survives the episode.
• Joys (1976; TV special) [Vincent Price]: Killed by Johnny Carson. (I haven't seen this special, but I've read that all the guest stars are killed one by one by a mysterious figure who is ultimately revealed as Johnny.) (Played for comic effect.)

Notable Connections

• Ex-Mr. Edith Barrett

• Mr. Coral Browne (widowed)

Gallery

Animated death in 'The Great Mouse Detective'