No one knows you better than your best bud, and Peter Cushing and Vincent Price seemed to know each other like the back of their hands.

The two actors frequently collaborated, acting alongside each other in films like Madhouse (1974).

The men were so close that Cushing wrote the foreword to The Price of Fear: The Film Career of Vincent Price, In His Own Words by Joel Eisner. The book focuses on Price’s early life, as well as his extensive career. Cushing was kind enough to introduce the book and used the opportunity to praise his old friend in an open letter to Price.

The actor also shared a personal anecdote, revealing that he had seen Price perform on stage years earlier. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever told you this,” Cushing wrote to Price. “Just before the outbreak of the Second World War, I came over to the States in search of fame and fortune, like a fool stepping in where angels fear to tread. (No one knew me except my parents.) Being skint, I presented my Equity Card at the box office and was given a freebie seat in the theatre on Broadway, where you were starring in Patrick Hamilton’s play Gaslight."

It was an experience that would change his life.

"Your performance impressed me tremendously, and later, when I appeared on B.B.C. television as the same character, I used bits of your ‘business’ which had remained in my memory all that time! (Motto: If you’re going to pinch, pinch only the best!)."