Born As: William Henry Pratt

* 23-11-1887, Dulwich (a London suburb), England

†  2-2-1969, Midhurst, Sussex, England.

Education: London University

The youngest of the eight children of a civil servant in the British foreign service, he was intended for a diplomatic career but in 1909 emigrated to Canada, where he found employment as a farmhand. Attracted to the stage, he joined one touring company, then another, and for the next decade played supporting parts in plays all over Canada and the US. In 1916, during a brief stay in Los Angeles, he made his screen debut as an extra in THE DUMB GIRL OF PORTICI starring Anna Pavlova. Out of a job three years later, he returned to Hollywood and began appearing regularly in films, in extra and bit parts. Unable to support himself as an actor, he alternated as a truck driver until the mid-20s, when his screen roles became more substantial. He was typically cast as a stock villain and failed to gain much recognition through the rest of the silent era, although he appeared in no less than 40 silent films.

Despite a pronounced lisp, Karloff's stage-trained voice became an asset during the transition to sound. He scored his first success in THE CRIMINAL CODE (1931), in which he repeated a previous stage role. But the real turning point in his career came later that year, when he was cast by James Whale in the role of the Monster in FRANKENSTEIN, a role that had been turned down by Bela Lugosi, the star of an earlier horror classic, DRACULA (1931). Even the heavy makeup applied by Jack Pierce to Karloff's face could not hide the nuances of his performance. The film was a great success and assured Karloff a permanent niche in the horror film genre. During the Universal horror cycle of the early 30s and in many such films to follow, he and his now frequent screen partner Lugosi formed the most formidable duo of the macabre in film history. Karloff also played many supporting parts out of character, notably as a religious fanatic in John Ford's THE LOST PATROL (1934), but he remained identified in the public mind exclusively with his roles as a scarred, tormented, humanely vulnerable monster or a deranged scientist.

In contrast, Karloff was known as a mild-mannered, amiable gentleman who performed many acts of charity for needy children. He narrated a Mother Goose kiddie story record and played the kindly Colonel March of Scotland Yard on TV. He also hosted and occasionally starred in a suspense TV series called "Thriller." Throughout his busy screen career (some 140 films in all) Karloff continued to return to the stage. He scored a great success in 1941 as Jonathan Brewster in the Broadway production of Arsenic and Old Lace and another in 1950 as Captain Hook in Peter Pan. He gave one of his best performances in one of his last screen roles, virtually playing himself, as an aging star of horror movies, in Peter Bogdanovich's TARGETS (1968).

Filmography

1916   THE DUMB GIRL OF PORTICI

1919   HIS MAJESTY THE AMERICAN       

1919   THE PRINCE AND BETTY     

1920   THE COURAGE OF MARGE O'DOONE

1920   THE DEADLIER SEX  

1920   THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS       

1921   THE CAVE GIRL       

1921   CHEATED HEARTS    

1921   THE HOPE DIAMOND MYSTERY      

1921   WITHOUT BENEFIT OF CLERGY      

1922   THE ALTAR STAIRS  

1922   THE INFIDEL  performer

1922   THE MAN FROM DOWNING STREET 

1922   OMAR THE TENTMAKER      

1922   THE WOMAN CONQUERS     

1923   THE PRISONER        

1924   DYNAMITE DAN       

1924   THE HELLION 

1925   FORBIDDEN CARGO  

1925   LADY ROBINHOOD    

1925   NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET    

1925   PARISIAN NIGHTS    

1925   THE PRAIRIE WIFE   

1926   THE BELLS    

1926   THE EAGLE OF THE SEA     

1926   FLAMES       

1926   FLAMING FURY        

1926   THE GOLDEN WEB    

1926   THE GREATER GLORY

1926   HER HONOR THE GOVERNOR

1926   THE MAN IN THE SADDLE   

1926   THE NICKLEHOPPER  

1926   OLD IRONSIDES       

1927   LET IT RAIN  

1927   THE LOVE MART      

1927   THE MEDDLIN' STRANGER   

1927   THE PHANTOM BUSTER      

1927   THE PRINCESS FROM HOBOKEN     

1927   SOFT CUSHIONS     

1927   TARZAN AND THE GOLDEN LION    

1927   TWO ARABIAN KNIGHTS     

1927   VALENCIA     

1928   BURNING THE WIND 

1928   THE LITTLE WILD GIRL       

1928   VULTURES OF THE SEA      

1929   ANNE AGAINST THE WORLD

1929   BEHIND THAT CURTAIN      

1929   THE DEVIL'S CHAPLAIN      

1929   THE FATAL WARNING         

1929   KING OF THE KONGO

1929   THE PHANTOM OF THE NORTH      

1929   TWO SISTERS        

1929   THE UNHOLY NIGHT 

1930   THE BAND ONE        

1930   MOTHER'S CRY        

1930   THE SEA BAT

1930   THE UTAH KID        

1931   CRACKED NUTS       

1931   THE CRIMINAL CODE

1931   DONOVAN'S KID      

1931   FIVE STAR FINAL     

1931   FRANKENSTEIN        performer— as the Monster

1931   GRAFT

1931   GUILTY GENERATION

1931   I LIKE YOUR NERVE  

1931   KING OF THE WILD  

1931   THE MAD GENIUS    

1931   PARDON US    — in French-language version only

1931   THE PUBLIC DEFENDER       

1931   SMART MONEY        

1931   TONIGHT OR NEVER 

1931   YELLOW TICKET      

1932   ALIAS THE DOCTOR 

1932   BEHIND THE MASK / THE MAN WHO DARED        

1932   BUSINESS AND PLEASURE   

1932   THE COHENS AND KELLYS IN HOLLYWOOD cameo

1932   THE MASK OF FU MANCHU   performer— title role

1932   THE MIRACLE MAN   

1932   THE MUMMY 

1932   NIGHT WORLD         

1932   THE OLD DARK HOUSE       

1932   SCARFACE    

1933   THE GHOUL    performer— title role

1934   THE BLACK CAT      

1934   GIFT OF GAB  cameo

1934   HOUSE OF ROTHSCHILD     

1934   THE LOST PATROL   

1935   THE BLACK ROOM     performer— dual role

1935   BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN     performer— as the Monster

1935   THE RAVEN   

1936   CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA      

1936   THE INVISIBLE RAY  

1936   JUGGERNAUT  performer

1936   THE MAN WHO LIVED AGAIN / THE MAN WHO CHANGED HIS MIND      

1936   THE WALKING DEAD 

1937   NIGHT KEY    

1937   WEST OF SHANGHAI / WAR LORD  

1938   THE INVISIBLE MENACE      

1938   MR. WONG, DETECTIVE       performer— title role

1939   THE MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG 

1939   MR. WONG IN CHINATOWN  performer— title role

1939   MYSTERY OF MR. WONG     performer— title role

1939   SON OF FRANKENSTEIN       performer— as the Monster

1939   TOWER OF LONDON 

1940   THE APE       

1940   BEFORE I HANG       

1940   BLACK FRIDAY        

1940   BRITISH INTELLIGENCE      

1940   DEVIL'S ISLAND       

1940   DOOMED TO DIE       performer— as Mr. Wong

1940   THE FATAL HOUR     performer— as Mr. Wong

1940   THE MAN WITH NINE LIVES / BEHIND THE DOOR 

1940   YOU'LL FIND OUT    

1941   THE DEVIL COMMANDS      

1942   THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU   

1944   THE CLIMAX  

1944   HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN  

1945   THE BODY SNATCHER        

1945   ISLE OF THE DEAD   

1946   BEDLAM       

1947   DICK TRACY MEETS GRUESOME      performer— as Gruesome

1947   LURED

1947   THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY      

1947   UNCONQUERED        

1948   TAP ROOTS  

1949   ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER BORIS KARLOFF      

1951   THE STRANGE DOOR

1952   THE BLACK CASTLE  

1953   ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE        

1953   MONSTER OF THE ISLAND / IL MOSTRO DELL'ISOLA      

1953   SABAKA / THE HINDU         

1957   VOODOO ISLAND / SILENT DEATH 

1958   CORRIDORS OF BLOOD / DOCTOR FROM SEVEN DIALS    

1958   FRANKENSTEIN—1970         performer— as Baron Frankenstein

1958   THE HAUNTED STRANGLER/GRIP OF THE STRANGLER     

1963   THE RAVEN   

1963   THE TERROR 

1964   BIKINI BEACH - cameo

1964   BLACK SABBATH/I TRE VOLTI DELLA PAURA        

1964   THE COMEDY OF TERRORS/GRAVESIDE STORY    

1965   DIE, MONSTER, DIE!/MONSTER OF TERROR        

1966   THE DAYDREAMER    performer— voice only

1966   THE GHOST IN THE INVISIBLE BIKINI       

1967   CAULDRON OF BLOOD / BLIND MAN'S BLUFF /

          EL COLECCIONISTA DE CADAVERES        

1967   MAD MONSTER PARTY?       performer— voice of Baron Frankenstein

1967   THE SORCERERS      

1967   VENETIAN AFFAIR    

1968   THE CRIMSON CULT/CURSE OF THE CRIMSON ALTAR/CRIMSON ALTAR

1968   TARGETS      

1970   SNAKE PEOPLE/ISLE OF THE SNAKE PEOPLE       

1971   THE FEAR CHAMBER 

1971   HOUSE OF EVIL       

1971   SINISTER INVASION / INVASION SINIESTRA /

          INCREDIBLE INVASION / ALIEN TERROR