The And the Rachantour, art collector, Gourmet Cook, these could easily be the traits of the saint, as he was heard as a debonair radio detective.

But they also describe the man who gave him a voice, actor and renaissance man Vincent Price.

Over his long career, Price found success on stage, screen, and on radio.

Where aside from his memorable stint as the radio sleuth,

he lent his voice to some of the medium's all-time great chillers.

Born May 27, 1911 in St. Louis, Missouri, Vincent Price was the youngest of four children,

and a descendant of the first child born in colonial Massachusetts. He graduated from Yale with a degree in art history

and went on to London with plans for a master's degree in fine arts. Instead he found himself pulled to the stage and he made his professional acting

debut in 1934.

The next year he was appearing with Orson Wells and the Mercury Theater on the London stage.

Price's film career began in 1938.

Some of his early successes came in Dragonwick, Leave her to Heaven, and

1994's Laura, the classic film noir directed by Otto Preminger.

It was in the 1940s also when Price broke out into radio. He recreated big screen roles on the Lux Radio Theater. He guest-starred for laughs with Jack Benny and on Duffy's Tavern and over the years he made over a dozen

appearances on escape and suspense. One of those appearances was the classic

three skeleton key, the story of a lighthouse crew contending with a

horde of flesh-eating rats that still ranks as one of the most terrifying

that radio ever produced. terrifying that

Price's best known radio role, however, may be that of Simon Templar, the saint.

From 1947 to 1951,

Price starred as the Robin Hood of Modern Crime.

As a dashing sleuth who was more likely to throw a clip than a punch, Price's saint stood

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