Boris Karloff
Acting • Born 1887-11-23 – Died 1969-02-02
Biography
William Henry Pratt (November 23, 1887 – February 2, 1969), better known as Boris Karloff, was an English-born actor who emigrated to Canada in 1909. Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939). His popularity following Frankenstein was such that for a brief time he was billed simply as "Karloff" or "Karloff the Uncanny". His best-known non-horror role is as the Grinch in the television special of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Description above from the Wikipedia article Boris Karloff, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
289 credits
Bride of Frankenstein
Movie • 1935
The Monster
Scarface
Movie • 1932
Gaffney
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Movie • 1953
Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Frankenstein
Movie • 1931
The Monster
Son of Frankenstein
Movie • 1939
The Monster
House of Frankenstein
Movie • 1944
Dr. Gustav Niemann
Frankenstein 1970
Movie • 1958
Baron Viktor von Frankenstein
The Mask of Fu Manchu
Movie • 1932
Dr. Fu Manchu
The Movie Orgy
Movie • 1968
Self (archive footage)
Information Please: Series 2, No. 12
Movie • 1941
Self
Devil's Island
Movie • 1939
Dr. Charles Gaudet
Lured
Movie • 1947
Charles van Druten
The Devil Commands
Movie • 1941
Dr. Julian Blair
The Boogie Man Will Get You
Movie • 1942
Prof. Nathaniel Billings
The Black Castle
Movie • 1952
Dr. Meissen
The Body Snatcher
Movie • 1945
John Gray
Isle of the Dead
Movie • 1945
Gen. Nikolas Pherides
Corridors of Blood
Movie • 1963
Dr. Thomas Bolton
The Man Who Changed His Mind
Movie • 1936
Dr. Laurence
Juggernaut
Movie • 1936
Dr. Victor Sartorius
Tap Roots
Movie • 1948
Tishomingo
Doomed to Die
Movie • 1940
James Lee Wong
He Who Made Monsters: The Life and Art of Jack Pierce
Movie • 2008
Self (archive footage)
Mr. Wong, Detective
Movie • 1938
James Lee Wong
The Black Cat
Movie • 1934
Hjalmar Poelzig
Bedlam
Movie • 1946
George Sims
The Old Dark House
Movie • 1932
Morgan
The Terror
Movie • 1963
Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe
The Lightning Raider
Movie • 1919
The Hellion
Movie • 1924
The Outlaw
The White Panther
Movie • 1924
Shere Ali's Aide (as Karloff Boris)
Riders of the Plains
Movie • 1924
Forbidden Cargo
Movie • 1925
Pietro Castillano
The Prince and Betty
Movie • 1919
Undetermined Role
Perils of the Wild
Movie • 1925
Never the Twain Shall Meet
Movie • 1925
Without Mercy
Movie • 1925
Madame Gordon's 2nd Henchman (uncredited)
Lady Robinhood
Movie • 1925
Cabraza
The Courage of Marge O'Doone
Movie • 1920
Tavish
Flaming Fury
Movie • 1926
Gaspard
Cheated Hearts
Movie • 1921
Nei Hamid
Flames
Movie • 1926
Blackie Blanchette
The Golden Web
Movie • 1926
Dave Sinclair
The Princess from Hoboken
Movie • 1927
Pavel
Let It Rain
Movie • 1927
Crook
The Meddlin' Stranger
Movie • 1927
Al Meggs
Soft Cushions
Movie • 1927
The Chief Conspirator
Sharp Shooters
Movie • 1928
Cafe Proprietor (uncredited)
Vultures of the Sea
Movie • 1928
Grouchy
Burning the Wind
Movie • 1929
Pug Doran
The Man They Could Not Hang
Movie • 1939
Dr. Henryk Savaard
The Vanishing Rider
Movie • 1928
The Villain
The Man with Nine Lives
Movie • 1940
Dr. Leon Kravaal
Before I Hang
Movie • 1940
Dr. John Garth
The Little Wild Girl
Movie • 1928
Maurice Kent
The Black Room
Movie • 1935
Baron Gregor de Berghman / Anton de Berghman
The Fatal Warning
Movie • 1929
Mullins
The Devil's Chaplain
Movie • 1929
Boris
Two Sisters
Movie • 1929
Cecil
The Unholy Night
Movie • 1929
Abdul Mohammed Bey - the Hindu Lawyer (uncredited)
The Bad One
Movie • 1930
Monsieur Gaston
Anne Against the World
Movie • 1929
Business and Pleasure
Movie • 1932
Sheik Ali-Ben Joseph
The Emperor's Nightingale
Movie • 1949
Narrator (English version)
The Walking Dead
Movie • 1936
John Ellman
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
Movie • 1949
Swami Talpur
Monster Movie Trivia Quiz
Movie • 2004
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
Movie • 1966
Narrator / The Grinch (voice)
Nan of the North
Movie • 1922
Undetermined Role (uncredited)
The Man from Downing Street
Movie • 1922
Maharajah Jehan
The Infidel
Movie • 1922
The Nabob
The Woman Conquers
Movie • 1922
Raoul Maris
The Altar Stairs
Movie • 1922
Hugo
The Prisoner
Movie • 1923
Prince Kapolski
Omar the Tentmaker
Movie • 1922
Imam Mowaffak
The Horror Show
Movie • 1979
(archive footage)
The Invisible Ray
Movie • 1936
Dr. Janos Rukh
Black Sabbath
Movie • 1963
Gorca (segment "The Wurdalak")
King of the Wild
Movie • 1931
Mustapha
Charlie Chan at the Opera
Movie • 1936
Gravelle
The Ghoul
Movie • 1933
Prof. Morlant
Night Key
Movie • 1937
David Mallory
Curse of the Crimson Altar
Movie • 1968
Professor John Marsh
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Movie • 1947
Dr Hugo Hollingshead
Behind the Mask
Movie • 1932
Jim Henderson
Tower of London
Movie • 1939
Mord
Heroes of Horror
Movie • 2001
(archive footage)
Black Friday
Movie • 1940
Dr. Ernest Sovac
The Raven
Movie • 1963
Dr. Scarabus
Madhouse
Movie • 1974
(archive footage)
Die, Monster, Die!
Movie • 1965
Nahum Witley
The Comedy of Terrors
Movie • 1964
Amos Hinchley
Alien Terror
Movie • 1971
Prof. John Mayer
Five Star Final
Movie • 1931
T. Vernon Isopod
The Criminal Code
Movie • 1931
Ned Galloway
The Ape
Movie • 1940
Dr. Bernard Adrian
The Mummy
Movie • 1932
Imhotep / Ardath Bey
The Mummy's Hand
Movie • 1940
Kharis (archive footage / uncredited)
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
Movie • 1974
Self (archive footage)
Voodoo Island
Movie • 1957
Phillip Knight
The Mummy's Curse
Movie • 1944
Kharis in Flashback (archive footage / uncredited)
The Island Monster
Movie • 1954
Don Gaetano
The Raven
Movie • 1935
Edmond Bateman
Behind That Curtain
Movie • 1929
Beetham's Manservent
The Lost Patrol
Movie • 1934
Sanders
Mad Monster Party?
Movie • 1967
Baron Boris von Frankenstein (voice)
The Climax
Movie • 1944
Dr. Friedrich Hohner
The Strange Door
Movie • 1951
Voltan
Smart Money
Movie • 1931
Sport Williams
Fear Chamber
Movie • 1968
Dr. Carl Mandel
Isle of the Snake People
Movie • 1971
Carl van Molder / Damballah
Macabre Serenade
Movie • 1968
Matthias Morteval
Targets
Movie • 1968
Byron Orlok
You'll Find Out
Movie • 1940
Judge Spencer Mainwaring
British Intelligence
Movie • 1939
Valdar
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
Movie • 1947
Gruesome
Unconquered
Movie • 1947
Guyasuta, Chief of the Senecas
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
The Sorcerers
Movie • 1967
Prof. Marcus Monserrat
Creepy Classics
Movie • 1987
Dr. Scarabus - (archive footage)
The Lark
Movie • 1957
Bishop Cauchon
The American Nightmare
Movie • 2000
Self
The House of Rothschild
Movie • 1934
Count Ledrantz
Grip of the Strangler
Movie • 1958
James Rankin
Mr. Wong in Chinatown
Movie • 1939
Mr. James Lee Wong
The Fatal Hour
Movie • 1940
James Lee Wong
The Mystery of Mr. Wong
Movie • 1939
James Lee Wong
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
Movie • 1966
The Corpse
Cauldron of Blood
Movie • 1968
Franz Badulescu
The Venetian Affair
Movie • 1967
Dr. Pierre Vaugiroud
Tonight or Never
Movie • 1931
Waiter
Sting of Death
Movie • 1955
Mr. Mycroft
Tarzan and the Golden Lion
Movie • 1927
Owaza
A Fool's World
Movie • 1964
Narrator
Cinema Circus
Movie • 1937
Himself
The Mad Genius
Movie • 1931
Fedor's Father (uncredited)
The Vanishing Legion
Movie • 1931
The Voice (voice)
Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
Movie • 1991
Doctor Gustav Niemann (archive footage)
The Many Faces of Dracula
Movie • 2000
The Monster (archive footage)
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
Movie • 1991
The Monster / Gustav Niemann / Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde / etc.
Gift of Gab
Movie • 1934
Himself
The Public Defender
Movie • 1931
The Professor
Graft
Movie • 1931
Terry
The Nickel-Hopper
Movie • 1926
Dance Hall Masher
The Bells
Movie • 1926
The Mesmerist
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
Movie • 1982
Self (archive footage)
The Sea Bat
Movie • 1930
Corsican
The Invisible Menace
Movie • 1938
Jevries
West of Shanghai
Movie • 1937
"General" Wu Yen Fang
The Guilty Generation
Movie • 1931
Tony Ricca
A Masque of Madness (Notes on Film 06-B, Monologue 02)
Movie • 2013
Self (archive footage)
Dynamite Dan
Movie • 1924
Tony Garcia
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
Movie • 2014
Various roles (archive footage)
The King of the Kongo
Movie • 1929
Scarface Macklin
The Daydreamer
Movie • 1966
The Rat (voice)
Cracked Nuts
Movie • 1931
Boris - First Revolutionary
Night World
Movie • 1932
'Happy' MacDonald
Lugosi: The Dark Prince
Movie • 2006
Self (archive footage)
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Movie • 1984
(archive footage)
The Horror of It All
Movie • 1983
Frankenstein / Cabman John Gray (archive footage)
The Miracle Man
Movie • 1932
Nikko
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Movie • 2013
Self (archive footage)
Two Arabian Knights
Movie • 1927
Purser
The Phantom of the North
Movie • 1929
Jules Gregg
The Utah Kid
Movie • 1930
Henchman Baxter
The Last of the Mohicans
Movie • 1920
Indian (uncredited)
Abbott and Costello in the Movies
Movie • 1990
Archival
The Eagle of the Sea
Movie • 1926
Pirate (uncredited)
The Phantom Buster
Movie • 1927
Ramon
The Juggler of Our Lady
Movie • 1957
Narrator (voice)
The Last Repair Shop
Movie • 2024
The Monster (archive footage) (uncredited)
Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story
Movie • 2022
Self - Interviewee
Bela Lugosi: The Fallen Vampire
Movie • 2007
Himself (archive footage)
Old Ironsides
Movie • 1926
Saracen Guard (uncredited)
The Deadlier Sex
Movie • 1920
Jules Borney
The Yellow Ticket
Movie • 1931
Drunken Orderly
Days of Thrills and Laughter
Movie • 1961
Self (archive footage)
Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists!
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
Colonel March Investigates
Movie • 1953
Colonel March
Skyscraper Souls
Movie • 1932
Man Approaching Ticket Counter
Monsters on the March (and a Pair of Marvels!)
Movie • 1980
The Fatal Impulse
Movie • 1960
Self
I Like Your Nerve
Movie • 1931
Luigi - Pacheco's Butler
Jack the Ripper
Movie • 1958
Host / Capt. John Elwood / Jonas Atterbury / Dr. Francis Mason
Destination Nightmare
Movie • 1958
Host / Ira Perry / Pete Wade Sr. / Professor Charles Goncourt / Morgan Debs
Transylvania Twist
Movie • 1989
Man in Room (archive footage)
Boo
Movie • 1932
Frankenstein's Monster (edited from "Frankenstein")
Little Lost Robot
Movie • 1962
Host
A Connecticut Yankee
Movie • 1955
King Arthur
The Cave Girl
Movie • 1921
Baptiste
Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed
Movie • 2000
Self (archive footage)
Terror in the Tropics
Movie • 2006
Mr. Wong (archive footage)
Bikini Beach
Movie • 1964
Art Dealer
His Majesty, the American
Movie • 1919
Henchman in cloth cap
Breakdowns of 1937
Movie • 1937
Self
The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood
Movie • 1932
Boris Karloff
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Movie • 1975
Self (archive footage)
The Mesmerist
Movie • 2003
(archive footage)
Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood No. 6
Movie • 1942
Himself
Karloff: The Gentle Monster
Movie • 2006
Self (archive footage)
The 'Frankenstein' Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage)
Young Donovan's Kid
Movie • 1931
Cokey Joe
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
Movie • 1990
(archive footage)
The Love Mart
Movie • 1927
Fleming
The Universal Story
Movie • 1996
Self (archive footage)
Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Movie • 2007
Cabman John Gray (archive footage)
The Hope Diamond Mystery
Movie • 1921
Priest of Kama-Sita / Dakar
Sabaka
Movie • 1955
General Pollegar
The Greater Glory
Movie • 1926
Scissors Grinder
Today's Teens
Movie • 1964
Narrator
Arsenic & Old Lace
Movie • 1962
Jonathan Brewster
The Prairie Wife
Movie • 1925
Diego
Without Benefit of Clergy
Movie • 1921
Ahmed Khan
Her Honor, the Governor
Movie • 1926
Snipe Collins
Jack Pierce: The Man Who Made the Monsters
Movie • 2015
Self (archive footage)
Doom of Dracula
Movie • 1966
The Madman (archive footage)
Hollywood Hobbies
Movie • 1935
Himself
Screen Snapshots No. 11
Movie • 1934
Himself
Parisian Nights
Movie • 1925
Pierre
Heart of Darkness
Movie • 1958
Mr. Kurtz
The Man in the Saddle
Movie • 1926
Robber (uncredited)
The Incredible Doktor Markesan
Movie • 1962
Dr. Konrad Markesan
Hatchet for the Honeymoon
Movie • 1970
Gorca (archive footage)
The Complete Bob Wilkins Creature Features
Movie • 2012
The Storm
Movie • 1962
Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman
Movie • 2007
Self (archive footage)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
Movie • 1999
Self (archive footage)
Universal Horror
Movie • 1998
(archive footage)
Horror!!!
Movie • 1964
Self
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Special Edition
Movie • 1994
(voice - archive footage)
Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld
Movie • 1994
Self (archive footage)
The Dark Universe
Movie • 2023
Frankenstein (archivo de imagen)
The Dark Universe
Movie • 2023
La Momia (archivo de imagen)
Rendezvous in Black
Movie • 1956
Ward Allen
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
Movie • 1988
Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing
Movie • 1962
The Grim Reaper
Movie • 1961
Self
The Woman and the Puppet
Movie • 1920
(uncredited)
Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies
Movie • 2025
Self - (archive footage)
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
TV • 1966
Mother Muffin
Route 66
TV • 1960
This Is Your Life
TV • 1955
Self
Out of This World
TV • 1962
Host
Studio One
TV • 1948
Skaggs
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Mr. Blue Ocean
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Cauchon
Shindig!
TV • 1964
Self - Guest Host / Singer
Thriller
TV • 1960
Clayton Mace
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Sir Arthur Strangeways
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
TV • 1951
Charles Brandon
Climax!
TV • 1954
Dr. Philip Nestri
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
TV • 1956
Self
The Veil
TV • 1958
Down You Go
TV • 1951
Self
Suspense
TV • 1949
Toff
Robert Montgomery Presents
TV • 1950
Bennett Kimball
Tales of Tomorrow
TV • 1951
Lights Out
TV • 1949
Colonel March of Scotland Yard
TV • 1956
Colonel March Of Scotland Yard
DuPont Show of the Month
TV • 1957
Suspicion
TV • 1957
Judge Winthrop Gelsey
Telephone Time
TV • 1956
Starring Boris Karloff
TV • 1949
Thriller
TV • 1960
Self - Host
The George Gobel Show
TV • 1954
Self
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Montgomery Royle
General Electric Theater
TV • 1953
Henry E. Church
Lux Video Theatre
TV • 1950
Larkin
Robert Montgomery Presents
TV • 1950
The Lux Show
TV • 1957
Self
The Name of the Game
TV • 1968
Mikhail Orlov
The Rosemary Clooney Show
TV • 1956
Self
Thriller
TV • 1960
Dr. Thorne
Thriller
TV • 1960
Dr. Albert Farnham
Thriller
TV • 1960
Pop Jenkins / Col. Jackson Beauregard Finchess
Thriller
TV • 1960
Doktor Konrad Markesan
Studio One
TV • 1948
Professor Koernig
Studio One
TV • 1948
King Arthur
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV • 1951
Jonathan Brewster
Climax!
TV • 1954
Vicar Tellworth
Suspense
TV • 1949
Suspense
TV • 1949
Bronson
Suspense
TV • 1949
Rasputin
The Red Skelton Show
TV • 1951
Professor Townsend (Spy)
The United States Steel Hour
TV • 1953
George Redford
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self
Shirley Temple's Storybook
TV • 1958
Narrator (voice) / Father Knickerbocker
The Wild Wild West
TV • 1965
Mr. Singh
McCloud
TV • 1970
Hjalmar Poelzig (archive footage) (uncredited)