“I Had No Idea that Vincent Price was Bisexual,” Said No One Ever

It wasn't happenstance that I chose the name Vincent Thrice when I began writing for this site. I've always been a huge fan of horror maestro Vincent Price and the fact that his name was easily punnable made it all the more enticing. Though Price came of age in a Hollywood that frowned upon ambiguous sexuality, he managed to always wryly toe the line and gave anyone who didn't fit the heteronormative mold a role model slightly left of center. It also helped that he rarely played a romantic interest of any kind.

Even still, on the surface anyway, Price lived the typical heterosexual lifestyle, having been married three times and fathered two children. Conspiracy theorists surmised that it made him seem more "acceptable" to the average moviegoer, but now one of those aforementioned daughters has finally revealed what most of Price's fans already knew, which is that he was indeed bisexual.

In a lovely piece over at Boom (link below), Victoria Price has decided to reveal the not-quite-salacious tidbit in her new book "Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography," while still managing to keep certain details of her father's life a secret.

Price is well aware of America's fixation with celebrity and the salacious, news-driven, "who had sex with who" culture in which we now live. But she also realizes as a member of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community that there remains a deeply rooted yearning for history and heroes and a personal connection to the past.

"To me, it's interesting, because as I've learned more about my dad's sexuality, and more than I knew then about different things, I've had the choice of what to reveal and what not to reveal," Price explained. "Since I didn't hear it from his mouth, I think that everything I hear comes with a measure of hearsay, right?"

"But I would like to say something here because I might as well," she continued. "I am as close to certain as I can be that my dad had physically intimate relationships with men. I know for 100 percent fact that my dad was completely loving and supportive of LGBT people."

Another interesting story from the book involves Rock Hudson...

Growing up in their Hollywood Hills mansion, Price recalls the constant presence of LGBT folks at family gatherings.

"Now, we lived across the street from Rock Hudson and we had a lot of gay friends growing up," she recalled. "I mean, "Uncle Rupert and Uncle Frank" came to every dinner party and it was very clear that they were together. And while the word [gay] was never mentioned, it was very much the norm."

"I remember at nine-years-old going to drop something off at Rock Hudson's house - of course, I was super excited because I was a huge Rock Hudson fan," Price continued. "So this absolutely beautiful man came to the door and in my nine-year-old mind, I thought, oh, that's - I don't know if I had a word for it - but that's his "Uncle Frank or Uncle Rupert", right?"  

Her father's love and acceptance of everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, also helped Victoria when she came out.

"The interesting thing for me is that when I came out to him and he said to me, 'you know, I know just how you feel because I have had these deep, loving relationships with men in my life and all my wives were jealous,'" she recalled.

"In a funny way, and I think I'm going to cry, he understood me at 22 better than I understood myself then," Price concluded. "Of course, he was in his 70s and lived a hell of a lot longer than I had and he understood that at the end of the day it's about who and what and how we love. And I have not been a person who has been very successful at conventional relationships, but loving well and loving deeply has been the most important thing to me."

It's always nice to hear humanizing stories about people you respect and admire and to know that they struggled with all of those same things we all struggle with. Now before I start tearing up myself, here's one of my favorite comedians, Dana Gould, with his spot-on Vincent Price impression. Enjoy.

Via Boom