Boris Karloff (1887–1969) was an English actor. He became known for his role as Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 Frankenstein (his 82nd film), leading to a long career in film, radio, and television.

Born William Henry Pratt in England,^[1] he emigrated to Canada in 1909 as a young man and eventually joined a Canadian touring company, adopting the stage name Boris Karloff. By 1919, Karloff moved to Hollywood^[1] where he found regular work as an extra at Universal Studios. Although he appeared in numerous silent films, Karloff's first significant roles were in Howard Hawks's The Criminal Code (1931) and Mervyn LeRoy's Five Star Final (1931). While shooting Graft, director James Whale convinced Karloff to star as Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein, which led to him becoming an overnight superstar. After Frankenstein and starring in several high-profile films such as Bride of Frankenstein (1935)^[2] and The Mummy (1932), Karloff spent the remainder of the 1930s working at an incredible pace, but getting progressively involved in lower budget films. In the 1940s, he began to get stereotyped into playing "mad scientist" roles.

Karloff starred in a few highly acclaimed Val Lewton-produced horror films in the 1940s, and by the mid-1950s, he was a familiar presence on both television and radio, hosting his own TV series including Starring Boris Karloff, Colonel March of Scotland Yard, Thriller, Out of This World (British TV series) and The Veil, and guest starring on such programs as Suspense, The Donald O'Connor Show, I Spy and Route 66. He also played Detective Wong (five times) in the 1930s Mister Wong film series. In the 1960s, Karloff worked for Roger Corman at American International Pictures. He also made films in England, Italy and Spain. All told, he appeared in 174 motion pictures. His final American film was Peter Bogdanovich's Targets (1968), in which he portrayed an aging horror film star much like himself.

Filmography