Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#5153
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Vincent Price represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 83 years in, and Vincent is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Vincent Price appears in 28 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Vincent. Edward Scissorhands is the clearest case: a film rated 7.9 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for science fiction, documentary, romance. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Tim Burton, John Musker, John Landis and others, Vincent Price helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Edward Scissorhands (1990) as The Inventor · Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983) as Narrator (voice) · The Ten Commandments (1956) as Baka
Career snapshot
Ranked #5153 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
28
1939–2022
Career length
83 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.9
Edward Scissorhands
Average Nutevio score
6.6
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
8.3
Michael Jackson's Thriller
Most frequent director
Roger Corman
5 films together
Longest collaboration
5×
With Roger Corman
Most common genre
Horror
18 titles
Average runtime
1h 27m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.2
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
7.1
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
1990s
7.9 average MV
The 1990s are where the work and the material meet. Edward Scissorhands — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
1990s
7.9
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
1990s
7.7
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1930s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex, Tower of London.
Most productive era
1950s
8 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1980s | 1990s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.32 films | 7.22 films | 7.32 films | 6.56 films | — | 7.91 film | — |
| Thriller | — | 7.01 film | 6.32 films | 6.51 film | 7.81 film | — | — |
| Comedy | — | 6.81 film | — | 6.52 films | 6.61 film | — | — |
| Crime | — | — | 6.53 films | — | 6.82 films | — | — |
| Romance | 6.31 film | 6.82 films | — | — | — | 7.91 film | — |
| Horror | 6.21 film | 6.52 films | 6.57 films | 6.57 films | 7.81 film | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
1939The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Sir Walter Raleigh.
Career peak
1983Michael Jackson's Thriller
Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Highest rated performance
7.9 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer.
Most recent film
2022Way of Tomorrow: The Evolution of Science Fiction Movies
The current state of the argument, as Self - (archive footage).
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
28 of 28 films
as Narrator (voice)
Directed by John Landis
as Narrator (voice)
Directed by Tim Burton
as The Inventor
Directed by Tim Burton
as Professor Ratigan (voice)
Directed by John Musker
as Nicholas Medina / Sebastian Medina
Directed by Roger Corman
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Narrator (voice)
Michael Jackson's Thriller (1983)
Performance score8.1
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Narrator (voice) gives Vincent Price a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Narrator (voice)
Vincent (1982)
Performance score8.0
Vincent asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Narrator (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
The Inventor
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
Performance score7.7
Edward Scissorhands asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. The Inventor is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Professor Ratigan (voice)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Performance score7.4
The Great Mouse Detective asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Professor Ratigan (voice) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Narrator (voice)
Start here. Michael Jackson's Thriller is the clearest statement of what Vincent Price does — accessible, 14 minutes, and rated 7.8 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Vincent at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
The Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
Keeps the horror register of Michael Jackson's Thriller but asks for a colder reading of it.
Vincent (1982)
A deliberate change of key after The Pit and the Pendulum — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Keeps the animation register of Vincent but asks for a colder reading of it.
Edward Scissorhands (1990)
A deliberate change of key after The Great Mouse Detective — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Roger Corman
Director
5 films together
Notably The Pit and the Pendulum
William Castle
Director
2 films together
Notably House on Haunted Hill
Tim Burton
Director
2 films together
Notably Edward Scissorhands
Rowland V. Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably Tower of London
Michael Curtiz
Director
1 film together
Notably The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex
Joe May
Director
1 film together
Notably The Invisible Man Returns
Otto Preminger
Director
1 film together
Notably Laura
John M. Stahl
Director
1 film together
Notably Leave Her to Heaven
Charles Barton
Director
1 film together
Notably Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein
George Sidney
Director
1 film together
Notably The Three Musketeers
André de Toth
Director
1 film together
Notably House of Wax
John Brahm
Director
1 film together
Notably The Mad Magician
Cecil B. DeMille
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ten Commandments
Kurt Neumann
Director
1 film together
Notably The Fly
Crane Wilbur
Director
1 film together
Notably The Bat
Edward Bernds
Director
1 film together
Notably Return of the Fly
Sidney Salkow
Director
1 film together
Notably The Last Man on Earth
Michael Reeves
Director
1 film together
Notably Witchfinder General
Carl Reiner
Director
1 film together
Notably Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
John Landis
Director
1 film together
Notably Michael Jackson's Thriller
John Musker
Director
1 film together
Notably The Great Mouse Detective
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Roger Corman
Director
5 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 5 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The Pit and the PendulumTim Burton
Director
2 films together · 7.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Edward ScissorhandsWilliam Castle
Director
2 films together · 6.5 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
House on Haunted HillJohn Landis
Director
1 film together · 7.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Michael Jackson's ThrillerCecil B. DeMille
Director
1 film together · 7.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Ten CommandmentsOtto Preminger
Director
1 film together · 7.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
LauraJohn Musker
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Great Mouse DetectiveJohn M. Stahl
Director
1 film together · 7.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Leave Her to HeavenKurt Neumann
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The FlyCharles Barton
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet FrankensteinAndré de Toth
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
House of WaxCarl Reiner
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dead Men Don't Wear PlaidJohn Brahm
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Mad MagicianGeorge Sidney
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Three MusketeersMichael Reeves
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Witchfinder GeneralSidney Salkow
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Last Man on EarthJoe May
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Invisible Man ReturnsMichael Curtiz
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Private Lives of Elizabeth and EssexEdward Bernds
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Return of the FlyRowland V. Lee
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Tower of LondonCrane Wilbur
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The BatSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Edward Scissorhands
as The Inventor
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Edward Scissorhands
as The Inventor
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Edward Scissorhands
as The Inventor
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
as (in "The Bribe") (archive footage)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Michael Jackson's Thriller
as Narrator (voice)
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Vincent Price has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
83 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Horror Legend
Awarded
18 catalogue titles in horror, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Edward Scissorhands
as The Inventor
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Michael Jackson's Thriller
as Narrator (voice)
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Edward Scissorhands
as The Inventor
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
The Great Mouse Detective
as Professor Ratigan (voice)
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Edward Scissorhands
as The Inventor
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
The Three Musketeers
as Richelieu
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Edward Scissorhands
as The Inventor
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Edward Scissorhands
as The Inventor
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Reference
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