Everything about the famous parents of “Longlegs” director Oz Perkins, Anthony Perkins and Berry Berenson

The “Legally Blonde” actor and “Longlegs” director is the son of “Psycho” actor Anthony Perkins and photographer Berry Berenson

Osgood “Oz” Perkins follows in the footsteps of his famous parents.

After notable roles in films such as Naturally blond And secretaryPerkins has made a career as a horror film director, his latest project is Long legs with Maika Monroe and Nicolas Cage.

However, his interest in the genre should come as no surprise, as he is the eldest son of a horror legend. Psycho Actor Anthony Perkins and photographer Berry Berenson.

The couple married in 1973, when Berenson was pregnant with Perkins, and remained married until Anthony died of AIDS in September 1992.

Rumors have swirled around Anthony’s personal life and sexuality throughout his career. Perkins told PEOPLE that his parents tried to shield things from him and his brother when they were younger, but that it heavily influences his work today.

“Everything I try to do is about myself from the beginning,” he explained. “What is the simple truth that I can use as a kind of North Star? In my case, I grew up in a household with a very famous, well-known father who lived at least a double life and was a closeted homosexual or bisexual.”

“Everyone knew it, even my brother and I knew it in theory, but we never found the right words to say it,” Perkins said. “It wasn’t part of our story.”

Perkins added that the narrative that there are “two stories” Long legswhich he wrote the screenplay and directed.

Here’s everything you need to know about Oz Perkins’ famous parents.

His mother was a famous photographer

Berenson began her career as a model before changing course and working as a freelance photographer in the early 1970s. Her work has appeared in numerous well-known publications, including Life, shine, Fashion And Newsweek.

In addition to her work as a photographer, she also worked as an actress. She studied acting at New York’s The American Place Theater before appearing in a number of films, including the 1978 film Remember my name alongside Anthony and the 1979 film Winterkills with Jeff Bridges.

His father was a horror film legend

During a TV appearance on The Mike Douglas Show In 1976, the couple revealed how their relationship came about. Berenson noted that she had “always had a crush on Anthony,” but their first encounter was when she interviewed him for Andy Warhol’s publication. Interview Magazine.

“I always wanted to meet him and I did,” she explained with a smile. Anthony added that it was “easy” for them to get to know each other during the interview. When asked if he liked her right away, he replied: “Of course. Look at her!”

Anthony added that Berenson “asked all the right questions” and said they still have the tape of their joint interview.

They married in August 1973

The couple married on August 9, 1973, when Berenson was three months pregnant with their eldest son, Oz. At the time, Anthony was 41 and Berenson was 25.

The ceremony took place in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, at a private residence in the presence of several close friends. The New York Times reported at the time. According to the Just, “Berenson went to the ceremony barefoot, wearing “a pink, blue and green English silk granny-style dress, her Indian jewelry and the double pearl necklace Perkins had given her for her birthday.”

Anthony, on the other hand, wore “white pants, a white shirt and 15-year-old white dollar bills” and “married his bride with a silver-set Indian turquoise ring with small arrows on the sides.”

They had two children together

After their wedding, Anthony and Berenson welcomed their first child together, a son named Osgood Robert “Oz” Perkins II, on February 2, 1974. He was named after Anthony’s father, Osgood Perkins, a well-known actor in the 1920s and 1930s.

A few years later, on February 9, 1976, their second son, Elvis Perkins, was born. Elvis has made a name for himself in the music industry as a folk-rock musician and has released several albums since 2007. Elvis also worked on the soundtrack for his brother’s film Long legs under the pseudonym Zilgi.

Oz appeared as a younger version of his father’s famous character in Psycho II

Perkins was able to work with his father before his death. In 1983, Perkins had a small role in Psycho II, He played a younger version of his father’s famous character, Norman Bates. This film was his acting debut.

Oz Perkins says his parents shielded him and his brother from his father’s sexuality

Talking to PEOPLE about his film Long legsPerkins opened up about how his father’s sexuality – and how his mother shielded him and his brother from it – influenced his latest film.

“My father was an actor whose private life was not accepted in the mainstream, whether you want to call him gay or bisexual or whatever nickname you want to give him,” he explained. “You couldn’t, you couldn’t be both. You still can’t!”

He pointed out that Berenson was “the originator” of the taboo surrounding Anthony’s sexuality.

“Everyone knew it, even my brother and I knew it theoretically, but we never learned a language for it,” he said. The idea that his mother was able to keep the story alive throughout his childhood partly inspired his film Long legs, in which Alicia Witt’s character hides a shocking secret from her daughter.

“Your mother can protect you from a truth she finds unsavory,” Osgood mused. “And then you just build a crazy movie around it.”

They died almost nine years apart

Anthony was 60 years old when he died from complications of AIDS on September 12, 1992. The Los Angeles Times was reported at the time; they also wrote that he was surrounded by Berenson and her children at the time of his death.

The actor had not disclosed his illness beforehand and only addressed it in a statement shortly before his death. “I have chosen not to speak publicly about it (having AIDS) because, to misquote, Casablanca“I’m not particularly noble-minded, but it doesn’t take much to realize that the problems of an old actor are completely meaningless in this crazy world,” Perkins said.

Of his experience with AIDS, he said, “Many believe this disease is God’s revenge, but I believe it was sent to teach people how to love, understand and have compassion for one another. I have learned more about love, selflessness and human understanding from the people I have met on this great adventure in the world of AIDS than I ever did in the unforgiving, competitive world in which I have spent my life.”

Nearly nine years later, Berenson, then 53, died tragically in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. She was returning from a trip to Cape Cod on American Airlines Flight 11 when it was hijacked and crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center. At the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, Berenson’s name is engraved on panel N-76 at the North Pool.

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