Boris Karloff

Boris Karloff was a British actor originally born William Henry Pratt of Camberwell, London, England. Karloff is one of the most memorable icons of the classic age of horror cinema and is best remembered for being the first actor to immortalize the role of the Frankenstein Monster in James Whale's 1931 classic Frankenstein. The part was originally slated for Bela Lugosi, who had already achieved screen recognition playing the role of Count Dracula earlier that year in Dracula. According to conflicting accounts, Lugosi turned down the role and the part was then given over to Karloff. Boris resumed the part for Whale's 1935 sequel The Bride of Frankenstein. In this film, Karloff's character was given dialogue whereas in the previous film he was just a mute monster. Karloff didn't care for the dialogue scenes in The Bride of Frankenstein, as he felt it robbed the character of its mystique. Karloff would go on to play the role one final time in 1939's Son of Frankenstein. Although this was his last film as the Frankenstein monster, it was not in fact, his final Frankenstein role. In 1944, Karloff came back to the franchise, this time as the antagonistic mad scientist Doctor Gustav Niemann in House of Frankenstein. The monster in this film was played by Glenn Strange.

Although Karloff was done with Frankenstein films, he never strayed far from the horror genre. He appeared in dozens of films during the 1930s and 40s, usually playing opposite Bela Lugosi. Karloff and Lugosi's first film together was 1934's The Black Cat. In the film, Karloff played architect Hjalmar Poelzig, a man who matched wits against Lugosi's Vitus Werdergast. Karloff's character was named for German art director Hans Poelzig.