Boris Karloff's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) The Red Skelton Show Boris Karloff Thriller Boris Karloff A History Of Horror With Mark Gatiss (UK) Boris Karloff I've Got A Secret (1952) Boris Karloff Starring Boris Karloff Boris Karloff Occasional … Colonel March of Scotland Yard (UK) Col. Percev… The Entertainers Boris Karloff Who Said That? Panelist (3)

Main Movie Roles 1998 - Bride of Chucky 1991 - Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook 1984 - Terror in the Aisles 1974 - Madhouse 1968 - Curse of the Crimson Altar 1968 - Targets 1965 - Die, Monster, Die! 1964 - Bikini Beach 1963 - The Raven 1963 - The Terror 1963 - The Comedy of Terrors 1958 - Corridors of Blood 1957 - Voodoo Island 1953 - Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1952 - The Black Castle 1951 - The Strange Door 1949 - Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff 1948 - Tap Roots 1947 - The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 1947 - Lured 1946 - Bedlam 1945 - Isle of the Dead 1945 - The Body Snatcher 1945 - House of Dracula 1944 - House of Frankenstein 1944 - The Mummy's Curse 1944 - The Climax 1942 - The Boogie Man Will Get You 1941 - The Devil Commands 1940 - The Mummy's Hand 1940 - The Man with Nine Lives 1940 - The Ape 1940 - Doomed to Die 1940 - Black Friday 1940 - Before I Hang 1939 - Son of Frankenstein 1939 - The Man They Could Not Hang 1939 - Devil's Island 1939 - Tower of London 1938 - Mr. Wong, Detective 1937 - Night Key 1936 - The Invisible Ray 1936 - Juggernaut 1936 - The Walking Dead 1936 - Charlie Chan at the Opera 1935 - Bride of Frankenstein 1935 - The Black Room 1935 - The Raven 1934 - The Black Cat 1934 - The Lost Patrol 1933 - The Ghoul 1932 - Scarface 1932 - Behind the Mask 1932 - The Mask of Fu Manchu 1932 - The Old Dark House 1932 - The Mummy 1931 - Five Star Final 1931 - Frankenstein 1931 - Smart Money 1931 - King of the Wild 1931 - The Criminal Code

BIOGRAPHY:

Along with fellow actors Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi and Vincent Price (I), Boris Karloff is recognized as one of the true icons of horror cinema, and the actor most closely identified with the general public's perception of the "monster" from the classic Mary Shelley (I) book, "Frankenstein". William Henry Pratt was born on November 23, 1887, in Camberwell, London, England, the son of Edward John Pratt Jr., the Deputy Commissioner of Customs Salt and Opium, Northern Division, Indian Salt Revenue Service, and his third wife, Eliza Sarah Millard.

He was educated at London University in anticipation that he would pursue a diplomatic career; however, he emigrated to Canada in 1909 and joined a touring company based out of Ontario and adopted the stage name of "Boris Karloff." He toured back and forth across the USA for over ten years in a variety of low-budget theater shows and eventually ended up in Hollywood with very little money to his name. Needing cash to support himself, Karloff secured occasional acting work in the fledgling silent film industry in such pictures as The Deadlier Sex (1920), Omar the Tentmaker (1922), Dynamite Dan (1924) and Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927), in addition to a handful of serials (the majority of which sadly haven't survived). Karloff supplemented his meager film income by working as a truck driver in Los Angeles, which allowed him enough time off to continue to pursue acting roles.

His big break came in 1931 when he was cast as "the monster" in the Universal production of Frankenstein (1931), directed by James Whale (I), one of the studio's few remaining auteur directors. The aura of mystery surrounding Karloff was highlighted in the opening credits, as he was listed as simply "?." The film was a commercial and critical success for Universal, and Karloff was instantly established as a hot property in Hollywood. He quickly appeared in several other sinister roles, including Scarface (1932) (filmed before Frankenstein (1931)), the black-humored The Old Dark House (1932), as the namesake Oriental villain of the Sax Rohmer novels in The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932), as undead Im-Ho-Tep in The Mummy (1932) and the misguided Prof. Morlant in The Ghoul (1933). He thoroughly enjoyed his role as a religious fanatic in John Ford (I)'s The Lost Patrol (1934), although contemporary critics described it as a textbook example of overacting.

He donned the signature make-up, neck bolts and asphalt spreader's boots again to play Frankenstein's monster in the sensational Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and the less thrilling Son of Frankenstein (1939). Karloff, on loan to Fox, appeared in one of the best of the Warner Oland Chan entries, Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936), before beginning his own short-lived Mr. Wong detective series. He was a wrongly condemned doctor in Devil's Island (1939), shaven-headed executioner "Mord the Merciless" in Tower of London (1939), another misguided scientist in The Ape (1940), a crazed scientist surrounded by monsters, vampires and werewolves in House of Frankenstein (1944), a murderous cabman in The Body Snatcher (1945) and a Greek general fighting vampirism in the superb atmospheric Val Lewton thriller Isle of the Dead (1945).

While Karloff continued appearing in a plethora of films, many of them were not up to the standards of his previous efforts, including appearances in two of the hokey Bud Abbott and Lou Costello (I) monster movies (he had appeared with them in an earlier superior effort, Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949), which theater owners often added his name to the marquee), the low point of the Universal-International horror movie cycle. During the 1950s he was a regular guest on many high-profile TV shows including "The Milton Berle Show" (1948), "Tales of Tomorrow" (1951), "The Veil" (1958), "The Donald O'Connor Show" (1954), "The Red Skelton Show" (1951) and "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" (1956), to name but a few, and he appeared in a mixed bag of films including Sabaka (1954) and Voodoo Island (1957). On Broadway he appeared as the murderous Brewster brother in the hit, "Arsenic and Old Lace" (his role, or the absence of him in it, was amusingly parodied in the film version) and a decade later he enjoyed a long run in "Peter Pan," perfectly cast as "Captain Hook."

His career experienced something of a revival in the 1960s thanks to hosting the TV anthology series "Thriller" (1960) and indie director Roger Corman, with Karloff contributing wonderful performances in The Raven (1963), The Terror (1963), the ultra-eerie I tre volti della paura (1963) and the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired Die, Monster, Die! (1965). Karloff's last great role was as an aging horror movie star confronting a modern-day sniper in the Peter Bogdanovich film Targets (1968). His TV career was capped off by achieving Christmas immortality as the narrator of Chuck Jones (I)'s perennial animated favorite, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) (TV). Three low-budget Mexican-produced horror films starring an ailing Karloff were released in the two years after his death; however, they do no justice to this great actor. In retrospect, he never took himself too seriously as an actor and had a tendency to downplay his acting accomplishments. Renowned as a refined, kind and warm-hearted gentleman, with a sincere affection for children and their welfare, Karloff passed away on February 2, 1969 from emphysema. He was cremated at Guildford Crematorium, Godalming, Surrey, England, where he is commemorated by a plaque in Plot 2 of the Garden of Remembrance.


TRIVIA:

• Refused to reprise his role as the Frankenstein Monster in _Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)_ (qv), because he felt spoofs wouldn't sell to the audience. He did agree to do publicity for the film and posed for pictures of himself going to see the film.
• When he died, the New York Times obituary featured a picture of Frankenstein's monster. Unfortunately, the image was actually 'Glenn Strange (I)' (qv) in full makeup, not Karloff.
• Great-nephew of 'Anna Leonowens' (qv).
• He is commemorated by a plaque inside St.Paul's Church (The Actors' Church), Covent Garden, London.
• During the production of _Frankenstein (1931)_ (qv) there was some concern that seven-year-old 'Marilyn Harris (II)' (qv), who played Maria, the little girl thrown into the lake by the creature, would be overly frightened by the sight of Karloff in costume and make-up when it came time to shoot the scene. When the cast was assembled to travel to the location, Marilyn ran from her car directly up to Karloff, who was in full make-up and costume, took his hand and asked "May I drive with you?" Delighted, and in typical Karloff fashion, he responded, "Would you, darling?" She then rode to the location with "The Monster.".
• In the final years of his life, walking, and even just standing, became a painful ordeal. Some directors would change the script to place Karloff's character in a wheelchair, so that he would be more comfortable.
• He had East Indian heritage on this father's side. This gave Karloff a dark skin tone. In several films he was cast in roles such as Arabs and American Indians.
• His voice was the basis for future Tony the Tiger commercials by Kellogg's.