6) Anthony Perkins – 23 Years
After his terrific performance as boyish motel clerk turned mother-murdering serial killer Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, Anthony Perkins naturally never escaped from under the long shadow of his most famous role. Clearly, he accepted this, as the actor returned to play Bates in not one, not two, but three sequels many years later.
Psycho II arrived in 1983, a whole 23 years after the 1960 original. Though nowhere near as well remembered as its predecessor, it isn’t a bad follow-up, all things considered. Unfortunately, it was succeeded by two much weaker films in 1986 and 1990. Though he never recaptured the magic of the original, all of Perkins’ performances were, at the very least, far better than Vince Vaughn’s in the needless shot-for-shot 1998 remake.
