Boris Karloff
Active - 1916 - 1969 | Born - Nov 23, 1887 in East Dulwich, London, England | Died - Feb 2, 1969 | Genres - Horror, Drama, Mystery, Crime, Comedy | Height: 5’ 11”
The long-reigning king of Hollywood horror, Boris Karloff was born William Henry Pratt on November 23, 1887, in South London. The youngest of nine children, he was educated at London University in preparation for a career as a diplomat. However, in 1909, he emigrated to Canada to accept a job on a farm, and while living in Ontario he began pursuing acting, joining a touring company and adopting the stage name Boris Karloff. His first role was as an elderly man in a production of Molnar’s The Devil, and for the next decade Karloff toiled in obscurity, traveling across North America in a variety of theatrical troupes. By 1919, he was living in Los Angeles, unemployed and considering a move into vaudeville, when instead he found regular work as an extra at Universal Studios.
Karloff’s first sound-era role was in the 1929 melodrama The Unholy Night, but he continued to languish without any kind of notice, remaining so anonymous even within the film industry itself that Picturegoer magazine credited 1931’s The Criminal Code as his first film performance. The picture, a Columbia production, became his first significant hit, and soon Karloff was an in-demand character actor in projects ranging from the Wheeler and Woolsey comedy Cracked Nuts to the Edward G. Robinson vehicle Five Star Final to the serial adventure King of the Wild. Meanwhile, at Universal Studios, plans were underway to adapt the Mary Shelley classic Frankenstein in the wake of the studio’s massive Bela Lugosi hit Dracula. Lugosi, however, rejected the role of the monster, opting instead to attach his name to a project titled Quasimodo which ultimately went unproduced. Karloff, on the Universal lot shooting 1931’s Graft, was soon tapped by director James Whale to replace Lugosi as Dr. Frankenstein’s monstrous creation, and with the aid of the studio’s makeup and effects unit, he entered into his definitive role, becoming an overnight superstar.
By the mid-’50s, he was a familiar presence on television, and from 1956 to 1958, hosted his own series. By the following decade, he was a fixture at Roger Corman’s American International Pictures. In 1969, Karloff appeared in Peter Bogdanovich’s Targets, a smart, sensitive tale in which he portrayed an aging horror film star; the role proved a perfect epitaph -- he died on February 2, 1969.
Available Films:
Active - 1916 - 1969 | Born - Nov 23, 1887 in East Dulwich, London, England | Died - Feb 2, 1969 | Genres - Horror, Drama, Mystery, Crime, Comedy | Height: 5’ 11”
The long-reigning king of Hollywood horror, Boris Karloff was born William Henry Pratt on November 23, 1887, in South London. The youngest of nine children, he was educated at London University in preparation for a career as a diplomat. However, in 1909, he emigrated to Canada to accept a job on a farm, and while living in Ontario he began pursuing acting, joining a touring company and adopting the stage name Boris Karloff. His first role was as an elderly man in a production of Molnar’s The Devil, and for the next decade Karloff toiled in obscurity, traveling across North America in a variety of theatrical troupes. By 1919, he was living in Los Angeles, unemployed and considering a move into vaudeville, when instead he found regular work as an extra at Universal Studios.
Karloff’s first sound-era role was in the 1929 melodrama The Unholy Night, but he continued to languish without any kind of notice, remaining so anonymous even within the film industry itself that Picturegoer magazine credited 1931’s The Criminal Code as his first film performance. The picture, a Columbia production, became his first significant hit, and soon Karloff was an in-demand character actor in projects ranging from the Wheeler and Woolsey comedy Cracked Nuts to the Edward G. Robinson vehicle Five Star Final to the serial adventure King of the Wild. Meanwhile, at Universal Studios, plans were underway to adapt the Mary Shelley classic Frankenstein in the wake of the studio’s massive Bela Lugosi hit Dracula. Lugosi, however, rejected the role of the monster, opting instead to attach his name to a project titled Quasimodo which ultimately went unproduced. Karloff, on the Universal lot shooting 1931’s Graft, was soon tapped by director James Whale to replace Lugosi as Dr. Frankenstein’s monstrous creation, and with the aid of the studio’s makeup and effects unit, he entered into his definitive role, becoming an overnight superstar.
By the mid-’50s, he was a familiar presence on television, and from 1956 to 1958, hosted his own series. By the following decade, he was a fixture at Roger Corman’s American International Pictures. In 1969, Karloff appeared in Peter Bogdanovich’s Targets, a smart, sensitive tale in which he portrayed an aging horror film star; the role proved a perfect epitaph -- he died on February 2, 1969.
Available Films:
Trivia:
He was considered a late bloomer in Hollywood; Frankenstein (1931) premiered when he was 44 years old.
According to daughter Sara Karloff, he had to have three major back surgeries in his lifetime as a result of carrying Colin Clive up the stairs of the windmill in the climax of Frankenstein (1931).
Refused to reprise his role as Frankenstein's Monster in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), because he felt spoofs would not sell to the audience. He did agree to do publicity for the film and posed for pictures of himself going to see the film.
He appeared in 80 films before his breakthrough role in Frankenstein (1931).
[on his rival, Bela Lugosi] "Poor old Bela, it was a strange thing. He was really a shy, sensitive, talented man who had a fine career on the classical stage in Europe, but he made a fatal mistake. He never took the trouble to learn our language. He had real problems with his speech and difficulty interpreting lines."
"My dear old monster. I owe everything to him. He's my best friend."
He was considered a late bloomer in Hollywood; Frankenstein (1931) premiered when he was 44 years old.
According to daughter Sara Karloff, he had to have three major back surgeries in his lifetime as a result of carrying Colin Clive up the stairs of the windmill in the climax of Frankenstein (1931).
Refused to reprise his role as Frankenstein's Monster in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), because he felt spoofs would not sell to the audience. He did agree to do publicity for the film and posed for pictures of himself going to see the film.
He appeared in 80 films before his breakthrough role in Frankenstein (1931).
[on his rival, Bela Lugosi] "Poor old Bela, it was a strange thing. He was really a shy, sensitive, talented man who had a fine career on the classical stage in Europe, but he made a fatal mistake. He never took the trouble to learn our language. He had real problems with his speech and difficulty interpreting lines."
"My dear old monster. I owe everything to him. He's my best friend."
