In Netflix’s newest true crime series, Charlie Hunnam portrays Ed Gein, but the late Anthony Perkins was the original Psycho’s lead actor.
Following the release of Monster: The Ed Gein Story, Netflix fans have been revisiting some horror movies that drew inspiration from the killer, including Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
Anthony Perkins, a star in the 1960 film, is regarded as one of the best horror movies ever made.
The late actor is well known for his recognizable role, and his family is still a part of Hollywood thanks to Oz Perkins, the film’s director.
Anthony also experienced a lot of difficulties throughout his life, with his son even later describing the role he played as a “curse.”
Was Ed Gein the one who influenced Anthony Perkins’ role in Psycho?
According to Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story, Norman Bates’ relationship with his mother and the horrific crimes committed by Ed Gein served as inspiration for the book and Psycho adaptation.
Her son built a shrine to his late mother in Augusta Gein’s room after her death by keeping and boarding up the rooms she used.
The director shows Anthony Perkins a recreation of Gein’s home, while Alfred Hitchcock and author Robert Bloch go into great detail about Gein’s crimes in the film.
The Netflix series “tells the story of how one simple man in Plainfield, Wisconsin, became history’s most singular ghoul. He revealed to the world the most horrific truth of all – that monsters aren’t born, they’re made… by us.”
After Norman Bates and Alfred Hitchcock, Anthony Perkins started his acting career.
Anthony Perkins won an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor before making his debut in Psycho.
Anthony reportedly chose to buy out his Paramount contract and relocate to France where he made his European film debut in 1961’s Goodbye Again as a result of the success of the 1960s Psycho.
He made his first appearance in Pretty Poison in 1968 and returned to Hollywood in 1968, where he also co-starred in Catch-22 and Murder on the Orient Express.
Oz Perkins, Anthony’s son, described Anthony’s Psycho role as “a curse” in an interview with Vanity Fair.
He claimed that the Psycho thing was viewed as a lot more of a curse than not in my family’s mythology. At the family gathering, where do you think we all agreed this story was the story?
However, this is a young actor who is incredibly attractive and capable of any role. He performs really well. And he’s doing a matinee idol stunt.
He is a real person who plays cowboys, basketball, and baseball. Girls adore him. Then, because he is so dangerously close to who he actually was, this crucial part of his journey arrives.
He continued, “It’s funny because I find many of my dad’s later performances very stilted and oddly done, while the early stuff is really impeccable.” However, I believe the rock is thrown, and Psycho was the result.
Anthony Perkins’ secret behind-the-scenes conflict
Anthony Perkins achieved enormous success after achieving his Psycho success, but American conservatism forced him to conceal his sexuality throughout his Hollywood career.
The actor previously had relationships with Grover Dale and Tab Hunter, but all of these things were kept secret.
Oz Perkins, Anthony’s son, responded to the Irish Times when asked whether he was surprised to learn these revealing details about his father as an adult. “The surprise was that it was not a surprise. Right ? We hadn’t been talked about it, so it was surprise.
I’m not sure who would speak during that conversation. I’m not sure how that conversation will continue for those whose public spaces don’t permit it, even today. How do children and I interact in that conversation?
“I’m not at fault for anyone,” I assure you. However, I believe a membrane was applied over everything with a gauze. Everyone appeared to be aware of it. All of their friends, undoubtedly. It wasn’t like [top agent] Sue Mengers and [top director] Mike Nichols were like, “Oh, really? ” You’re kidding? ‘”
He added: “It’s such a weird thing because, even in today’s context, it’s not safe to be that way. It’s still not safe to be gay and a movie star unless you’re going to be a ‘gay movie star’.”
wife of Anthony Perkins and tragic passing
In 1973, Anthony Perkins and actress Berry Berenson welcomed two children.
In the 1978 Alan Rudolph film Remember My Name, Berry and Anthony co-starred opposite one another, as well as Jeff Bridges in the 1979 films Winter Kills and Malcolm McDowell in 1982’s Cat People.
The couple remained together until Anthony tragically passed away from pneumonia in 1992 due to the illness.
Tragically, Berry was killed when American Airlines Flight 11 was hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower nine years later as a passenger on the same plane.
Sons and family legacy of Anthony Perkins
Two sons, Elvis Perkins and Oz Perkins, 51, are surviving the late Anthony Perkins.
In 1983’s Psycho II, Oz began his acting career as a child actor, appearing in films like 2001’s Legally Blonde and Star Trek. He later reprised his roles in the films Star Trek and Legally Blonde.
He is best known for his direction in the past, having directed the likes of Gretel and Hansel in 2020, Longlegs in 2024, and The Monkey in 2025.
Elvis, an American folk singer, released his first album Ash Wednesday in 2007 with the title track.
