Boris Karloff Tribute by Sasha Slaughter

This week on Dead End we're celebrating the late, great Boris Karloff. He was born November 23 1887 in London England. His real name was William Henry Pratt. He was the youngest of nine children. He attended Kings College London, where he later dropped out in 1909 and then became a farm laborer. He worked various odd jobs until he got into acting. He began acting in stage shows all over the world, where he then changed his professional name to "Boris Karloff." He joined the Jeanne Russell Co. in 1911 and performed with them. In June of 1912 after helping with the cleanup of Regina Cyclone, he took a job as a railway baggage handler and joined the Harry St. Clair Co.

Once in Hollywood, Karloff appeared in dozens of silent films. Work wasn't always reliable, so he had to take on several different jobs such as digging ditches or driving a cement truck to earn a living. He appeared in many movie series such as The Masked Rider (1919), The Hope Diamond Mystery (1920), and King of the Wild (1930). The film that earned Karloff worldwide recognition was his role in The Criminal Code (1931). But his role as Frankensteins monster in Frankenstein made him a star. Karloff was chosen over his rival, Bela Logusi, to portray the monster in Frakenstein.

Though Karloff and Lugosi often worked side by side, they never had a close mutual friendship, though the actors did star in many productions together such as The Black Cat, The Gift of Gab (1934), The Raven (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936), Black Friday (1940), You'll find out (1940) and The Body Snatcher (1945).

Boris Karloff was also a guest on radio programs as well. He mainly starred in Arch Obolers Chicago based Lights Out productions. Being the great performer that he was, he returned to the Broadway stage in the original production Arsenic and Old Lace in 1941, which also became a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie which Karloff starred in in 1962. He played Captain Hook in Peter Pan and was nominated for a Tony Award for his work in The Lark.

He also hosted and acted in a number of televison series such as Thriller, Out of this World, and The Veil. In the 1960's he appeared in several films for American International Pictures including The Comedy of Terrors, The Raven, and The Terror. He is most remembered for his roles in for his portrayal of Frankensteins monster in Frankenstein (1931), Bride of Frankenstein (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939), which also featured Logusi. Karloffs best known non-horror role was as the Grinch in Dr. Suess's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The song "You're a mean one Mr. Grinch" however, was not performed by Karloff but by Thurl Ravenscroft. Karloff later would received a Grammy Award in the spoken word category.

Despite living and working in the United States, Karloff never became a US citizen. And he never formally changed his name to Boris Karloff. He was known to sign offical documents as "William H. Pratt, a.k.a. Boris Karloff" He was married six different times and had one daughter, Sara Karloff, by his fifth wife Dorothy Stine.

Karloff spent his final years in at his cottage in Bramshott. He suffered from arthritis and emphysema, he contracted pneumonia and later died because of it on February 2, 1969 at the age of 82. He was then cremated at the Guildford Crematorium where he has been commemorated by a plaque in the Garden of Rememberance.

Thanks for reading && don't forget to check out my partner Zombie Zane also! You'll be glad you did. As always, check back next week!