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Karloff in Bride of Frankenstein
This is the filmography of Boris Karloff. Born as William Henry Pratt, he joined a touring company and adopted the stage name Boris Karloff. During these early stages of his career he was mostly left in obscurity. By 1919, Karloff found regular work as an extra at Universal Studios. Karloff's first significant hit film was in Howard Hawks's The Criminal Code (1931). While shooting Graft, director James Whale convinced Karloff to star as a character in one of his most popular roles as Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein which led to him becoming an overnight superstar. After Frankenstein and starring in several high profile films such as Bride of Frankenstein and Scarface, Karloff spent the remainder of the 1930s continuing to work at an incredible pace, but progressively more into less financially successful films. Karloff starred in a few acclaimed Val Lewton produced horror films of the 1940s and by the mid-1950s, he was a familiar presence on television hosting his own series including Thriller and The Veil and guest starring on such variety programs as The Donald O'Connor Show.
In the 1960s, Karloff was a fixture at Roger Corman's American International Pictures. His final American film was in Peter Bogdanovich's Targets portraying an aging horror film star.
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | The Dumb Girl of Portici | Lois Weber | Credited as an extra. | |
| 1918 | The Lightning Raider | George B. Seitz | 15-chapter film serial. | |
| 1919 | The Masked Rider | Aubrey M. Kennedy | 15-chapter film serial. | |
| His Majesty, the American | Joseph Henabery | Credited as an extra. | ||
| The Prince and Betty | Robert T. Thornby | Bit part. | ||
| 1920 | The Deadlier Sex | Jules Borney | Robert T. Thornby | |
| The Courage of Marge O'Doone | Tavish | David Smith | ||
| The Last of the Mohicans | Maurice Tourneur, Clarence Brown | Credited as an extra. | ||
| 1921 | The Hope Diamond Mystery | Priest of Kama-Sita / Dakar | Stuart Paton | Film serial. |
| Without Benefit of Clergy | Ahmed Khan | James Young | ||
| Cheated Hearts | Nil Horned | Hobart Henley | ||
| The Cave Girl | Baptiste | Joseph Franz | ||
| 1922 | The Man from Downing Street | Edward Monckton / Maharajah Jehan Deharwar | Edward José | |
| The Infidel | the Nabob | James Young | ||
| The Altar Stairs | Hugo | Lambert Hillyer | ||
| 1923 | Omar the Tentmaker | the Holy Imam Mowaffak | James Young | |
| A Woman Conquers | Raoul Maris | Tom Forman | ||
| The Gentleman from America | Edward Sedgwick | Uncredited Bit part. | ||
| The Prisoner | Prince Kapolski | Jack Conway | ||
| 1924 | Riders of the Plains | Jacques Jaccard | ||
| The Hellion | Outlaw | Bruce Mitchell | ||
| Dynamite Dan | Tony Garcia | Bruce Mitchell | ||
| 1925 | Parisian Nights | Pierre | Alfred Santell | |
| Forbidden Cargo | Pietro Castillano | Tom Buckingham | ||
| The Prairie Wife | Diego | Hugo Ballin | ||
| Perils of the Wild | Francis Ford | |||
| Never the Twain Shall Meet | Villain | Maurice Tourneur | ||
| Lady Robinhood | Cabraza | Ralph Ince | ||
| 1926 | The Greater Glory | the Scissors Grinder | Curt Rehfeld | |
| Her Honor, the Governor | Snipe Collins | Chet Withey | ||
| The Bells | Mesmerist | James Young | ||
| The Nickel-Hopper | Big Bohunk | Hal Yates | ||
| The Golden Web | Dave Sinclair | Walter Lang | ||
| The Eagle of the Sea | Pirate | Frank Lloyd | ||
| Flames | Blackie Blanchett | Lewis H. Moomaw | ||
| Old Ironsides | Saracen Guard | James Cruze | ||
| Flaming Fury | Gaspard | James Hogan | ||
| Valencia | Dimitri Buchowetzki | Uncredited Bit part. | ||
| The Man in the Saddle | Robber | Clifford S. Smith | Uncredited. | |
| 1927 | Tarzan and the Golden Lion | Ozawa, Waziri Chief | J.P. McGowan | |
| Let It Rain | the Crooks | Edward Francis Cline | ||
| The Meddlin' Stranger | Al Meggs | Richard Thorpe | ||
| The Princess from Hoboken | Pavel | Allan Dale | ||
| The Phantom Buster | Ramón | William Bertram | ||
| Soft Cushions | The Chief Conspirator | Edward Francis Cline | ||
| Two Arabian Knights | Purser | Lewis Milestone | ||
| The Love Mart | Fleming | George Fitzmaurice | ||
| 1928 | The Vanishing Rider | The Villain | Ray Taylor | Film serial |
| Burning the Wind | Pug Doran | Henry MacRae, Herbert Blaché | ||
| Vultures of the Sea | Grouchy | Richard Thorpe | Film serial | |
| The Little Wild Girl | Maurice Kent | Frank Mattison | ||
| 1929 | The Devil's Chaplain | Boris | Duke Worne | |
| The Fatal Warning | Mullins | Richard Thorpe | Film serial | |
| The Phantom of the North | Jules Gregg | Harry S. Webb | ||
| Two Sisters | Cecil | Scott Pembroke | ||
| Anne Against the World | Duke Worne | Bit part. | ||
| Behind That Curtain | Sudanese servant | Irving Cummings | First sound film. | |
| The King of the Kongo | Macklin / Martin | Richard Thorpe | Film serial. | |
| The Unholy Night | Abdoul | Lionel Barrymore | ||
| 1930 | The Bad One | Guard | George Fitzmaurice | |
| The Sea Bat | Corsican | Wesley Ruggles | ||
| The Utah Kid | Baxter | Richard Thorpe | ||
| The Mother's Cry | Baxter | Hobart Henley | ||
| 1931 | Sous les verrous | The Tiger | James Parrott | |
| The Criminal Code | Ned Galloway | Howard Hawks | ||
| King of the Wild | Mustapha | B. Reeves Eason, Richard Thorpe | Final film serial. | |
| Cracked Nuts | Revolutionary | Edward F. Cline | ||
| Young Donovan's Kid | Cokey Joe | Fred Niblo | ||
| Smart Money | Sport Williams | Alfred E. Green | ||
| The Public Defender | Professor | J. Walter Ruben | ||
| I Like Your Nerve | Luigi | William McGann | ||
| Graft | Joe Terry | William Christy Cabanne | ||
| Five Star Final | "Reverend" Vernon Isopod | Mervyn LeRoy | ||
| The Yellow Ticket | Orderly | Raoul Walsh | ||
| The Mad Genius | Fedor's Father | Michael Curtiz | ||
| The Guilty Generation | Tony Ricca | Rowland V. Lee | ||
| Frankenstein | The Monster | James Whale | ||
| Tonight or Never | The Waiter | Mervyn LeRoy | ||
| 1932 | Behind the Mask | Jim Henderson | John Francis Dillon | |
| Alias the Doctor | Autopsy Surgeon | Lloyd Bacon, Michael Curtiz | ||
| Business and Pleasure | Sheikh | David Butler | ||
| Scarface | Gaffney | Howard Hawks | ||
| The Miracle Man | Nikko | Norman Z. McLeod | ||
| Night World | "Happy" MacDonald | Hobart Henley | ||
| The Old Dark House | Morgan | James Whale | ||
| The Mask of Fu Manchu | Dr. Fu Manchu | Charles J. Brabin, Charles Vidor, King Vidor | ||
| The Mummy | Imhotep/Ardath Bey | Karl Freund | ||
| 1933 | The Ghoul | Prof. Morlant | T. Hayes Hunter | |
| 1934 | The Lost Patrol | Sanders | John Ford | |
| The House of Rothschild | Count Ledrantz | Alfred L. Werker | ||
| The Black Cat | Hjalmar Poelzig | Edgar G. Ulmer | ||
| Gift of Gab | Cameo Appearance (as Karloff) | Karl W. Freund | ||
| 1935 | Bride of Frankenstein | The Monster | James Whale | |
| The Raven | Edmond Bateman | Louis Friedlander | ||
| The Black Room | Baron Gregor de Berghmann / Anton de Berghmann | Roy William Neill | ||
| 1936 | The Invisible Ray | Dr. Janos Rukh | Lambert Hillyer | |
| The Walking Dead | John Ellman | Michael Curtiz | ||
| Juggernaut | John Ellman | Michael Curtiz | ||
| The Man Who Changed His Mind | Dr. Laurence | Robert Stevenson | ||
| Charlie Chan at the Opera | Gravelle | H. Bruce Humberstone | ||
| 1937 | Night Key | Dave Mallory | Lloyd Corrigan | |
| West of Shanghai | Gen. Wu Yen Fang | John Farrow | ||
| 1938 | The Invisible Menace | Dave Mallory | Lloyd Corrigan | |
| Mr. Wong, Detective | James Lee Wong | William Nigh | ||
| 1939 | Devil's Island | Dr. Charles Gaudet | William Nigh | |
| Son of Frankenstein | The Monster | Rowland V. Lee | ||
| The Mystery of Mr. Wong | James Lee Wong | William Nigh | ||
| Mr. Wong in Chinatown | James Lee Wong | William Nigh | ||
| The Man They Could Not Hang | Dr. Henryk Savaard | Nick Grinde | ||
| Tower of London | Mord the Executioner | Rowland V. Lee | ||
| 1940 | The Fatal Hour | James Lee Wong | William Nigh | |
| British Intelligence | Valdar | Terrell O. Morse | ||
| Black Friday | Dr. Ernest Sovac | Arthur Lubin | ||
| The Man with Nine Lives | Dr. Leon Kravaal | Nick Grinde | ||
| Doomed to Die | James Lee Wong | William Nigh | ||
| Before I Hang | Dr. John Garth | Nick Grinde | ||
| The Ape | Dr. Bernard Adrian | William Nigh | ||
| You'll Find Out | Judge Mainwaring | David Butler | ||
| 1941 | The Devil Commands | Dr. Julian Blair | Edward Dmytryk | |
| 1942 | The Boogie Man Will Get You | Prof. Nathaniel Billings | Lew Landers | |
| 1944 | The Climax | Dr. Hohner | George Waggner | |
| House of Frankenstein | Dr. Gustav Niemann | Erle C. Kenton | ||
| 1945 | The Body Snatcher | John Gray | Robert Wise | |
| Isle of the Dead | Gen. Nikolas Pherides | Mark Robson | ||
| 1946 | Bedlam | Master George Sims | Mark Robson | |
| 1947 | The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | Dr. Hugo Hollingshead | Norman Z. McLeod | |
| Lured | Charles von Druten | Douglas Sirk | ||
| Unconquered | Guyasuta, Chief of the Senecas | Cecil B. DeMille | ||
| Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome | Gruesome | John Rawlins | ||
| 1948 | Tap Roots | Tishomingo | George Marshall | |
| The Emperor's Nightingale | Narrator | Jirí Trnka | English version only. | |
| 1949 | Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff | Swami Talpur | Charles Barton | |
| 1951 | The Strange Door | Voltan | Joseph Pevney | |
| 1952 | Colonel March Investigates | Col. March | Cy Raker Endfield | Compiled from episodes of the television series Colonel March of Scotland Yard |
| The Black Castle | Dr. Meissen | Nathan Juran | ||
| 1953 | Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde | Charles Lamont | |
| 1954 | The Island Monster | Roberto Bianchi Montero | ||
| The Hindu | General Pollegar | Frank Ferrin | ||
| 1957 | Voodoo Island | Dr. Phillip Knight | Reginald Le Borg | |
| 1958 | The Juggler of Our Lady | Narrator | Al Kousel | Animated short |
| The Haunted Strangler | James Rankin | Robert Day | ||
| Frankenstein 1970 | Baron Victor von Frankenstein | Howard W. Koch | ||
| Corridors of Blood | Dr. Thomas Bolton | Robert Day | ||
| 1963 | Black Sabbath | Gorca | Mario Bava | |
| The Terror | Baron Von Leppe | Roger Corman | ||
| The Raven | Dr. Scarabus | Roger Corman | ||
| 1964 | Bikini Beach | Art dealer | William Asher | |
| The Comedy of Terrors | Amos Hinchley | Jacques Tourneur | ||
| 1965 | Die, Monster, Die! | Nahum Witley | Daniel Haller | |
| 1966 | The Daydreamer | The Rat | Jules Bass | Voice only |
| The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini | The Corpse | Don Weis | ||
| How the Grinch Stole Christmas! | The Grinch and the Narrator | Chuck Jones | Animated film. | |
| 1967 | The Venetian Affair | Dr. Pierre Vaugiroud | Jerry Thorpe | |
| Mad Monster Party? | Baron Boris von Frankenstein | Jules Bass | Voice only | |
| The Sorcerers | Professor Marcus Montserrat | Michael Reeves | ||
| 1968 | Targets | Byron Orlok | Peter Bogdanovich | |
| Curse of the Crimson Altar | Prof. Marshe | Vernon Sewell | ||
| The Fear Chamber | Dr. Carl Mandel | Juan Ibañez, Jack Hill | ||
| House of Evil | Mathias Morteval | Luis Enrique Vergara, Jack Hill | ||
| 1970 | El Coleccionista de cadáveres aka Blind Man's Bluff | Franz Badulescu | Santos Alcocer, Edward Mann | Released after Karloff's death |
| 1971 | The Incredible Invasion | Prof. John Meyer | Luis Enrique Vergara, Jack Hill | Released after Karloff's death |
| Isle of the Snake People | Karl Van Molder / Damballah | Juan Ibañez, Jack Hill | Released after Karloff's death |
References[]
- Nollen, Scott Allen (1991). Boris Karloff: A Critical Account of His Screen, Stage, Radio, Television and Recording Work. McFarland. ISBN 0899505805.
- Buehrer, Beverley Bare (1993). Boris Karloff: A Bio-bibliography. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 031327715X.
- Bojarski, Richard; Beals, Kenneth (1974). The Films of Boris Karloff. The Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-0396-3.