Decades later, Anthony Perkins is still a horror movie icon thanks to his terrifying turn as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock‘s Psycho.

Born on April 4, 1932, in New York City, Perkins was only 28 when he made audiences scream playing the creepy Bates Motel manager. His Hollywood career continued after Psycho, but no role was as iconic as Bates, a character he would reprise later in his career.

In Monster: The Ed Gein Story, which is now streaming on Netflix, Joey Pollari brings Perkins to life. The new season of the Netflix anthology series centers on murderer Ed Gein (whose life and crimes somewhat inspired Psycho) and also examines the emotional toll playing Bates took on Perkins’ personal life.

So, who was Anthony Perkins? Here’s everything to know about the Psycho star brought to life in Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

Who was Anthony Perkins?

Perkins was a stage and screen actor who made his film debut in the 1953 movie The Actress. That same year, he made his Broadway debut in the play Tea and Sympathy, per Playbill.

He was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in the 1956 movie Friendly Persuasion, starring Gary Cooper and Dorothy McGuire.

Though Perkins was praised for his performance in Friendly Persuasion, his turn as Bates in 1960’s Psycho would make him a Hollywood and horror movie icon.

Following Psycho, Perkins continued working for decades, appearing in movies such as 1970’s Catch-22 and the 1974 adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. He also co-wrote the 1973 whodunnit The Last of Sheila with musical theater legend Stephen Sondheim.

Perkins would also return to the Bates Motel, reprising his role of Bates multiple times later in his career.

Was Anthony Perkins’ Norman Bates performance inspired by Ed Gein?

In Monster: The Ed Gein Story, a connection is made between Gein’s gruesome crimes and Bates. One scene features Hitchcock (Tom Hollander) giving Perkins (Pollari) a tour of a recreation of Gein’s house of horrors.

While Gein and Bates share similarities, there is no evidence that Perkins based his performance on the murderer. Even Robert Bloch, who authored the 1959 novel Psycho, on which the Hitchcock film is based, denied using Gein as the model for Bates but rather used the serial killer’s “circumstances” as inspiration.

How many times did Anthony Perkins play Norman Bates?

Perkins first played Bates in the 1960 film Psycho, but he would reprise the role decades later.

In 1983, he returned as Bates in Psycho II, and again in 1986’s Psycho III, which he directed.

Perkins portrayed Bates one last time in the 1990 TV movie Psycho IV: The Beginning.

He will always be linked to the twisted character of Bates, and according to a 1990 Los Angeles Times interview, Perkins had come to accept that, saying he would do it all over again if given the opportunity.

Did Anthony Perkins have a relationship with actor Tab Hunter?

In Monster: The Ed Gein Story, Perkins is dating fellow Hollywood heartthrob Tab Hunter (Jackie Kay).

In real life, Perkins married photographer Berry Berenson in 1973, with whom he welcomed two children: sons Osgood Robert “Oz” Perkins II, born on Feb. 2, 1974, and Elvis Perkins, who followed on Feb. 9, 1976. However, the actor reportedly had homosexual relationships throughout his life as well — a fact Berenson shielded from their sons during childhood.

“My father was an actor who had sort of a private life that was not acceptable in the mainstream, whether you want to call him a gay man or a bisexual man, whatever moniker we want to put on that,” Osgood told PEOPLE in 2024. “You couldn’t do that, you couldn’t be both. You still can’t!”

He continued, “Everybody knew it, even my brother and I theoretically knew it, but we were never given any language for it,” he says.

While Perkins never discussed his sexuality publicly, Hunter wrote of their alleged relationship in the 1950s in his 2005 memoir, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star.

What happened to Anthony Perkins?

Perkins died at age 60 on Sept. 12, 1992, from AIDS-related complications. He was not public about his illness, and only addressed it in a statement released shortly before his death.

“I chose not to go public about (having AIDS) because, to misquote Casablanca, ‘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,’ ” he said.

“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,” the actor continued.

In recent years, Osgood has continued his father’s horror legacy, directing the movies Longlegs and The Monkey.