Anthony Perkins

American actor

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Last Updated: Dec 9, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

Born:: April 4, 1932, New York, New York, U.S.

Died:: September 12, 1992, Hollywood, California (aged 60)

Notable Works:: “Psycho III”

Married To:: Berry Berenson (married 1973)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "Los gusanos no llevan bufanda" (1992); "A Demon in My View" (1991); "Edge of Sanity" (1989); "Destroyer" (1988); "Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story" (1987); "Psycho III" (1986); "Crimes of Passion" (1984); "The Glory Boys" (1984); "For the Term of His Natural Life" (1983); "Psycho II" (1983); "Double Negative" (1980); "North Sea Hijack" (1980); "The Black Hole" (1979); "Twee vrouwen" (1979); "Winter Kills" (1979); "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); "La décade prodigieuse" (1971); "Someone Behind the Door" (1971); "WUSA" (1970); "Catch-22" (1970); "BBC Play of the Month" (1968); "Pretty Poison" (1968); "The Champagne Murders" (1967); "ABC Stage 67" (1966); "Is Paris Burning?" (1966); "The Fool Killer" (1965); "Une ravissante idiote" (1964); "Le glaive et la balance" (1963); "Le procès" (1962); "Le couteau dans la plaie" (1962); "Phaedra" (1962); "Goodbye Again" (1961); "Psycho" (1960); "Tall Story" (1960); "On the Beach" (1959); "Green Mansions" (1959); "The Matchmaker" (1958); "Desire Under the Elms" (1958); "This Angry Age" (1957); "The Tin Star" (1957); "The Lonely Man" (1957); "Fear Strikes Out" (1957); "Friendly Persuasion" (1956); "Goodyear Television Playhouse" (1956); "Front Row Center" (1956); "Studio One" (1956); "Kraft Television Theatre" (1956); "Windows" (1955); "General Electric Theater" (1955); "The Man Behind the Badge" (1954); "Armstrong Circle Theatre" (1954); "The Big Story" (1953); "The Actress" (1953)

Anthony Perkins (born April 4, 1932, New York, New York, U.S.—died September 12, 1992, Hollywood, California) was an American actor who was best remembered for his portrayal of the murderous motel owner Norman Bates in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Psycho (1960); he reprised this role in three sequels (1983, 1986, and 1990).

(Read Alfred Hitchcock’s 1965 Britannica essay on film production.)

Perkins made his film debut in The Actress (1953) while studying at Columbia University in New York City. The following year he starred on Broadway as the sensitive adolescent, Tom Lee, in Tea and Sympathy. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a young Quaker in the film Friendly Persuasion (1956). Perkins specialized in playing awkward young men, notably in Fear Strikes Out (1957), The Tin Star (1957), and Desire Under the Elms (1958), before attracting international notice for Psycho.

USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood

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Perkins then appeared in several films in Europe, including The Trial (1963), The Champagne Murders (1968), and Ten Days Wonder (1972), and in such American films as Pretty Poison (1968), Catch-22 (1970), and WUSA (1970). Some of his other screen credits include The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and Edge of Sanity (1989). Perkins also appeared in such plays as Look Homeward, Angel; Harold; Steambath; and Romantic Comedy, as well as the television movie In the Deep Woods (1992), which was broadcast after his death.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.