What do you think?
Rate this book
Anthony Perkins: A Haunted Life
Like the infamous character, Norman Bates, whom he portrayed in the Hitchcock film "Psycho", Anthony Hopkins was a loner with a fear of women, due in part to his domineering mother. This biography describes how, to a great extent, his life was an attempt to bury both his mother and Norman Bates. His struggle, which took him through homosexuality, psychoanalysis and drugs, culminated in a happy marriage in his forties, but was then blighted by AIDS. The book, for which the author interviewed a wide variety of people who knew and worked with Perkins, also depicts a attractive man of charm, humour, courage and talent.
416 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1995
5 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Ronald Bergan
43 books4 followersRonald Bergan is a regular contributor to The Guardian and the author of several critically acclaimed books on film, including biographies of directors Francis Ford Coppola, Jean Renoir, Sergei Eisenstein, and the Coen brothers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 29, 2022
After finishing Split Image by Charles Winecoff, I was really quite anxious to step into another biography of Tony Perkins’ life and career. Thankfully, the opening pages of Ronald Bergan’s book quelled any fears I had of reading another entirely subjective, vengeful tear down of Perkins’ work and personality. The very fact it had a bibliography (much unlike Winecoff’s book) inspired hope. Bergan collaborated with and sourced information from many of Perkins’ friends, colleagues, and family members.
A far more earnest, honest, and respectful effort, Bergan explores Perkins’ experiences on film sets, the gentler sides of his private life, his early career, and his death with far more reverence than Winecoff ever pretended to utilise.
There is no obscene, voyeuristic, frankly invasive descriptions of Perkins’ sex life, or perpetuations of long-speculated and harmful Hollywood rumours. If you have read Split Image and not this book and are afraid — as I was — that you may have to endure a similar uncomfortable peeling back of the seedy, unsubstantiated curtain, do not fear Bergan’s work. You won’t find the same content here.
You will come out of this biography with a sense that you know Tony’s wittier, playful, kind self. Criticisms of his work or of strenuous periods in his life are presented — for the most part, with deserved empathy. The bitingly cruel descriptions and humiliating stories Winecoff stuffed his text with are absent. Some may criticise Bergan’s work for being overly objective in parts, but I think that serves to benefit the biography as a whole. I would rather read well-sourced, objective commentary than salacious gossip. Bergan even goes out of his way to dispel rumours and lies perpetuated in Winecoff’s biography, which had me nodding emphatically that some justice for Perkins was being served. In fact, Bergan presents many nuanced views and perspectives on Perkins’ motivations, on the cultural and societal pressures he had to endure, and on harsh judgements that he finds fault with.
You get a real sense throughout that Bergan’s work here has a focused and clear narrative direction. The opening lines referencing Franz Kafka’s The Trial (in which Perkins played the role of Joseph K. In the 1962 film adaptation) sets the tone perfectly, and the many references to Perkins’ work throughout the more narratively fed segments are thoughtful and powerful.
There are stories here that will make your cheeks hurt from smiling, and others that will have you putting the book down for minutes on end to process and sigh over agonising threads in Perkins’ life. More than once I exclaimed in frustration at Perkins’ missteps and misfortunes. Naturally, the tone darkens the longer you read. You’ll never stop hoping that the story will brighten up again and end well for the ill-fated actor — but of course, the happy ending doesn’t come, and you’re left pondering what could have been.
As it approaches the end of his life, your heart doesn’t stop sinking until it hits the bottom. Any fan of his work will struggle to hold back tears on the final page with its solemn, yet strangely hopeful and deeply reverent callbacks to his finest work. It reminds you deeply that Tony Perkins was a person no less insecure, naive, or driven than any of us.
Of the two best known biographies of Tony Perkins’ life, this is the one I would recommend. I’d happily see this book adapted to television or film. Required reading.
A far more earnest, honest, and respectful effort, Bergan explores Perkins’ experiences on film sets, the gentler sides of his private life, his early career, and his death with far more reverence than Winecoff ever pretended to utilise.
There is no obscene, voyeuristic, frankly invasive descriptions of Perkins’ sex life, or perpetuations of long-speculated and harmful Hollywood rumours. If you have read Split Image and not this book and are afraid — as I was — that you may have to endure a similar uncomfortable peeling back of the seedy, unsubstantiated curtain, do not fear Bergan’s work. You won’t find the same content here.
You will come out of this biography with a sense that you know Tony’s wittier, playful, kind self. Criticisms of his work or of strenuous periods in his life are presented — for the most part, with deserved empathy. The bitingly cruel descriptions and humiliating stories Winecoff stuffed his text with are absent. Some may criticise Bergan’s work for being overly objective in parts, but I think that serves to benefit the biography as a whole. I would rather read well-sourced, objective commentary than salacious gossip. Bergan even goes out of his way to dispel rumours and lies perpetuated in Winecoff’s biography, which had me nodding emphatically that some justice for Perkins was being served. In fact, Bergan presents many nuanced views and perspectives on Perkins’ motivations, on the cultural and societal pressures he had to endure, and on harsh judgements that he finds fault with.
You get a real sense throughout that Bergan’s work here has a focused and clear narrative direction. The opening lines referencing Franz Kafka’s The Trial (in which Perkins played the role of Joseph K. In the 1962 film adaptation) sets the tone perfectly, and the many references to Perkins’ work throughout the more narratively fed segments are thoughtful and powerful.
There are stories here that will make your cheeks hurt from smiling, and others that will have you putting the book down for minutes on end to process and sigh over agonising threads in Perkins’ life. More than once I exclaimed in frustration at Perkins’ missteps and misfortunes. Naturally, the tone darkens the longer you read. You’ll never stop hoping that the story will brighten up again and end well for the ill-fated actor — but of course, the happy ending doesn’t come, and you’re left pondering what could have been.
As it approaches the end of his life, your heart doesn’t stop sinking until it hits the bottom. Any fan of his work will struggle to hold back tears on the final page with its solemn, yet strangely hopeful and deeply reverent callbacks to his finest work. It reminds you deeply that Tony Perkins was a person no less insecure, naive, or driven than any of us.
Of the two best known biographies of Tony Perkins’ life, this is the one I would recommend. I’d happily see this book adapted to television or film. Required reading.
April 27, 2020
I remember first seeing Anthony Perkins in the movie Psycho when I was about 11 years old and the shower scene scared the daylights out of me. But I still thought the movie was a good one.
When I just started 6th grade and my teacher told the class that Anthony Perkins died of AIDS, I remember being the only student in the classroom who gave a damn about it. I found it so hard to believe that Anthony was gone. At recess, I hid in a bathroom stall and cried.
Someone on Facebook not only sympathized with how I felt about Anthony dying, but told me that I should read this biography on him. So I decided to give it a go. And you know what? I have zero regrets! This biography is so well-written and not in the least bit boring!
When I just started 6th grade and my teacher told the class that Anthony Perkins died of AIDS, I remember being the only student in the classroom who gave a damn about it. I found it so hard to believe that Anthony was gone. At recess, I hid in a bathroom stall and cried.
Someone on Facebook not only sympathized with how I felt about Anthony dying, but told me that I should read this biography on him. So I decided to give it a go. And you know what? I have zero regrets! This biography is so well-written and not in the least bit boring!
November 6, 2019
This is a very informative read. Not only does it take a deep dive into Perkins life, it also sheds light on the way the film business and Hollywood was ran, especially in the 50’s and 60’s.
November 21, 2022
This was "just ok". I think Bergan's book suffered from a case of minutiae overload. We got pages of relationship histories of fellow actors, bits of random information about obscure films and rehashing of odd conversations. There seemed to be no real depth or emotion to the story of Anthony Perkins, given that he was living a closeted gay life, trying to hide behind a conventional family set up.
I feel as if I've come away from the book not really knowing anything more now than what I would have done having looked on Wikipedia.
A disappointing, ultimately unfulfilling book.
I feel as if I've come away from the book not really knowing anything more now than what I would have done having looked on Wikipedia.
A disappointing, ultimately unfulfilling book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews