Of course, the first Hollywood "maniac" is an actor Anthony Perkins. A photo of a handsome young man did not leave the glossy covers of movie magazines in the first half of the sixties for a long time. But, as it turned out, the actor can become a hostage to his most successful role. The audience no longer perceived it otherwise than Norman Bates from the Hitchcock thriller Psycho. He had to act only in the sequels of this film and in the passing low-budget "horror movies."
About the personal life of Anthony Perkins there were many rumors. He did not hide his sexual inclinations, which we would call unconventional. But there was in the life of the actor, in addition to stormy romance with men, and a completely legal marriage with a woman who gave him two sons. In this article, we will follow the whole life path of this Hollywood celebrity.
Family, childhood, education
Who is Anthony Perkins? His biography simply had to intertwine with the world of cinema. After all, his father, Osgood Perkins, in the thirties was the real ruler of Broadway. Anthony was born in April 1932 in New York City. Osgood Perkins and Janet Esselstin had no more children. But if Anthony's father became a professional actor only after thirty, he himself was introduced to the theater from childhood. As Perkins Jr. recalled, his first role was a scream from a bat in the play Dracula. Later, he was a stage worker, craftsman and set the scenery. In his youth, Anthony still could not decide who he wants to become: a singer, actor, anyone else?
Osgood Perkins died when his son was only five years old. The boy was raised by his mother, a very strong-willed woman. Anthony was educated in private schools. First it was Buckingham Brownie & Nichols Elementary School (Cambridge, Massachusetts), and then secondary Brooks School (North Andover, Massachusetts). He then graduated from Columbia University in New York and enrolled in Rollins Private College in Florida (Winter Park).
Carier start
After Perkins Anthony recorded two solo albums, he realized that the singer’s career was not his path. As an actor, he was more fortunate. In theaters, he gradually managed to break out of the crowd to more or less prominent roles. So, he played in the production of “The Importance of Being Serious” by Bernard Shaw. Then Anthony began to dream of Hollywood. Fate smiled at him this time too. In 1953, the young man was offered to play in the movie "Actress", where Spencer Tracy turned out to be his partner on the set. Due to frequent absences, student Perkins was unable to graduate from Rollins College in Florida. Only twenty years later he was awarded a diploma of the named university. But the acting star Perkins rose in the sky of Hollywood. At twenty-four, he starred as the son of the protagonist in the film from the life of the Quaker community, "Friendly exhortation." But the zenith of fame was yet to come.
Anthony Perkins: filmography before "Psycho"
In total, the actor’s track record has one hundred and sixteen works. The film “Friendly exhortation” (directed by William Wyler) won the Golden Palm Branch. This made it possible for Anthony Perkins to advance to the Oscars in 1956 and the following year. He did not receive awards, but became very popular. Already in 1957, the actor received the role of Sheriff Ben Owens in the film "Tin Star". In 1958, he was lucky to play with the magnificent Sophia Loren in “Love under the Elms” (Iben Cabot). The next year was immediately marked by two works by Anthony Perkins. These are the films “On the Shore”, where he reincarnated as Lieutenant Peter Holmes, and “Green Estates”, where the actor brilliantly played Abel.
"Psycho"
The turning point in Perkins' career was his work with Alfred Hitchcock. This black and white psychological thriller later entered the classics of the American Gothic genre. Perkins Anthony starred in Norman Bates, the bitter owner of the movie . Actors Vera Miles and Janet Lee (Merion Crane) also starred. Thriller "Psycho" literally lifted Anthony Perkins to the top of fame. The actor so masterfully conveyed the duality of Norman Bates, revealed the ominous shadow of his mother, which hung over the soul of a soft and weak-willed person, that he became the most unforgettable cinematic "villain". Upon learning that the actor was not awarded an Oscar, Alfred Hitchcock said: "I am ashamed of my colleagues." But the glory medal has a downside. In America, the image of the schizophrenic villain so “stuck” to the actor that he was no longer perceived in any other role.
Life in Europe
However, this attitude did not appear immediately. When work on the Psycho thriller was completed, Anthony Perkins went to France in 1961. He was invited to a role in the film Goodbye Again (directed by Anatole Litvak). It was a free adaptation of the story "Do You Love Brahms?" the writer Francoise Sagan. And in Europe he was also lucky. For the role of the young American who is chasing the main character of the film performed by Ingrid Bergman, Anthony Perkins suddenly received a prize as the best actor at the Cannes Film Festival. After that, he literally became the idol of Paris. Thousands of teenagers in France imitated his hair and costume. Perkins remained in this European country throughout the sixties. He starred in "Fedra", "The Process" (an adaptation of F. Kafka), in the thriller "Scandal" directed by Claude Chabrol.
Life in America After Returning
The actor returned to his homeland in the late sixties. The public has not forgotten who Anthony Perkins is. Films featuring neurotic, psychopath and maniac again began to appear on American screens. His work in "The Pretty Poison" (1968) became a cult. But on this, fortune turned its back on Anthony Perkinson. The audience did not perceive the actor in other forms. Perkins returned to work in the theater, and for a long time his name disappeared from the pages of the tabloids. He also traveled once more to France and starred with Claude Chabrol in "The Monstrous Decade." And in the early eighties, luck again briefly smiled at the actor. A wave of sequelomania inspired the company Universal to shoot Psycho-2. At the age of fifty, the still youthful actor again starred in the role of Norman Bates.
Director's work
In 1986, Perkins Anthony himself decided to cream off his image of a psychopath and a neurotic. To this end, he directed the film Psycho-3. However, much to the disappointment, the tape was expecting a complete failure. Two years later, he again tried himself as a director. But the film "Luck" - a black comedy on the topic of cannibalism - was clearly unsuccessful.
Anthony Perkins: personal life
We must pay tribute to the actor: in the fifties, when America's unconventional sexual relations were taboo, he did not hide the fact that he was gay. His lovers were mostly actors. But they are also talking about a romance with such a star as Rudolf Nuriev. And with Grover Dale, the choreographer, he lived for six years.
At forty, he met Victoria Principal, an actress from the Dallas series, after which he began to visit a psychologist to get rid of homosexual inclinations. He eventually married the journalist Berry Berenson (1973). From this marriage two sons were born. Oz now made an acting career, and Elvis became a musician.
Anthony Perkins died of AIDS-related pneumonia on September 12, 1992 in California. His widow Berry died tragically. She was a passenger of an airplane that crashed into one of the towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.