| “ | You're absolutely right. It is not fair. Fairness would be to rip your insides out and hang you from a tree, so we can expose you for the heartless, desensitized little shits that you are! | ” |
–Himbry after expelling two students for pulling a prank after the murders of Casey Becker and Steven Orth. | ||
Principal Arthur Himbry was a minor character in the original Scream (1996 film). He was the tough-acting principal of Woodsboro High School.
He showed concern for Sidney Prescott's trauma and was angry at two boys fooling around in Ghostface costumes after two fellow innocent schoolmates, Casey Becker and Steven Orth, were just minding their own business when both of them were "savagely murdered" one night and wanted them to show compassion and sensitivity.
Himbry was the face of authority for most of the teenage characters. While the adults in horror films are usually ineffectual, Himbry is a strong force, suspending students and working as a liaison with the Woodsboro police. Like common adult characters, however, he is out-of-touch with the youth culture.
Himbry was the fourth character to fall victim to the 1996 Woodsboro Murders. He was killed by Billy Loomis as a diversion, for the party guests to leave and for Billy to isolate and kill Sidney Prescott.
For the Stab movie based on his real-life murder, he was portrayed by Ron Howard. 15 years after his murder, a golden bust was made in his memory. A deleted scene for Scream 4 focuses on the bust, revealing he was 50 years old when he was murdered. Following his murder, an unnamed female principal presumably replaced him (voiced by Drew Barrymore).
He was portrayed by Henry Winkler.
Biography
The Woodsboro Murders (1996)
Mr. Himbry assisted Sheriff Burke in interrogating several students in Woodsboro High following the night of the murders of Casey Becker and Steven Orth. He demonstrated a protective instinct towards Sidney Prescott when she was questioned.
"Your whole generation DISGUSTS me!" Mr. Himbry intimidating and punishing his students after a bad Ghostface prank.
After two boys pulled a prank by wearing Father Death costumes and running through the hallways, with the killings still going on, he orders them into his office. Himbry took out a pair of scissors and threateningly cut one of the masks in half and unmercifully reprimands them of the seriousness of their prank after two innocent schoolmates were murdered and how they should be showing more sympathy. Declaring both of them expelled, he threw them out of his office.
Playing around Principal Himbry playing around with a Ghostface mask he collected from a student.
When school let out for the day, Himbry announced over the loudspeaker that classes were suspended until further notice and there was a city-wide curfew instated, beginning at 9:00 P.M by the Woodsboro Police Department to protect everybody from the murderer. Once alone, he started toying around with the mask himself, making scary sounds in front of the mirror in his office.
Principal Himbry is stabbed four times by Billy Loomis.
He continued to work after hours and was lured out of his office by a knocking sound. The only one there was Fred, an old janitor, working in the hallway outside of the main office. He returned to his office searching around suspiciously. He looked in his closet and nothing was there. Relieved, he finally closed his office door and discovered Ghostface (Billy Loomis) waiting for him. Ghostface attacked and murdered him by stabbing him in the chest two times and his stomach two times, gutted him and then hung him up on the goal post of the football field as a declaration for local teenagers. It seems that no one really cared much for their principal when they found out he died, as in the teens at Stu Macher's party who left to go see their gutted principal. However, Randy Meeks was concerned, unlike the other teens.
According to the references found in Scream VI (2023 film), there is a sketch of his off-screen death which is a drawing of how he was hung on the goal post in the football field. The rope of which he was hung lays to the right side of the sketches.
Also revealed in Scream VI, the faculty and student held a memorial for him in the gym of Woodsboro High School, and an obituary was written for him in remembrance of the attacks during late-1996.
Legacy
The Windsor College Murders (1997)
Gale mentioned Himbry's murder while she discussed the new murder spree with Dewey, Randy and Joel while sitting at Windsor College. His original murder was not copied or mimicked in the events of the murders.
The Woodsboro Massacre Remake (2011)
There is a memorial bust of Arthur Himbry in the hallway of Woodsboro High School near Jill Roberts' locker.
The New York Murders (2023)
Drawings of Himbry, as seen in the Ghostface Shrine.
In the shrine created by Richie Kirsch, there were Easter eggs and references found of his death during the original Scream (1996) film. One was a memorial which was held ultimately after the murders when school resumed later in 1996. The other was his obituary. They read:
Woodsboro Mourns Himbry
”Woodboro Mourns Himbry
Woodsboro High Principal Arthur Himbry, one of the victims of the masked Ghostface killer, will be remembered today at a memorial taking place at the gym.
Himbry was an outgoing somewhat volatile leader who was not afraid to speak his mind when provoked and did not back down from using a “tough love” approach when student required discipline. We at the local Tribune and indeed all of Woodsboro mourn his passing.
In Memoriam to Arthur Himbry
Arthur Himbry, 50, long-time educator and principal of Woodsboro High School, died September 27 from injuries sustained during an attack at the high school. Mr. Himbry was well-known among the staff, students and residents of the town for his fiery enthusiasm for providing an education to Woodsboro’s youth.
Relationships
Allies
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Enemies
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Trivia
- Henry Winkler requested for his role to not be in the credits for unknown reasons.
- The memorial plate revealing his birth date is seen in Scream 4 (in a deleted scene) in the school hallway before Jill and Kirby talk at their lockers.
- He was described as "50's, an old codger of a man wearing a sour face" in an early script for Scream.
- Henry Winkler's casting was ironic, as he was best known as the cool, rebellious Fonzie in Happy Days (1974-1984). Here, he portrays an authority figure. The Fonz's first name in Happy Days was also Arthur.
- Himbry checks his closet in an identical manner as Heather Langenkamp's character does in Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994 film).
- In Scream 4, Kirby Reed also checks Jill's closet in the same manner when she incorrectly believes Ghostface to be hiding in her closet.
- In Season 1, in "Hello, Emma", Rachel Murray also opens her own bedroom closet door, due to being called by who she thought was her then girlfriend, Audrey Jensen, who was instead being called by the Lakewood Slasher, using her voice via modification, albeit this was due to the killer posing as Audrey taunting Rachel of her having heard a noise while home alone, who she believed was playing a joke.
- He is the only character in the series who appears in more than one scene, but is always shown in the same location, his office.
- He was killed by Billy Loomis.
- Himbry's murder was added by the producers to give Scream another death scene because Bob Weinstein noticed there were 30 pages of script without a death scene and told Kevin Williamson that "somebody must die", which resulted in it being added, and it also added a reason to get the additional teenagers out of Stu Macher's party.
- Himbry was mentioned a few times in the original Scream 2 script when the authorities discover the killer is mimicking the Woodsboro Murders. As it stands, the copycat subplot is dropped when his murder would have been repeated next.
- The scene where Himbry wears the Ghostface mask, it is actually the "KNB mask" rather than the original "Father Death" costume type worn by the killers. The "KNB" mask was the original movie mask, but after the Father Death type was completed, they didn't want to reshoot the scenes where it was present in Casey's murder scene. The mask was later worked into the scene where Himbry plays with the mask.
- Originally, Sidney ran to Mr. Himbry's office for help after she was attacked in the bathroom, and he comforted her. This may have been taken out to keep him as a suspect, although she may still have run to his office off-screen. This also happened again in the first movie, as that while in the bathroom, Ghostface or a prank Ghostface is wearing the same boots as Sheriff Burke, but had dark pants which Billy wore.
- The only notable character in Scream who had no equivalent in Scream 4.
- If Billy Loomis wasn't the person in the Ghostface mask that killed Himbry, then it's possible that the person who killed Himbry was Roman Bridger, but was really Stu who had Billy's help hanging him (See Hidden Killer).
- Himbry is the first Scream movie character to be killed in broad daylight, followed by Randy Meeks. Sarah Darling, Judy Hicks, Wes Hicks, and Christopher Stone in the films, as well as followed by Will Belmont and Tommy Jenkins in the TV series.
- Himbry is also the first character to have been murdered within an educational institution (Woodsboro High), followed by Derek, Mickey, and Nancy in Windsor College in Scream 2, albeit in different places inside the schools and at different times of the day (Himbry alone in his office after school during the day; Derek, Nancy, and Mickey after the latter duo's reveals as Ghostface in the school auditorium, after school at night).
- In Scream VI, Arthur's portraits can be discerned in the shrine.
Quotes
- "You're both expelled, get out."
Gallery
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Arthur Himbry has a Photo Gallery. |
Appearances
Character Guide
| Scream Characters | ||
| Principal Characters | Sidney Prescott • Gale Weathers • Dewey Riley • Ghostface | |
| Recurring Supporting Characters | Randy Meeks • Cotton Weary | |
| Supporting Characters | Billy Loomis • Tatum Riley • Stu Macher • Kenny Brown • Sheriff Burke • Arthur Himbry • Casey Becker • Steven Orth | |
| Recurring Minor Characters | Neil Prescott • Maureen Prescott • Hank Loomis | |
| Ghostface(s) | Billy Loomis • Stu Macher | |