Boris Karloff

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Boris Karloff and Zita Johann in The Mummy (1932), directed by Karl Freund.

Boris Karloff

British actor

Also known as: Charles Edward Pratt, William Henry Pratt

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Apr 24, 2025 • Article History

Quick Facts

Original name:: William Henry Pratt

Born:: November 23, 1887, London, England

Died:: February 2, 1969, Midhurst, West Sussex (aged 81)

Awards And Honors:: Grammy Award (1967); Grammy Award (1968): Best Recording for Children

Married To:: Olive de Wilton (1915–1919); Grace Harding (1910–1913); Evelyn Hope (married 1946); Helene Vivian Soule (1924–1928); Montana Laurena Williams (1920–1922); Dorothy Stine (1930–1946)

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "The King of the Kongo" (1929); "The Body Snatcher" (1945); "King of the Wild" (1931); "Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1953); "Juggernaut" (1936); "Targets" (1968); "Voodoo Island" (1957); "The Elgin Hour" (1955); "Frankenstein" (1931); "The Old Dark House" (1932); "The Man from Downing Street" (1922); "The Prairie Wife" (1925); "The Meddlin' Stranger" (1927); "The Red Skelton Show" (1956–1968); "The Venetian Affair" (1966); "The Boogie Man Will Get You" (1942); "Let It Rain" (1927); "The Name of the Game" (1968); "The Wild Wild West" (1966); "Night Key" (1937); "The Raven" (1935); "Mr. Wong, Detective" (1938); "I Spy" (1967); "Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome" (1947); "General Electric Theater" (1955–1959); "The Best of Broadway" (1955); "Two Sisters" (1929); "Behind the Mask" (1932); "The Veil" (1958); "The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood" (1932); "The Woman Conquers" (1922); "The Bad One" (1930); "The Prince and Betty" (1919); "Die, Monster, Die!" (1965); "Colonel March of Scotland Yard" (1954–1956); "Tonight or Never" (1931); "Tap Roots" (1948); "The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre" (1949); "Starring Boris Karloff" (1949); "The DuPont Show of the Month" (1960); "The United States Steel Hour" (1955); "Cracked Nuts" (1931); "Tales of Tomorrow" (1952–1953); "Lux Video Theatre" (1951–1957); "Before I Hang" (1940); "Cheated Hearts" (1921); "Omar the Tentmaker" (1922); "House of Frankenstein" (1944); "The Princess from Hoboken" (1927); "British Intelligence" (1940); "The Strange Door" (1951); "The Miracle Man" (1932); "The Ape" (1940); "The Emperor's Nightingale" (1949); "The Bells" (1926); "The Dickie Henderson Show" (1962); "Telephone Time" (1958); "Behind That Curtain" (1929); "Charlie Chan at the Opera" (1936); "The Criminal Code" (1930); "Unconquered" (1947); "The Sorcerers" (1967); "The Altar Stairs" (1922); "Robert Montgomery Presents" (1951–1953); "The Mask of Fu Manchu" (1932); "The Man Who Changed His Mind" (1936); "Curse of the Crimson Altar" (1968); "The Mummy" (1932); "The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna" (1959); "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars" (1952); "The Daydreamer" (1966); "The Devil Commands" (1941); "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini" (1966); "The Devil's Chaplain" (1929); "The Phantom Buster" (1927); "Young Donovan's Kid" (1931); "Flames" (1926); "Tarzan and the Golden Lion" (1927); "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935); "Scarface" (1932); "Dynamite Dan" (1924); "The Climax" (1944); "Lured" (1947); "The Terror" (1963); "The Phantom of the North" (1929); "The Utah Kid" (1930); "Climax!" (1954–1956); "The Lightning Raider" (1919); "The Little Wild Girl" (1928); "Grip of the Strangler" (1958); "West of Shanghai" (1937); "The Man They Could Not Hang" (1939); "The Invisible Menace" (1938); "The Black Room" (1935); "The Lost Patrol" (1934); "Two Arabian Knights" (1927); "The Hope Diamond Mystery" (1921); "Soft Cushions" (1927); "CBS Television Workshop" (1952); "The Fatal Hour" (1940); "The Vanishing Rider" (1928); "Theatre '62" (1962); "The Greater Glory" (1926); "Fear Chamber" (1968); "Vultures of the Sea" (1928); "Burning the Wind" (1928); "The Ford Theatre Hour" (1949); "Corridors of Blood" (1958); "Mr. Wong in Chinatown" (1939); "Mad Monster Party?" (1967); "The Walking Dead" (1936); "Il mostro dell'isola" (1954); "Bikini Beach" (1964); "The Prisoner" (1923); "Her Honor, the Governor" (1926); "The Hellion" (1924); "Frankenstein 1970" (1958); "The Raven" (1963); "Gift of Gab" (1934); "The Black Cat" (1934); "The Fatal Warning" (1929); "Playhouse 90" (1956–1960); "The Infidel" (1922); "Lady Robinhood" (1925); "The Comedy of Terrors" (1963); "Night World" (1932); "You'll Find Out" (1940); "Masterpiece Playhouse" (1950); "The Cave Girl" (1921); "Devil's Island" (1939); "The Guilty Generation" (1931); "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." (1966); "Parisian Nights" (1925); "The Public Defender" (1931); "Studio One" (1951–1958); "The Alcoa Hour" (1956); "The Man with Nine Lives" (1940); "Suspicion" (1957); "The Love Mart" (1927); "Five Star Final" (1931); "Route 66" (1962); "The Invisible Ray" (1936); "Perils of the Wild" (1925); "Graft" (1931); "The Ghoul" (1933); "I Like Your Nerve" (1931); "Doomed to Die" (1940); "Curtain Call" (1952); "The Incredible Invasion" (1971); "Shirley Temple's Storybook" (1958); "Lights Out" (1950); "House of Evil" (1968); "The House of Rothschild" (1934); "Forbidden Cargo" (1925); "El coleccionista de cadáveres" (1970); "The Black Castle" (1952); "Black Friday" (1940); "Tower of London" (1939); "Sabaka" (1954); "The Courage of Marge O'Doone" (1920); "Isle of the Dead" (1945); "La muerte viviente" (1971); "Anne Against the World" (1929); "I tre volti della paura" (1963); "Riders of the Plains" (1924); "Suspense" (1949–1953); "Hollywood Opening Night" (1953); "The Mystery of Mr. Wong" (1939); "Son of Frankenstein" (1939); "The Golden Web" (1926); "The White Panther" (1924); "Bedlam" (1946); "The Deadlier Sex" (1920); "The Sea Bat" (1930); "Flaming Fury" (1926); "Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff" (1949); "Without Benefit of Clergy" (1921); "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (1947)

Boris Karloff (born November 23, 1887, London, England—died February 2, 1969, Midhurst, West Sussex) was an English actor who became internationally famous for his sympathetic and chilling portrayal of the monster in the classic horror film Frankenstein (1931).

Karloff, the youngest of nine children born to Edward and Eliza Pratt, deliberately failed a consular service exam in order to pursue a career in acting. He sailed to Canada in 1909 and the following year joined a touring theatre troupe. A motion-picture extra as well as a stage actor from 1918, he played minor roles in silent films until he earned recognition for his portrayal of a convict-turned-killer—a part he had played on Broadway in 1930—in the sound film The Criminal Code (1931). When Bela Lugosi turned down the role of the monster in Universal Pictures’s adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, one of Hollywood’s first important horror films, Karloff was hired for the part. The film was a sensation, and Karloff’s tender, sympathetic performance received so much critical praise that he became an overnight sensation.

When the actor starred in a succession of frightening films such as The Old Dark House (1932) and The Mummy (1932), the name “Karloff” became synonymous with horror and the macabre; for a few Universal films of the period, he was billed only by his surname. He reprised the role of Frankenstein’s monster twice, in the highly regarded sequels Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939), and teamed with fellow horror star Lugosi for several films, including The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), and The Body Snatcher (1945). Karloff also scored a major success on Broadway in the comedy Arsenic and Old Lace (1941) and frequently performed on radio in the 1940s in such chilling programs as Lights Out and Inner Sanctum.

USA 2006 - 78th Annual Academy Awards. Closeup of giant Oscar statue at the entrance of the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. Hompepage blog 2009, arts and entertainment, film movie hollywood

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Karloff continued acting in the horror genre for the rest of his career, although he took other roles, including that of Mr. Wong in a Monogram Studios detective series of the 1930s and ’40s and that of an Indian chief in Cecil B. DeMille’s Unconquered (1947). More typically, he played mad doctors and scientists, as in Black Friday (1940) and House of Frankenstein (1944). He also had another stage success in 1950, as Captain Hook in the Broadway revival of Peter Pan.

The popularity of horror films waned throughout the 1940s, and Karloff began working in television as early as 1949. He guest-starred in many anthology shows and hosted several shows of his own, including the popular Thriller (1960–62). His most famous television performance was in the animated special How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966), for which he provided the voices of both the Grinch and the narrator. He later won a Grammy Award for his audio recording of the Dr. Seuss story.

When the horror genre began to reemerge in the 1960s, Karloff’s career flourished once again. Films such as The Raven (1963), The Comedy of Terrors (1963), and Die, Monster, Die! (1965) introduced the septuagenarian Karloff to a new generation of film fans. Though sick and in constant pain, he made a memorable and dignified appearance as an aging horror star in Peter Bogdanovich’s first film, Targets (1968). In this, as in most of his films, Karloff, with his soft voice and gentle demeanour, proved that horror was most effectively conveyed via understatement and quiet dignity.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.