House of Wax was one of the biggest hits of 1953, earning an estimated $5.5 million in rentals from North American box offices alone [REF].
After this high-profile role, he was always in high demand to play fiendish villains, mad scientists and assorted other deranged characters in genre films such as The Tingler, The Masque of the Red Death and The Abominable Dr. Phibes.