Dennis Price(1915-1973)
- Actor
This urbane, sourly handsome British actor was born to privilege and
most of his roles would follow suit. Born Dennistoun John Franklyn
Rose-Price in Berkshire in 1915, Dennis Price, the son of a
brigadier-general, was expected to abide by his family wishes and make
a career for himself in the army or the church. Instead he became an
actor. First on stage (Oxford University Dramatic Society) where he
debuted with John Gielgud in "Richard II"
in 1937, he was further promoted in the theatre by
Noël Coward.
After brief extra work, Price nabbed early star-making film roles in
several overbaked Gainsborough mysteries/melodramas, including
A Place of One's Own (1945),
The Magic Bow (1946) and
Caravan (1946), but the one showcase role
that could have led him to Hollywood, that of the title poet in
The Bad Lord Byron (1949),
proved a critical and commercial failure. He took this particularly
hard and fell into severe depression. His fatally charming serial
murderer in
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949),
in which he does in nearly all of
Alec Guinness' eight characters (Guiness
plays eight different roles), is arguably his crowning achievement on
celluloid.
By the 50s Price was suffering from severe alcoholism, which adversely
affected his personal and professional career. A marriage to bit
actress Joan Schofield in 1939 ended
eleven years later, due to his substance abuse problem and
homosexuality, the latter being a source of great internal anguish for
him. They had two daughters.
Price became less reliable and fell steeply in his ranking, moving into
less quality "B" pictures. Eccentric comedy renewed his fading star a
bit in such delightful farces as
Private's Progress (1956),
I'm All Right Jack (1959) and
School for Scoundrels (1960).
TV also saved him for a time in the 60s with the successful series
The World of Wooster (1965),
in which he played the disdainful butler, Jeeves.
Bad times, however, resurfaced. He filed bankruptcy in 1967 and moved
to the remote Channel Island of Sark for refuge. Many of his roles were
reduced to glorified cameos and the necessity for cash relegated him to
appearing in campy "Z" grade cheapfests, many helmed by the infamous
writer/director Jesús Franco, a sort of
Spanish version of Roger Corman.
Vampyros Lesbos (1971) was just
one of his dreadful entries. Price also played Dr. Frankenstein for
Franco in
Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972)
[Dracula vs. Frankenstein] and the
The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein (1973)
[The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein]. Fully bloated and in delicate
health, he died in 1973 at age 58 in a public ward from liver
cirrhosis. A sad ending for one who of Britain's more promising actors
and film stars.
most of his roles would follow suit. Born Dennistoun John Franklyn
Rose-Price in Berkshire in 1915, Dennis Price, the son of a
brigadier-general, was expected to abide by his family wishes and make
a career for himself in the army or the church. Instead he became an
actor. First on stage (Oxford University Dramatic Society) where he
debuted with John Gielgud in "Richard II"
in 1937, he was further promoted in the theatre by
Noël Coward.
After brief extra work, Price nabbed early star-making film roles in
several overbaked Gainsborough mysteries/melodramas, including
A Place of One's Own (1945),
The Magic Bow (1946) and
Caravan (1946), but the one showcase role
that could have led him to Hollywood, that of the title poet in
The Bad Lord Byron (1949),
proved a critical and commercial failure. He took this particularly
hard and fell into severe depression. His fatally charming serial
murderer in
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949),
in which he does in nearly all of
Alec Guinness' eight characters (Guiness
plays eight different roles), is arguably his crowning achievement on
celluloid.
By the 50s Price was suffering from severe alcoholism, which adversely
affected his personal and professional career. A marriage to bit
actress Joan Schofield in 1939 ended
eleven years later, due to his substance abuse problem and
homosexuality, the latter being a source of great internal anguish for
him. They had two daughters.
Price became less reliable and fell steeply in his ranking, moving into
less quality "B" pictures. Eccentric comedy renewed his fading star a
bit in such delightful farces as
Private's Progress (1956),
I'm All Right Jack (1959) and
School for Scoundrels (1960).
TV also saved him for a time in the 60s with the successful series
The World of Wooster (1965),
in which he played the disdainful butler, Jeeves.
Bad times, however, resurfaced. He filed bankruptcy in 1967 and moved
to the remote Channel Island of Sark for refuge. Many of his roles were
reduced to glorified cameos and the necessity for cash relegated him to
appearing in campy "Z" grade cheapfests, many helmed by the infamous
writer/director Jesús Franco, a sort of
Spanish version of Roger Corman.
Vampyros Lesbos (1971) was just
one of his dreadful entries. Price also played Dr. Frankenstein for
Franco in
Dracula, Prisoner of Frankenstein (1972)
[Dracula vs. Frankenstein] and the
The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein (1973)
[The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein]. Fully bloated and in delicate
health, he died in 1973 at age 58 in a public ward from liver
cirrhosis. A sad ending for one who of Britain's more promising actors
and film stars.