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Boris Karloff

Born William Henry Pratt, Boris 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 best-known non-horror role is as the Grinch in the television special of Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Aliases
  • William Henry Pratt
  • Karloff
  • Karloff Boris
English
Filmography

Extra Weird

2003
as Boris Karloff

The House of Rothschild

1934
as Count Ledrantz

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

1947
as Dr. Hugo Hollingshead

Tarzan and the Golden Lion

1927
as Owaza

When the Talkies Were Young

1955
as T. Vernon Isopod

Monsters & Maniacs

1988
as Self (archive footage)

Tower of London

1939
as Mord

King of the Wild

1931
as Mustapha

The Invisible Menace

1938
as Jevries

The Haunted Strangler

1958
as James Rankin

The Phantom of the North

1929
as Jules Gregg

Thriller

1960
as Host/Actor

Mondo Balordo

1964
as Self - Narrator (voice)

The Ghoul

1933
as Prof. Morlant

Behind That Curtain

1929
as Beetham's Manservent

Ian Rankin Investigates: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

2007
as Cabman John Gray

Devil's Island

1939
as Dr. Charles Gaudet

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome

1947
as Gruesome

Boo

1932
as Frankenstein's Monster (edited from "Frankenstein")

Bikini Beach

1964
as Art Dealer

Hollywood My Home Town

1965

The Body Snatcher

1945
as Cabman John Gray

Boris Karloff's The Veil

1958
as Host/Actor

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

1966
as Narrator / The Grinch (voice)

Skyscraper Souls

1932
as Man Approaching Ticket Counter

The Sea Bat

1930
as Corsican

Business and Pleasure

1932
as Sheik Ali Ben Joseph

Lured

1947
as Charles van Druten

Five Star Final

1931
as T. Vernon Isopod

The Man Who Changed His Mind

1936
as Dr. Laurience

Isle of the Snake People

1971
as Carl van Molder / Damballah

The Raven

1935
as Edmond Bateman

The Climax

1944
as Dr. Friedrich Hohner

The King of the Kongo

1929
as Scarface Macklin

Frankenstein

1931
as The Monster

Lugosi: The Dark Prince

2006
as Self (archive footage)

The Sorcerers

1967
as Prof. Marcus Monserrat

Cinema Circus

1937
as Himself

Mr. Wong, Detective

1938
as Mr. James Lee Wong

The Phantom Buster

1927
as Ramon

Tonight or Never

1931
as Waiter

I Like Your Nerve

1931
as Luigi - Pacheco's Butler

The Cohens and Kellys in Hollywood

1932
as Boris Karloff

The Comedy of Terrors

1963
as Amos Hinchley

His Majesty, the American

1919
as Henchman in cloth cap

Old Ironsides

1926
as Saracen Guard

Scarface

1932
as Gaffney

Frankenstein 1970

1958
as Baron Viktor von Frankenstein

The Public Defender

1931
as The Professor

Colonel March Investigates

1955
as Colonel March

The Black Castle

1952
as Dr. Meissen

The Black Room

1935
as Baron Gregor de Berghman / Anton de Berghman

Corridors of Blood

1958
as Dr. Thomas Bolton

The Man They Could Not Hang

1939
as Dr. Henryk Savaard

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court

1952
as King Arthur

Black Sabbath

1963
as Himself / Gorca

Il mostro dell'isola

1954
as Don Gaetano

100 Years of Horror: The Frankenstein Family

1996
as Himself

Night World

1932
as 'Happy' MacDonald

Cauldron of Blood

1970
as Franz Badulescu

The Raven

1963
as Dr. Scarabus

Sharp Shooters

1928
as Cafe Proprietor

Voodoo Island

1957
as Phillip Knight

The Mystery of Mr. Wong

1939
as James Lee Wong

Gift of Gab

1934
as Himself

Destination Nightmare

1958
as Host / Ira Perry / Pete Wade Sr. / Professor Charles Goncourt / Morgan Debs

The Criminal Code

1931
as Ned Galloway

Bedlam

1946
as Master George Sims

The Walking Dead

1936
as John Ellman

Targets

1968
as Byron Orlok

Dynamite Dan

1924
as Tony Garcia

Curse of the Crimson Altar

1968
as Professor John Marsh

The Ape

1940
as Dr. Bernard Adrian

Sabaka

1954
as Gen. Pollegar

The Terror

1963
as Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe

The Altar Stairs

1922
as Hugo

Charlie Chan at the Opera

1936
as Gravelle

The Love Mart

1927
as Fleming

Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 6

1942
as Self

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff

1949
as Swami Talpur

The Bride of Frankenstein

1935
as The Monster

Famous Monster: Forrest J Ackerman

2007
as Self (archive footage)

Days of Thrills and Laughter

1961

Arsenic & Old Lace

1962
as Jonathan Brewster

The Boogie Man Will Get You

1942
as Prof. Nathaniel Billings

The Deadlier Sex

1920
as Jules Borney

Colonel March of Scotland Yard

1956
as Colonel March

The Black Cat

1934
as Hjalmar Poelzig

West Of Shanghai

1937
as Wu Yen Fang

Mr. Wong in Chinatown

1939
as Mr. James Lee Wong

Transylvania Twist

1989
as Man in Room

You'll Find Out

1940
as Judge Spencer Mainwaring

Smart Money

1931
as Sport Williams

Unconquered

1947
as Guyasuta - Chief of the Senecas

Out of This World

1962

Isle of the Dead

1945
as Gen. Nikolas Pherides

Mad Monster Party?

1967
as Baron Boris von Frankenstein

Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of The Wolf Man

1999
as (archive footage)

Before I Hang

1940
as Dr. John Garth

Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored

2013
as Himself (archive footage)

The Mask of Fu Manchu

1932
as Dr. Fu Manchu

The Prairie Wife

1925
as Diego

Fear Chamber

1968
as Dr. Carl Mandel

Breakdowns of 1937

1937
as Himself

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

1953
as Dr. Henry Jekyll

The Invisible Ray

1936
as Dr. Janos Rukh

The Strange Door

1951
as Voltan

House of Frankenstein

1944
as Dr. Niemann

The Yellow Ticket

1931
as Drunken Orderly

The Miracle Man

1932
as Nikko

Son of Frankenstein

1939
as The Monster

The Daydreamer

1966
as The Rat

Don't Scream: It's Only a Movie!

1985
as Boris Karloff

Black Friday

1940
as Dr. Ernest Sovac

The Mesmerist

2003
as (archive footage)

The Lost Patrol

1934
as Sanders

The Guilty Generation

1931
as Tony Ricca

The Utah Kid

1930
as Baxter - Henchman

Die, Monster, Die!

1965
as Nahum Witley

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini

1966
as The Corpse

The Cave Girl

1921
as Baptiste

Her Honor, the Governor

1926
as Snipe Collins

Tap Roots

1948
as Tishomingo

Le vampire déchu

2007
as Boris Karloff

Hollywood Remembers: Myrna Loy - So Nice to Come Home to

1991
as (archive footage)

The Princess from Hoboken

1927
as Pavel

The Bells

1926
as The mesmerist

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Documentary

1966
as The Grinch

The nickel-hopper

1926
as Dance Hall Masher

Night Key

1937
as David Mallory

The Old Dark House

1932
as Morgan

The Universal Story

1996
as Boris Karloff

The Devil Commands

1941
as Dr. Julian Blair

The Venetian Affair

1966
as Dr. Pierre Vaugiroud

The Man with Nine Lives

1940
as Dr. Leon Kravaal

Terror in the Tropics

2006
as Mr. Wong

The Eagle of the Sea

1926
as Pirate

Cheated Hearts

1921
as Nei Hamid

The Mummy

1932
as Imhotep / Ardath Bey

Serenata Macabra

1972
as Matthias Morteval

British Intelligence

1940
as Valdar

Two Arabian Knights

1927
as The Purser

Graft

1931
as Terry

Doomed to Die

1940
as James Lee Wong

The Emperor's Nightingale

1949
as Narrator (voice) (English version)

Without Benefit of Clergy

1921
as Ahmed Khan

Guest Star

Episode Boris Karloff's The Veil
The Return of Madame Vernoy 		1958
Episode I've Got a Secret
Boris Karloff 		1963
Episode Dr. Seuss
How the Grinch Stole Christmas 		1966
Episode Route 66
Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing 		1962
Episode Suspense
The Monkey's Paw 		1949
Episode Telephone Time
The Vestris 		1958
Episode The Fred Waring Show
Episode #4.07 		1951
Episode The Schlocky Horror Picture Show
The Terror (1963) 		2008
Episode Studio One
The Shadow of a Genius 		1958
Episode Suspense
The Yellow Scarf 		1949
Episode Boris Karloff's The Veil
Summer Heat 		1958
Episode Suspense
The Lonely Place 		1951
Episode The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
The Mother Muffin Affair 		1966
Episode This Is Your Life (US)
Boris Karloff 		1957
Episode I've Got a Secret
Boris Karloff 		1954
Episode Boris Karloff's The Veil
Destination Nightmare 		1958
Episode Boris Karloff's The Veil
The Vestris 		1958
Episode I Spy
Mainly on the Plains 		1967
Episode Rankin-Bass Holiday Classics
Mad Monster Party 		1967
Episode Boris Karloff's The Veil
The Crystal Ball 		1958
Episode The Schlocky Horror Picture Show
Juggernaut (1936) 		2007
Episode Boris Karloff's The Veil
Jack the Ripper 		1958
Episode I've Got a Secret
Boris Karloff 		1955
Episode Playhouse 90
Rendezvous In Black 		1956
Episode Shindig
Halloween ‘65 with Boris Karloff; Ted Cassidy 		1965
Episode The Red Skelton Show
He Who Steals My Robot Steals Trash 		1968
Episode Boris Karloff's The Veil
Genesis 		1958
Episode Boris Karloff's The Veil
The Doctors 		1958
Episode Boris Karloff's The Veil
Food on the Table (AKA The Gloucester Captain) 		1958
Episode Suspense
A Night at the Inn 		1949
Episode I've Got a Secret
Boris Karloff 		1952
Episode The Wild Wild West
The Night of the Golden Cobra 		1966
Episode Dr. Seuss
How the Grinch Stole Christmas 		1966