Boris Karloff
Stats:
Real Name: William Henry Pratt
Birth: November 23, 1887
Death: February 2, 1969
Boris Karloff is the reining King of Horror. He was the only horror star of the Golden Age who managed to have a fine film career to his death and one of the few who worked regularly and successfully outside of the world of horror even after establishing himself as the genre's biggest star. His name is probably closer related to the horror film than any other. He is a true icon.
Karloff was the black sheep of his family. Thought to be the least likely to succeed by his brothers Karloff leapt at the opportunity to move from England to Canada in 1909. He proceeded to work in various touring shows with a great deal of success, even overcoming his greatest stage acting handicap - his strong lisp. Karloff regularly resorted to manual labor jobs to provide income and moved around the states and Canada with whatever acting troupe he managed to get a role with.
Karloff eventually moved to California to find better paying jobs in Hollywood. It was during this time he also worked for a cement factory delivering heavy bags of cement, this is likely a primary cause of his terrible back pain that would plague him for years to come, though it is often attributed solely to his work as the Frankenstein monster. Karloff landed a variety of roles in silent films, most of which are lost today. He often played Indians and Canadian trappers in this time, and roles of that type. He was a heavy, and sometimes a brute villain, but his roles were usually small and not terribly important. The money was good though and he continued working. The work ethic he would develop at this time between the small roles and the other jobs would be a lot of what would make him into a strong business man, a lot of the reason his career did not flounder as many counterparts did. Of note is his silent role in The Bells where Karloff looked quite a bit like horror figure Caligari.
Karloff was receiving small notes in reviews but his big break came with Howard Hawks The Criminal Code. It was perhaps his first role he was truly noticed for, and often argued where James Whale first took interest in the face of the actor. Karloff would be discovered by the world when he would star in Whale's Frankenstein in 1931. His performance earned him not only critical acclaim but shoved him into superstardom.
Karloff followed this up with role after role, proving he was fully capable of playing a variety of characters; something Lugosi was never given the opportunity to prove. Roles like The Mummy, Old Dark House, Mask of Fu Manchu, Bride of Frankenstein, and The Black Room would be many of the greatest he would ever make. Starting in 1934 he would begin teaming with Lugosi for various films such as The Black Cat and The Raven as well as many others.
Karloff's non-horror roles were also very impressive. The Lost Patrol, House of Rothschild, and West of Shanghai were great jobs he relished with joy.
Karloff even managed to last through the Monogram and Poverty Row curses, making films for both. Where as it normally signaled your career was struggling it proved for Karloff that he was worth small production companies pouring their entire budgets on him as the Mr. Wong series of Monogram was one of their most successful.
Karloff also had the opportunity to return to stage more than once portraying a role written for him in Arsenic and Old Lace and also as Captain Hook for Peter Pan for which he once again was lavished with praise.
It wasn't that Karloff never made mediocre movies, Voodoo Island and Frankenstein 1970 both of the late 50's were definitely not his best times in the film industry, but his good business sense allowed him to bounce back easily. He has a lot to owe to Hammer films, not that he ever worked for them, but they brought gothic horror back into style again after Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein had more or less killed the genre some 15 years before.
Karloff had a fun run with AIP during the 60's. Movies like Comedy of Terrors and the more recent The Raven allowed the actor to have fun and to be able to work with many of his great co-stars again. It was at this time that Karloff had the chance to perform in a work that would help to keep him immortal, as famous today as Frankenstein, the narrator of the popular Dr. Suess How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
One of Karloff's last films was also one of his all-time greatest, the hard to find Targets which Peter Bogdanovich directed and wrote for Karloff, who plays an aging horror star tired of making custom dramas in a world filled with real horrors. Karloff would continue working to the end of his life in a serious of low-budget Mexican horror films. He would catch a sickness on his was back to England from which he would not recover, but Karloff went out in the harness, just as he wanted to.
He will forever be remember as the King of Horror, and rightfully so. He ruled the genre for more years and with more zeal than any other, and it is doubted that anyone will step up to the plate to take over anytime soon.