Anthony Perkins was born on 4 April 1932.
He was only 60 years old when he died of complications related to AIDS. It’s particularly tragic given he certainly had a lot more work he likely would have done. Still, for someone so associated with one role, he left a lot of work — including other times he played Norman Bates.
Perkins had quite a colorful career and was always a remarkably compelling actor. But we will always remember him for his breakout performance in Psycho.
He was already an established actor at that time, but not well-enough known to be prevented from acceptance as a truly messed-up character. Until recently, I thought mostly about the film in terms of its effect on me rather than what was going on with poor Norman Bates.
I mean: he’s Ed Gein. Both men seemed to really miss their mamas. And both mamas seem to have been awful. We have the facts for Gein. We only have what Norman has going on in his mind. Maybe she was great when she was alive!
But I’m not a huge fan of the film. I do think it’s one of Hitchcock’s best. But it has its problems. The beginning is pretty slow. And then there is that damned ending. I’m not talking about Norman in mama’s clothes with a chef’s knife. I mean the ending with all the psychobabble from Simon Oakland (The Night Stalker).
The Trial
I prefer him in Orson Welles’ criminally neglected The Trial. Anthony Perkins has the perfect combination of intelligence and paranoia to play Josef K. And I don’t think Kafka has ever been so well translated to the screen. If you haven’t seen it, you must! And this is a good print!
Other Anniversaries
Actors:
- Richard Coogan (1914-2014)
- David White (1916-1990)
- Elizabeth Wilson (1921-2015)
- Peter Vaughan (1923-2016)
- Kenneth Mars (1935-2011)
- Heath Ledger (1979-2008)
- Craig T Nelson (1944-)
- Julie Carmen (1954-)
- Hugo Weaving (1960-)
- A Michael Baldwin 1963-)
- David Cross (1964-)
- Robert Downey Jr (1965-).
Producer:
- Gene Reynolds (1923-2020).
Films:
- The Mad Bomber (1973)
- Black Cat (1981)
- Ice Cream Man (1996)
- Dementia (1999)
- Satanic (2006).
Cropped from Anthony Perkins by Allan Warren under CC BY-SA 3.0.