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Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an Academy Award-nominated, Golden Globe-winning American actor, best known for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock`s Psycho and its three sequels. Perkins was born in New York City, the son of Janet Esselstyn (née Rane) and stage and film actor James Ripley Osgood Perkins. He attended The Brooks School, Buckingham Browne & Nichols, Columbia University and Rollins College, having moved to Boston in 1942, five years after his father`s death. Perkins made his film debut in The Actress (1953). He received the Golden Globe Award for New Star Of The Year - Actor and an Academy Award nomination for his second film, Friendly Persuasion (1956). Following this, he released three pop albums in 1957 and 1958 on Epic and RCA as "Tony Perkins".[3] His single "Moon-Light Swim" was a hit in the United States, peaking at #24 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1957. He showcased his musical talents in the film Matchmaker (1958). Perkins returned to the role of Norman Bates in three sequels to Psycho. The first was Psycho II, which was the second-highest grossing film during the summer of 1983. He starred in the sexually provocative film Crimes of Passion (1984) opposite Kathleen Turner. He starred in and directed Psycho III in 1986, followed by the made-for-cable sequel Psycho IV: The Beginning in 1990. Although Perkins was fighting disease, he appeared in eight television productions between 1990 and 1992, including Daughter of Darkness (1990) with Mia Sara, The Naked Target (1992) with Roddy McDowall and made his final appearance was in In Deep Woods (1992) with Rosanna Arquette. Perkins` life was documented in the 1996 biography Anthony Perkins: Split Image written by Charles Winecoff.

On August 9, 1973, Perkins married photographer Berry Berenson. They had two sons: actor Oz Perkins (b. February 2, 1974), and musician Elvis Perkins (b. February 9, 1976). They remained happily married until Perkins` death in 1992. Perkins was bisexual. He once said he felt too nervous around women, and resisted actresses Jane Fonda and Brigitte Bardot, who had tried to seduce him during his youth. Sources say he had exclusively same-sex relationships until his late 30s. He reportedly had affairs with actors Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter, dancer Rudolf Nureyev, composer/lyricist Stephen Sondheim and dancer-choreographer Grover Dale prior to marrying Berenson. At one point, Perkins underwent therapy to "cure" his sexuality. His first heterosexual affair was with actress Victoria Principal. On the morning after their first night together, Perkins said he was a changed man, and that his last trace of anxiety of women was gone. Perkins died at age 60, on September 12, 1992, from complications of AIDS. He was cremated, and his ashes were given to his family.

His wife, Berry Berenson, was killed on American Airlines Flight 11, during the September 11 attacks in 2001, a day before the ninth anniversary of Perkins` death.

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