Biography

Had agreed to voice the dentist on Les Simpson (1989) episode "Last Exit to Springfield" but died before work began. The role then went to Hank Azaria.

Was a huge admirer of Orson Welles, and was even planning on writing a book about him, but aborted the project in fear of upsetting his idol. Welles later said that he would have loved the idea.

Entered Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida in September 1950. Also on campus during his first year were Fred Rogers (of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968)) who graduated in 1951 and John Reardon, class of 1952. In 1953 he was offered a leading role in the movie The Actress (1953). Almost immediately after returning to his studies he left to replace John Kerr in "Tea and Sympathy" on Broadway. He never completed his degree but was given an honorary degree by the college some 20 years later.

During 1990, he got a blood sample taken due to a palsy on the side of his face. The National Enquirer illegally had Tony's blood sample tested for the AIDS virus, and found out that it was positive. Later that year, the National Enquirer wrote a story about his battle with AIDS, but the ironic thing was that he only found out that he was HIV positive from this article. He suspected that he probably was, but he never checked for it before the article was written.

In 1984, he was arrested at London's Heathrow Airport for possession of eight grams of marijuana and three spots of LSD. In 1989, he was arrested again at the Angel Hotel in Cardiff for illegally importing 1.3 grams of marijuana.

I have learned more about love, selflessness and human understanding from the people I have met in this great adventure in the world of AIDS than I ever did in the cutthroat, competitive world in which I spent my life.

[statement made shortly before his death, on why he was private about his battle with AIDS] I chose not to go public about this because, to misquote Casablanca (1942), I'm not much at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of one old actor don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

[part of his last letter, given to his sons after his death] Boys, don't try to find a woman as wonderful as your mother to marry because if you do, you'll stay single your whole lives.

[on playing Norman Bates in Psychose (1960)] Not many people know this, but I was in New York rehearsing for a play [Frank Loesser's "Greenwillow"] when the shower scene was filmed in Hollywood. It is rather strange to go through life being identified with this sequence knowing that it was my double. Actually, the first time I saw Psycho and that shower scene was at the studio. I found it really scary. I was just as frightened as anybody else. Working on the picture, though, was one of the happiest filming experiences of my life. We had fun making it - never realizing the impact it would have.

I have a lot of affection for Norman Bates and a lot of sympathy. So does the audience, I think. He's not just a monster. He's tortured. The real secret of the Psycho movies is that they're tragedies first and horror movies second.