Anthony Perkins

American actor

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Last Updated: Mar 31, 2025 • 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):: "Mahogany" (1975); "Front Row Center" (1956); "Murder on the Orient Express" (1974); "Psycho II" (1983); "Friendly Persuasion" (1956); "Phaedra" (1962); "The Black Hole" (1979); "On the Beach" (1959); "The Fool Killer" (1965); "Pretty Poison" (1968); "The Glory Boys" (1984); "Le procès" (1962); "This Angry Age" (1957); "Is Paris Burning?" (1966); "Play It As It Lays" (1972); "Armstrong Circle Theatre" (1954); "General Electric Theater" (1955); "The Lonely Man" (1957); "Tall Story" (1960); "The Champagne Murders" (1967); "Psycho" (1960); "Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story" (1987); "Los gusanos no llevan bufanda" (1992); "Lovin' Molly" (1974); "Windows" (1955); "Kraft Television Theatre" (1956); "ABC Stage 67" (1966); "The Man Behind the Badge" (1954); "BBC Play of the Month" (1968); "The Matchmaker" (1958); "Le glaive et la balance" (1963); "Fear Strikes Out" (1957); "Une ravissante idiote" (1964); "Remember My Name" (1978); "Edge of Sanity" (1989); "A Demon in My View" (1991); "The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean" (1972); "Destroyer" (1988); "Goodbye Again" (1961); "The Big Story" (1953); "Le couteau dans la plaie" (1962); "Double Negative" (1980); "La décade prodigieuse" (1971); "Green Mansions" (1959); "Studio One" (1956); "Desire Under the Elms" (1958); "Goodyear Television Playhouse" (1956); "The Tin Star" (1957); "Crimes of Passion" (1984); "Psycho III" (1986); "Someone Behind the Door" (1971); "WUSA" (1970); "North Sea Hijack" (1980); "Catch-22" (1970); "Twee vrouwen" (1979); "Winter Kills" (1979); "The Actress" (1953); "For the Term of His Natural Life" (1983)

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.