Media Control's head office located in Baden Baden

The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie (Federal Association of Phonographic Industry). Media Control GfK International is the provider of weekly Top-100 single/album, Compilation, Jazz Top-30, Classic Top-20, Schlager Longplay Top-20, Music-DVD Top-20 and the official-Dance (ODC) Top-50 charts.^[2]

Official charts in Germany are presented by various companies who release charts on a weekly basis, online or on television. One example would be VIVA music channel which was founded in 1993.^[3] Another two examples would be MusicLoad and MIX 1 both of which are online associations who post almost all the charts on weekly bases published by Media Control GfK International.^[4][5] The entire batch of the official charts; however, is presented by online enterprise called Charts.de which happens to be the subsidiary of Media Control GfK International.^[6]

History[link]

Charts have been published in Germany since 1959, in a magazine called Der Musikmarkt (The Music Market), which has played an important role in the German music industry.^[7] Since 1959, the growing desire for having a well developed music program has made Bunderverband Musikindustrie work together with charts provider to improve the way the charts were determined.

For this purpose, different research institutes were tested, out of which Media Control, based in Baden Baden was selected. Hence, the first official charts were made available in the magazine Der Musikmarkt in September 1977.^[7]

Initially, there used to be 50 positions only, which later in January 1980, was extended to 75 slots.^[7] Since 1989; however, Media Control has adapted the international standards providing 100 positions, called "Media Control Top 100".^[7] Since 2001, the Top-100 singles charts was modified to reflect the sales of the singles.^[7]

Media Control developed "Music Video charts" in 2001, which later, in 2004, was renamed as "DVD charts".^[7] While Music-videos have their own separate charts, in 2001, Media Control made it possible for the Music-video singles to have the ability to enter the Top-100 singles chart. Similarly, in 2002, it was made available for the Music-video albums to chart on the Top-100 album chart, if the Video album contains at least 50% of audio recording. If not, then, the DVD album could qualify for DVD chart only.^[7] In the same vein, if an audio CD contains at least 50% of Video recording, then, it could qualify to chart on the DVD chart.^[7]

In 2004, Germany became one of the first music markets wherein sales charts were reflected by online digital downloads.^[8]

Digital-only releases came into existence on July 13, 2007 for online downloads only, which also altered the way the sales figures were conducted up to that point. Consequently, chart positions would no longer be affected by the number of sold music downloads as before, but rather, they would be affected by the sales value of the sold product. Thus, the best-selling albums would not necessarily be the ones ending up in the number one position on the charts.^[9]

There are currently 3000 outlets that report their sales on weekly bases in Germany.^[7] The weekly sales data is transmitted to Media Control via communication network channel, PhonoNet.^[7]

Categories[link]

List of charts that are provided by Media Control.^[10]

• Top 100 Singles
• Top 100 Albums
• Top 100 Compilation Charts
• Daily Trends (Top 150 singles and albums, top 50 compilation)
• Download Charts (singles and albums)
• Top 30 Jazz Charts
• Top 20 Classic Charts
• Top 20 Schlager Longplay Charts
• Top 20 Music video Charts
• Top 20 Newcomer Charts
• Top 20 Independent Charts
• Top 10 Comedy Charts
• Top 50 ODC (Official Dance Charts)

See also[link]

• Bundesverband Musikindustrie
• List of number one hits in Germany
• List of best-selling singles by year (Germany)

References[link]

External links[link]

A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40.

There are lots of different criteria used in different charts used to reflect popularity, commonly: sales of records, cassettes and compact discs; the amount of radio airplay; and (recently) the number of downloads.

Some charts are specific to a particular musical genre and most to a particular geographical location (although download charts are not easily pinned down in this way). The most common period of time covered by a chart is one week with the chart being printed or broadcast at the end of this time. Summary charts for years and decades are then calculated from their component weekly charts. Component charts have become an increasingly important way to measure the commercial success of individual songs.

Chart hit[link]

A chart hit is an extremely popular recording, identified by its inclusion in a chart that uses sales or other criteria to rank popular releases. Chart-topper and related terms (like No. 1 hit, top of the charts, chart hit, and so forth) are widely used in common conversation and in marketing, and are loosely defined. In North America, the weekly charts from Billboard magazine are most often referenced (quite often internationally, as well), particularly the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and Billboard 200 album chart, although there are many other charts and sources. Because of its value in promoting recording artists and releases, both directly to the consumer, and by encouraging exposure on radio, TV other media, chart positioning has long been a subject of scrutiny and controversy. Chart compilation methodology and data sources vary, ranging from buzz charts based on opinions of various experts and tastemakers, to charts that reflect empirical data such as retail sales. Therefore, a chart-topper may be anything from an "insiders' pick" to a runaway seller.

Other terminology[link]

There are several other commonly-used terms when referring to a music/entertainment chart or the performance of a release thereon.

The term new entry is commonly used to denote a title which is making its debut appearance in that chart. This is applied to all charts, for instance a track which is outside the Top 40 but which later climbs into that level of the chart is considered to be a 'new entry' to the Top Forty that week. In most official charts, tracks have to have been on sale for a period of time in order to enter the charts; however, in some retailers' charts, new releases are included in charts as 'new entries' without a sales history in order to make them more visible to purchasers. A real new entry is a title that makes its first debut on the chart no matter how many positions officially the chart actually is. In the UK the official published chart is a Top 100 although a new entry can take place between positions 101-200. The Top 40 is only used for radio to shorten the playlists.

The term re-entry is used if a track which has previously entered a chart falls out of that chart and then later re-appears in it. This may come about if a release is reissued or if there is a surge of interest in the track. Generally any repeat entry of a track into a chart is considered a re-entry, unless the later version of the track is a materially different recording or significantly repackaged (such as Michael Jackson's "Thriller 25"), where the release would normally be considered separate and thus a "new" entry.

The term climber is used to refer to a release which is going higher in the chart week-on-week. Because chart positions are generally relative to each other on a week-to-week basis, a release does not necessarily have to increase sales week-to-week to be a climber, as if releases ahead of it decline in sales sufficiently they may slip below it. By the same metric, not all week-to-week sales increases result in a climber, if other releases improve by a sufficient amount to keep it from climbing. The term highest climber is used to denote the release making the biggest leap upwards in the chart that week. There is generally not an equivalent phrase for tracks going down the chart; the term "faller" is occasionally used, but not as widely as 'climber'.

The terms top 10, top 20 and so forth are used to determine the relative success of a release. For instance, a track may be referred to as a 'top 10 hit' if it reaches a position between 1 and 10 on the singles chart, as a 'top 20 hit' if it reaches between positions 1 and 20, and so on. The most commonly known chart is the 'top 40' widely used by the media in various territories, though it is common for longer lists to be produced for or by the music industry. For example, in the UK, the Official Charts Company produces a top 200, although various media only publish shorter lists.

The term flop is a title that never reaches an official chart position. A relative flop is a term given to a title by an act that usually has big hits then only a minor hit in between.

The term one-hit wonder is for an act that appears on the chart just once, although the term true one-hit wonder was the term given by Guinness Book of British Hit Singles & Albums and also the Billboard book Top Pop Singles) is an act that has one number one hit and nothing else on the chart ever. If an act appears in some other form, (for example) a solo act that appears with a band or with other acts then these are taken separately.

See also[link]

• List of record charts

External links[link]

• Top 20 Chart
• Global Reggae Charts
• All Music Hits
• Current and Chart Archives from around the world
• Charts all over the world
• Choice Hits Top 50
• Wall brawl hourly chart
• The Best Selling Albums Ever... Worldwide

Laura Ann Branigan (July 3, 1957 – August 26, 2004^[1]) was an Italian-American singer-songwriter and actress. She is best known for her 1982 Platinum-certified hit "Gloria" (an Italian love song recorded by Umberto Tozzi in 1979) and for the number-one single "Self Control" (The original version by the italian singer and writers Raffaele Riefoli "Raf"). Branigan is also remembered for the Top 10 "Solitaire" and for the number-one adult contemporary hit "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You", as well as four other US Top 40 hits.

Branigan also contributed songs to notable motion picture and television soundtracks, including the Grammy and Academy Award-winning Flashdance soundtrack (1983), the Ghostbusters soundtrack (1984), and the Baywatch soundtrack (1994), as well as having songs featured in the popular Grand Theft Auto video game series.

Her signature song "Gloria" stayed on the Billboard Hot 100 for 36 weeks, at the time a record for a female artist. The song holds a place in the top 100 singles of both 1982 and 1983.

Branigan died at her home in East Quogue, New York, on August 26, 2004, of a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm.

Biography[link]

Early career[link]

In the early 1970s Branigan was a member of the band, Meadow, which recorded one album in 1973 called The Friend Ship. The record was never re-released, and Branigan preferred not to discuss her involvement with Meadow publicly. During the years after Meadow broke up, she had various jobs, including a stint as one of Leonard Cohen's backup singers for his European tour.

In 1979 Branigan was signed by Ahmet Ertegun to Atlantic Records. The strength of her alto voice, with its five-octave range,^[2] ironically impeded her career for a couple of years while the label went through the process of categorizing her. She was finally categorized as a pop singer and a single called "Looking Out for Number One" made a brief appearance on the U.S. Dance chart. Two other early Atlantic singles, "Tell Him" and "Fool's Affair", followed. None of these three singles (or the B-side "When") were included on her first album or ever reissued on any compilation LP or CD to date. Her first solo album Branigan was released in 1982; the first single from this album was "All Night With Me," which hit #69 on the Billboard charts in early 1982. Her first reviews saw her voice compared to both Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand, both of whom had enjoyed iconic Disco hits.^{[citation needed]}

Branigan, the nine-song debut album, alternated four energetic up-tempo songs with five ballads, including one of the few songs written solely by Branigan: "I Wish We Could Be Alone". "Gloria", an Italian love song recorded by Umberto Tozzi in 1979 (and successful in several European countries), was released as the album's second single. Branigan's version was reworked with Tozzi's own arranger, Greg Mathieson, who updated its production with fellow producer Jack White to give it what Branigan called "an American kick" to match the new English lyrics. American radio was initially unreceptive to "Gloria"; the song's combination of American and European sound predated the imminent second "British Invasion" of popular music by several months. Embraced by dance clubs, especially gay clubs, it eventually won over American radio stations and the song became one of the biggest hits of the 1980s. The album went Gold, and the single was eventually certified Platinum (for sales of more than two million U.S. copies). Branigan's vocal performance of "Gloria" was nominated for a Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female Grammy Award (alongside Linda Ronstadt, Olivia Newton-John, Juice Newton, and that year's winner, Melissa Manchester); "Gloria" marked Branigan's only solo nomination. The following year she received a second nomination as one of the various artists on the Flashdance original soundtrack album when it was nominated for Album of the Year. The album also won the Best Soundtrack Grammy but, as this award is given only to the composers, Branigan was not nominated.

In the spring of 1983 Branigan released her second album, Branigan 2. By this time, the dramatic European synth-pop sound was on the rise, and Branigan's vocals propelled her English-language version of the French song "Solitaire" to the upper reaches of the U.S. charts. The original "Solitaire" was written and recorded in 1981 by French singer-songwriter Martine Clemenceau. In addition to cementing a place in pop history and ensuring she was not a one-hit wonder, her second album's two big hits began the careers for two then-unknowns, who themselves became industry legends. The English translation of "Solitaire" was the first major hit for songwriter Diane Warren, while the album's second hit single, the ballad "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You," was the first major hit for its co-writer, Michael Bolton. Branigan's debut recording of "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" reached #12 on the Hot 100 and spent three weeks at #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

The 1983 film Flashdance contained two Laura Branigan songs, "Gloria" and a new song, "Imagination". The latter song was included on the Grammy Award winning Flashdance soundtrack, which reached #1 and sold more than six million copies in the U.S. alone.

Height of her career[link]

The year 1984 was the height of the European synth-pop era, and "Self Control", the title track of Branigan's third album, became her biggest hit internationally, topping the charts in over six countries, most notably {West Germany, where it spent six weeks at #1. The original version of "Self Control," recorded a few months earlier in 1984 by one of the song's co-writers Raffaele Riefoli (under the name Raf), held the West German number-two spot during this time period; outside of Raf's native Italy, Branigan's version enjoyed more success. It hit #4 in the U.S.

Other pop, dancefloor and adult contemporary hits from Branigan's Self Control album include "The Lucky One" (which won her a Tokyo Music Festival prize), the continental ballad "Ti Amo" (another Umberto Tozzi hit, and a #2 hit in Australia for Branigan) and the Dance hit "Satisfaction." The album also featured an understated version of Carole King's "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow"; as a counterpoint to all the dance productions, it was a bare-bones piano version. (In concerts and television appearances throughout her career, Branigan accompanied herself on the piano for the song.) That year Branigan's live show was recorded twice, for a syndicated radio concert series and a concert video. Branigan was also nominated for an award at the American Music Awards of 1985 for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Video Artist (though Cyndi Lauper won the award). Also in 1985 Branigan performed the main theme song for the highly rated television mini-series Hollywood Wives, based on the novel by Jackie Collins.

By the time of Branigan's fourth album, 1985's Hold Me, "Self Control" was a world-wide success. The hits continued with "Spanish Eddie," which was her sixth US Billboard Top 40 Pop hit in two and a half years. The subsequent single release "Hold Me" was a U.S. top 40 dance hit, and Branigan's introduction of the rock ballad "I Found Someone" (cowritten by Michael Bolton, and later a hit for Cher) scored even higher on the Adult Contemporary chart. However, neither song was supported by a music video and stalled in the lower reaches of the Hot 100 chart.

Touch, which was released in 1987, marked a change in Branigan's career. Under new management and using different producers, Branigan took a more active role in her work and in the studio. Touch saw her return to dancefloors with the Stock/Aitken/Waterman-produced "Shattered Glass", written by Bob Mitchell and Steve Coe.^[3] The album also included a return to the Billboard Top 40 with her cover of Jennifer Rush's "The Power of Love," which was one of the top 20 bestselling singles in the United States during Christmastime. The album's third single, "Cry Wolf," a top 30 AC hit, did not capture attention at pop radio and stalled. The ballad was recorded two years later by Stevie Nicks, and more recently by writer Jude Johnstone.

During the height of her career, Branigan also made acting appearances, first in 1981 in An American Girl in Berlin for German television, and then after the success of "Gloria," guest appearances on American television series such as CHiPs, Automan and Knight Rider. She would later do independent films such as Mugsy's Girls (aka Delta Pi, 1985) with Academy Award winner Ruth Gordon, and the Australian film Backstage. She sang on major national television and radio campaigns for products including Dr Pepper, Coca-Cola and Chrysler, which sponsored her 1985-1986 "Hold Me" tour.

Later years[link]

Branigan's 1990 self-titled album brought the singer back to the Hi-NRG charts and gay clubs with "Moonlight On Water", and she scored a Top-30 Adult Contemporary hit with "Never in a Million Years". Branigan added production to her list of credits with her cover of Vicki Sue Robinson's disco-era "Turn the Beat Around" and the atmospheric "Let Me In," a cover of an Eddie Money song. The album also included "Unison," which was the title track for Celine Dion's English debut CD in the same year. The album's closing track, a cover of Bryan Adams' "The Best Was Yet to Come," was produced and arranged by Branigan herself. The singer's 1990-1991 concert tour was filmed for a syndicated U.S. television show, SRO in Concert, which was also released on videocassette and laserdisc (though not on DVD, to date.)

On Branigan's seventh and final studio album, 1993's Over My Heart, the singer again produced (with Phil Ramone), wrote and arranged. The album included a cover of Roxette's song "The Sweet Hello, the Sad Goodbye," and "Is There Anybody Here But Me?" (Pessis, Wells), a smooth mid-tempo number.

Branigan was married to Larry Kruteck, a lawyer 20 years her senior, in December 1981. Not long after the Over My Heart album's release, Branigan left the music industry in 1994 to spend more time with Kruteck following his diagnosis of colon cancer. He died on June 15, 1996.^[4][5]

During these years, Branigan's chart success cooled in the United States, though she was still in demand around the world and went on several global tours. Branigan had official hit collections released in South America, Japan, Germany, South Africa, and the United States. The United States collection was released in 1995: The 13-track The Best of Branigan and included two newly recorded covers: "Show Me Heaven" (written by Maria McKee) and the Donna Summer hit "Dim All the Lights", which Branigan released in several remixes.

Branigan's vocal coach was Carlo Menotti and she worked with Steve Lukather (Toto), Dann Huff (Giant) and Michael Landau; keyboardists Greg Mathieson, Harold Faltermeyer, Michael Boddicker and Robbie Buchanan; bassists Nathan East and Dennis Belfield (Rufus); drummer Carlos Vega; percussionists Paulinho Da Costa and Lenny Castro; and guest vocalists including Joe "Bean" Esposito and background vocalists including The Waters Sisters (Maxine & Julia), James Ingram, and Richard Page and Stephen George (Mr. Mister). As her stature grew, she attracted Grammy-winning producers including Phil Ramone, Richard Perry and David Kershenbaum. She performed duets with John Farnham as well as Latin pop artist Luis Miguel. She also appeared frequently on various television shows, including The Merv Griffin Show, Dick Clark's American Bandstand, Solid Gold, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

In 2001 Branigan's return to the stage was postponed when she broke both of her femurs in a fall. In 2002 she performed twice as the "singing" Janis Joplin in the off-Broadway musical Love, Janis, before dropping out of the show. "I left Janis because the producers didn't file with Equity properly", she told the Sunday News in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. "I was sort of relieved. My voice isn't anything like Janis Joplin's, and there were 19 of her songs in the show."^[6]

Also in 2002 her second official United States hits collection, The Essentials: Laura Branigan, was released, including the long out-of-print hit "I Found Someone".

Death[link]

Branigan died in her sleep at her lodge in East Quogue, New York, on August 26, 2004. The cause was attributed to a previously undiagnosed cerebral aneurysm. It was reported in the media that she had been experiencing headaches for several weeks before her death but did not seek medical attention. Her ashes were scattered over Long Island Sound.

Legacy[link]

Other Half Entertainment, Branigan's management company at the time of her death, continues to oversee her career legacy through her official website, www.LauraBraniganOnline.com, her official MySpace and Facebook pages, by taking part in various media opportunities, as well as through relationships with Warner Music Group and other entertainment industry entities. Other Half Entertainment serves as the comprehensive, official voice for her legacy interests, while keeping her artistic visions and standards at the heart of its operations.

In 2005, Other Half Entertainment organized a memorial for Branigan's friends and fans, held on the anniversary of her death, near the Long Island home in which she was caring for her mother at the time of her death. Following its initial success, the "Spirit of Love Memorial Gathering" remains an annual event in celebration of her life and the legacy of her passionate vocal performances and the heartfelt connection she made with her fans, whom she consistently referred to as "my other half".^{[citation needed]}

Between 2006 and the present, Branigan's management company worked regularly with Warner Music Group entities in the production and release of various new greatest hits compilations. The Platinum Collection is an 18-song compilation including all the major hits as well as tracks such as "Silent Partners", "Satisfaction", "All Night With Me" and "If You Loved Me", that were four relatively new additions to Branigan hits compilations. In 2007, the 1995 "The Best of Branigan" was re-released as part of Rhino's 2007 "Greatest Hits" series of CDs. In 2008, Rhino/WEA authorized the re-release of three out-of-print Branigan albums, Touch, Laura Branigan and Over My Heart. In June 2010, Shine On: The Ultimate Collection was released, which for the first time, incorporated a PAL, DVD featuring official Atlantic music videos to 10 of Branigan's songs in addition to an 18-track CD including Forever Young which made its return to the greatest hits compilations. The CD contains edited versions of most songs.

At Byram Hills High School in Armonk, New York, the Laura Branigan Memorial Scholarship is given annually to a senior for excellence in the Performing Arts.^[7]

Discography[link]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

• ^ This nomination was not awarded to Laura Branigan alone.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Laura Branigan official website
• Laura Branigan at the Internet Movie Database
• Laura Branigan at AllRovi

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2011)

Vincent Price
from the trailer for the film Laura (1944)
Born	(1911-05-27)May 27, 1911 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Died	October 25, 1993(1993-10-25) (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1935–93
Spouse	Edith Barrett (1938–48) Mary Grant Price (1949–73) Coral Browne (1974–91; her death)

Vincent Leonard Price, Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, well known for his distinctive voice and serio-comic performances in a series of horror films made in the latter part of his career.

Early life and career[link]

Price was born in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Marguerite Cobb (née Wilcox) and Vincent Leonard Price, Sr., who was the president of the National Candy Company.^[1][2] His grandfather, Vincent Clarence Price, invented "Dr. Price's Baking Powder," the first cream of tartar baking powder, and secured the family's fortune.^[3]

Price attended St. Louis Country Day School. He was further educated at Yale in art history and fine art. He was a member of the Courtauld Institute, London. He became interested in the theatre during the 1930s, appearing professionally on stage for the first time in 1935.

Career[link]

As Mr. Manningham in Angel Street, in which he had a three-year run, photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1942.

He made his film debut in 1938 with Service de Luxe and established himself in the film Laura (1944), opposite Gene Tierney, directed by Otto Preminger. He also played Joseph Smith, Jr. in the movie Brigham Young (1940) and William Gibbs McAdoo in Wilson (1944) as well as a pretentious priest in The Keys of the Kingdom (1944).

Price's first venture into the horror genre was in the 1939 Boris Karloff film Tower of London. The following year he portrayed the title character in the film The Invisible Man Returns (a role he reprised in a vocal cameo at the end of the 1948 horror-comedy spoof Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein).

In 1946 Price reunited with Tierney in two notable films, Dragonwyck and Leave Her to Heaven. There were also many villainous roles in film noir thrillers like The Web (1947), The Long Night (1947), Rogues' Regiment (1948), and The Bribe (1949) with Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, and Charles Laughton. His first starring role was as conman James Addison Reavis in the 1950 biopic The Baron of Arizona. He also did a comedic turn as the tycoon Burnbridge Waters, co-starring with Ronald Colman in Champagne for Caesar. He was active in radio, portraying the Robin Hood-inspired crime-fighter Simon Templar in The Saint that ran from 1943 to 1951.

In the 1950s, he moved into horror films, with a role in House of Wax (1953), the first 3-D film to land in the year's top ten at the North American box office, then The Mad Magician (1954), and then the monster movie The Fly (1958) and its sequel Return of the Fly (1959). Price also starred in the original House on Haunted Hill (1959) as the eccentric millionaire Fredrick Loren. He played Dr. Warren Chapin, in The Tingler, a 1959 horror-thriller film by the American producer and director William Castle. Price also appeared to great effect in the radio drama Three Skeleton Key, the story of an island lighthouse besieged by an army of rats. He first performed the work in 1950 on Escape and returned to it in 1956 and 1958 for Suspense.^[4]

Outside of the horror genre, Price played Baka (the master builder) in The Ten Commandments. In the 1955–1956 television season he appeared three times as Rabbi Gershom Seixos in the ABC anthology series, Crossroads, a study of clergymen from different denominations. About this time he also appeared on NBC's The Martha Raye Show.

1960s[link]

In the 1960s, Price had a number of low-budget successes with Roger Corman and American International Pictures (AIP) including the Edgar Allan Poe adaptations House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), Tales of Terror (1962), The Comedy of Terrors (1963), The Raven (1963), The Masque of the Red Death (1964), and The Tomb of Ligeia (1965). He starred in The Last Man on Earth (1964), the first adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend. In 1968 Price portrayed witchhunter Matthew Hopkins in Witchfinder General^[5] (released in the US as The Conqueror Worm). He starred in comedy films, notably Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) and its sequel Dr. Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966). In 1968 he played the part of an eccentric artist in the musical Darling of the Day opposite Patricia Routledge.

Price often spoke of his pleasure at playing Egghead in the Batman television series. One of his co-stars, Yvonne Craig (Batgirl), said Price was her favorite villain in the series. In an often-repeated anecdote from the set of Batman, Price, after a take was printed, started throwing eggs at series stars Adam West and Burt Ward, and when asked to stop, replied, "With a full artillery? Not a chance!", causing an eggfight to erupt on the soundstage. This incident is reenacted in the behind-the-scenes telefilm Return to the Batcave: The Misadventures of Adam and Burt. In the 1960s, he began his role as a guest on the game show Hollywood Squares, even becoming a semi-regular in the 1970s, including being one of the guest panelists on the finale in 1980.^[6] He was known for usually making fun of Rose Marie's age, and using his famous voice to answer questions in a playfully menacing tone.

Later career[link]

During the early 1970s, Price hosted and starred in BBC Radio's horror and mystery series The Price of Fear. Price accepted a cameo part in the Canadian children's television program The Hilarious House of Frightenstein (1971) in Hamilton, Ontario, on the local television station CHCH. In addition to the opening and closing monologues, his role in the show was to recite poems about the show's various characters, sometimes wearing a cloak or other costumes.^[7] He appeared in The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), its sequel Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), and Theatre of Blood (1973), in which he portrayed a pair of campy serial killers. That same year Price appeared as himself in Mooch Goes to Hollywood, a film written by Jim Backus. Price recorded dramatic readings of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories and poems, which were collected together with readings by Basil Rathbone.

Price greatly reduced his film work from around 1975, as horror itself suffered a slump, and increased his narrative and voice work, as well as advertising Milton Bradley's Shrunken Head Apple Sculpture^[8]. Price's voiceover is heard on Alice Cooper's first solo album, Welcome to My Nightmare from 1975, and he also appeared in the corresponding TV special Alice Cooper: The Nightmare. He starred for a year in the early 1970s in a syndicated daily radio program, Tales of the Unexplained. He made guest appearances in a 1970 episode of Here's Lucy showcasing his art expertise and in a 1972 episode of ABC's The Brady Bunch, in which he played a deranged archaeologist. In October 1976, Price appeared as the featured guest in an episode of The Muppet Show.

In the summer of 1977, Price began performing as Oscar Wilde in the one-man stage play Diversions and Delights. Written by John Gay and directed by Joe Hardy, the play is set in a Parisian theatre on a night about one year before Wilde's death. The original tour of the play was a success in every city that it played, except for New York City. In the summer of 1979, Price performed it at the Tabor Opera House in Leadville, Colorado, on the same stage from which Wilde had spoken to miners about art some 96 years before. Price would eventually perform the play worldwide. In her biography of her father, Victoria Price stated that several members of Price's family and friends thought that this was the best acting that he ever performed.^[3] In the spring of 1979, Price starred with his wife Coral Browne in the short-lived CBS TV series Time Express.

	Vincent Price – "Thriller" noicon excerpt from the voiceover session for the 1982 album.
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In 1982, Price provided the narrator's voice in Vincent, Tim Burton's six-minute film about a young boy who flashes from reality into a fantasy where he is Vincent Price. That same year, he performed a sinister monologue on the title track of Michael Jackson's Thriller album. A longer version of the rap, sans the music, along with some conversation can be heard on Jackson's 2001 remastered reissue of the Thriller album. Part of the extended version can be heard on the Thriller 25 album, released in 2008. Price appeared as Sir Despard Murgatroyd in a 1982 television production of Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore (with Keith Michell as Robin Oakapple). In 1983 Price played the Sinister Man in the British spoof horror film Bloodbath at the House of Death starring Kenny Everett, and he also appeared in the film House of the Long Shadows, which teamed him with Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, and John Carradine. While Price had worked with each one of them at least once in the prior decade, this was the first teaming of all of them together. One of his last major roles, and one of his favorites, was as the voice of Professor Ratigan in Walt Disney Pictures' The Great Mouse Detective in 1986.^[9]

From 1981 to 1989, he hosted the PBS television series Mystery! In 1985, he provided voice talent on the Hanna-Barbera series The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo as the mysterious Vincent Van Ghoul, who aided Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo, and the gang in recapturing 13 evil demons. During this time (1985–1989), he appeared in horror-themed commercials for Tilex bathroom cleanser. In 1984, Price appeared in Shelley Duvall's live-action series Faerie Tale Theatre as the Mirror in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", and the narrator for "The Boy Who Left Home to Find Out About the Shivers". In 1987, he starred with Bette Davis, Lillian Gish, and Ann Sothern in The Whales of August, a story of two sisters living in Maine, facing the end of their days. In 1989, Price was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame. His last significant film work was as the inventor in Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands (1990).

A witty raconteur, Price was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where he once demonstrated how to poach a fish in a dishwasher. Price was a noted gourmet cook and art collector. He also authored several cookbooks and hosted a cookery TV show, Cooking Pricewise.

From 1962 to 1971, Sears-Roebuck offered the "Vincent Price Collection of Fine Art", selling about 50,000 pieces of fine art to the general public. Price selected and commissioned works for the collection, including works by Rembrandt, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí,^[10] and Nate Dunn.^[11]

Personal life[link]

Price was married three times and fathered a son, Vincent Barrett Price, with his first wife, former actress Edith Barrett. Price and his second wife, Mary Grant Price, donated hundreds of works of art and a large amount of money to East Los Angeles College in the early 1960s in order to endow the Vincent and Mary Price Gallery there. The Vincent Price Art Museum was built to house art works and present exhibits. Their daughter, Mary Victoria Price, was born in 1962. Price's last marriage was to the Australian actress Coral Browne, who appeared with him (as one of his victims) in Theatre of Blood (1973). He converted to Catholicism to marry her, and she became a U.S. citizen for him.

One example of his outspoken political action came when he concluded an episode of The Saint titled "Author of Murder",^[12] which aired on NBC Radio on July 30, 1950.^[13] While concluding the episode, Price denounced racial and religious prejudice as a form of poison and stated that Americans must actively fight against it because racial and religious prejudice within the United States fuels support for the nation's enemies.^[14] Price was later appointed under the Eisenhower Adminstration and his remarks were, "which is kind of a surprise since I am a Democrat^[15]."

Death[link]

Price was a lifelong smoker. He suffered from emphysema and Parkinson's disease; his symptoms were especially severe during the filming of Edward Scissorhands, making it necessary to cut his filming schedule short.

His illness also contributed to his retirement from Mystery!, as his condition was becoming noticeable on-screen.^{[citation needed]} He died of lung cancer on October 25, 1993, at UCLA Medical Center at the age of 82. He was cremated and his ashes scattered off Point Dume in Malibu, California.^[16]

Legacy[link]

In 1951, impressed by the spirit of the students and the community's need for the opportunity to experience original art works first hand, Price donated some 90 pieces from his own collection to East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, California, thus establishing the first "teaching art collection" owned by a community college in the U.S. The collection contains over 9,000 pieces and has been valued in excess of $5 million.^[17]

The A&E Network aired an episode of Biography the night following his death, highlighting Price's horror film career, but because of its failure to clear copyrights, the show was never aired again. Four years later, A&E produced its updated episode, a show titled Vincent Price: The Versatile Villain, which aired on October 12, 1997. The script was by Lucy Chase Williams, author of The Complete Films of Vincent Price (Citadel Press, 1995). In early 1991, Tim Burton was developing a personal documentary with the working title Conversations with Vincent, in which interviews with Price were shot at the Vincent Price Gallery, but the project was never completed and was eventually shelved.^{[citation needed]}

Price was an Honorary Board Member, and strong supporter until his death, of the Witch's Dungeon Classic Movie Museum located in Bristol, Connecticut. The museum features detailed life-size wax replicas of characters from some of Price's films, including The Fly, The Abominable Dr. Phibes, and The Masque of the Red Death.^[18] A black box theater at Price's alma mater, Mary Institute and St. Louis Country Day School, is named after him.

Director Tim Burton directed a short stop-motion film as a tribute to Vincent Price called Vincent, about a young boy named Vincent Malloy who is obsessed with the grim and macabre. It is narrated by Price. "Vincent Twice, Vincent Twice" was a parody on Sesame Street. He was parodied in an episode of The Simpsons ("Sunday, Cruddy Sunday"). Price even had his own Spitting Image puppet, who was always trying to be "sinister" and lure people into his ghoulish traps, only for his victims to point out all the obvious flaws. The October 2005 episode of the Channel 101 series Yacht Rock featured comedian James Adomian as Vincent Price during the recording of Michael Jackson's "Thriller". Starting in November 2005, featured cast member Bill Hader of the NBC sketch comedy/variety show Saturday Night Live has played Price in a recurring sketch where Vincent Price hosts botched holiday specials filled with celebrities of the 1950s and '60s. Other cast members who have played Price on SNL include Dan Aykroyd and Michael McKean (who played Price when he hosted a season 10 episode and again when he was hired as a cast member for the 1994–95 season).

In 1999, a frank and detailed biography written by his daughter, Victoria Price, about her father was published by St. Martin's Press. In late May 2011, an event was held by the organization Cinema St. Louis to celebrate what would have been Price's 100th Birthday.^[19] It included a public event with Victoria at the Missouri History Museum and a showcase of ephemeral and historic items at the gallery inside the Sheldon Concert Hall.^[20][21]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Price, Vincent, I Like What I Know – A Visual Autobiography, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, New York, copyright 1959.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vincent Price

• Vincent Price at the Internet Movie Database
• Vincent Price at the Internet Broadway Database
• Vincent Price at AllRovi
• Vincent Price at TV Tropes
• Vincent Price Gallery
• St. Louis Walk of Fame
• Profile @ Turner Classic Movies
• Vincent Price Papers catalog
• Vincent Price at Virtual History
• Three Skeleton Key on Escape: March 17, 1950. Radio drama starring Vincent Price.