Karloff the Uncanny! His voice sent chills down people's spines and his horror pictures terrified millions. The dedicated actor had appeared in hundreds of stage productions, numerous radio and television programs, and a phenomenal number of films from 1919 until his unfortunate death in 1969. His portrayals of the Frankenstein Monster, The Mummy, and Fu Manchu are legendary and his classic narration of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) is an old-time holiday favorite. In contrast to the villainous roles he is most often remembered for, Boris Karloff was a kindhearted and intelligent man, making him one of the most beloved actors in show business. The British-born actor took particular delight in putting smiles on children's faces and his generosity was especially evident with his regular contributions to charities for disabled children and children's literacy programs. What separated Karloff from many other horror film stars of the time, was his ability to make the villains he played seem tragic and even sympathetic for the audience. The following is a listing of the brilliant actor's impressively long film and television credits.
The Lightning Raider (1919)
The Masked Raider (1919) -- 15-chapter serial
The Courage of Marge O'Doone (1920)
The Deadlier Sex (1920)
The Last of the Mohicans (1920)
The Prince and the Betty (1920)
The Cave Girl (1921)
Cheated Hearts (1921)
The Hope Diamond Mystery (1921) -- 15-chapter serial
Without Benefit of Clergy (1921)
The Altar Stairs (1922)
The Infidel (1922)
The Man from Downing Street (1922)
Omar the Tentmaker (1922)
The Woman Conquers (1922)
The Gentleman from America (1923)
The Prisoner (1923)
Dynamite Dan (1924)
The Hellion (1924)
Parisian Nights (1924)
Riders in the Plains (1924)
Forbidden Cargo (1925)
Lady Robin Hood (1925)
Never the Twain Shall Meet (1925)
Perils of the Wind (1925) -- 15-chapter serial
The Prairie Wife (1925)
Without Mercy (1925)
The Bells (1926)
The Eagle of the Sea (1926)
Flames (1926)
Flaming Fury (1926)
The Golden Web (1926)
The Greater Glory (1926)
Her Honor the Governor (1926)
The Man in the Saddle (1926)
The Nickel Hopper (1926)
Old Ironsides (1926)
Valencia (1926)
Let It Rain (1927)
The Love Mart (1927)
The Meddlin' Stranger (1927)
The Phantom Buster (1927)
The Princess from Hoboken (1927)
Soft Cushions (1927)
Tarzan and the Golden Lion (1927)
Two Arabian Knights (1927)
Burning the Wind (1928)
The Fatal Warning (1928) -- 10-chapter serial
The Little Wild Girl (1928)
Sharp Shooters (1928)
Vanishing Rider (1928) -- 10-chapter serial
Vulrures of the Sea (1928) -- 10-chapter serial
Anne Against the World (1929)
Behind That Curtain (1929)
The Devil's Chaplain (1929)
King of the Kongo (1929)
The Phantom of the North (1929)
Two Sisters (1929)
The Unholy Night (1929)
The Bad One (1930)
King of the Wild (1930) -- 12-chapter serial
The Sea Bat (1930)
The Utah Kid (1930)
Cracked Nuts (1931)
The Criminal Code (1931)
Dirigible (1931)
Five Star Final (1931)
Frankenstein (1931)
Graft (1931)
The Guilty Generation (1931)
I Like Your Nerve (1931)
The Mad Genius (1931)
Pardon Us (1931)
The Public Defender (1931)
Smart Money (1931)
Tonight or Never (1931)
The Vanishing Legion (1931) -- 12-chapter serial
The Yellow Ticket (1931)
Young Donovan's Kid (1931)
Behind the Mask (1932)
Business and Pleasure (1932)
The Cohens and the Kellys in Hollywood (1932)
The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)
The Miracle Man (1932)
The Mummy (1932)
Night World (1932)
The Old Dark House (1932)
Scarface (1932)
The Ghoul (1933)
The Black Cat (1934)
Gift of Gab (1934)
The House of Rothschild (1934)
The Lost Patrol (1934)
The Black Room (1935)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
The Raven (1935)
Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936)
The Invisible Ray (1936)
Juggernaut (1936)
The Man Who Changed His Mind (1936; a.k.a. The Man Who Lived Again)
The Walking Dead (1936)
Night Key (1937)
West of Shanghai (1937)
The Invisible Menace (1938)
Mr. Wong, Detective (1938)
The Man They Could Not Hang (1939)
The Mystery of Mr. Wong (1939)
Mr. Wong in Chinatown (1939)
Son of Frankenstein (1939)
Tower of London (1939)
The Ape (1940)
Before I Hang (1940)
Black Friday (1940)
British Intelligence (1940)
Devil's Island (1940)
The Fatal Hour (1940)
Doomed to Die (1940)
The Man with Nine Lives (1940)
You'll Find Out (1940)
The Devil Commands (1941)
The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)
The Climax (1944)
House of Frankenstein (1944)
The Body Snatcher (1945)
Isle of the Dead (1945)
Bedlam (1946)
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947)
Lured (1947)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Unconquered (1947)
Tap Roots (1948)
We, the People: "Episode #1.9" (1948) -- TV series episode
Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff (1949)
Celebrity Time: "September 4" (1949; a.k.a. The Eyes Have It) -- TV game-show episode
The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre: "Expert Opinion" (1949) -- TV series episode
The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre: "A Passenger to Bali" (1949) -- TV series episode
The Ford Theatre Hour: "Arsenic and Old Lace" (1949) -- TV series episode
Starring Boris Karloff (1949; a.k.a. The Boris Karloff Mystery Playhouse) -- TV series
Suspense!: "A Night at an Inn" (1949) -- TV series episode
Suspense!: "The Monkey's Paw" (1949) -- TV series episode
Suspense!: "The Yellow Scarf" (1949) -- TV series episode
Texaco Star Theater: "Episode #1.45" (1949; a.k.a. The Milton Berle Show/The Buick-Berle Show) -- TV series episode
Inside U.S.A. with Chevrolet: "Episode #1.12" (1950) -- TV series episode
Lights Out: "The Leopard Lady" (1950) -- TV series episode
Masterpiece Playhouse: "Uncle Vanya" (1950) -- TV series episode
The Paul Whiteman's Goodyear Revue: "Episode #2.4" (1950) -- TV series episode
The Perry Como Show: "February 19" (1950; a.k.a. Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall) -- TV series episode
The Saturday Night Revue with Jack Carter: "Episode #2.17" (1950) -- TV series episode
Texaco Star Theater: "Episode #3.13" (1950; a.k.a. The Milton Berle Show/The Buick-Berle Show) -- TV series episode
Celebrity Time: "November 25" (1951; a.k.a. The Eyes Have It) -- TV game-show episode
Don McNeill's TV Club: "April 11" (1951) -- TV series episode
The Emperor's Nightingale (1951)
The Fred Waring General Electric Show: "October 21" (1951) -- TV series episode
Lux Video Theatre: "The Jest of Hahalaba" (1951) -- TV series episode
Robert Montgomery Presents: "The Kimballs" (1951) -- TV series episode
The Strange Door (1951)
Studio One: "Mutiny on the Nicolette" (1951; a.k.a. Studio One in Hollywood) -- TV series episode
Suspense!: "The Lonely Place" (1951) -- TV series episode
Texaco Star Theater: "Episode #4.4" (1951; a.k.a. The Milton Berle Show/The Buick-Berle Show) -- TV series episode
What's My Line?: "January 21" (1951) -- TV game-show episode
All Star Revue: "January 17" (1952; a.k.a. Four Star Revue) -- TV series episode, with Peter Lorre & Martha Raye
The Black Castle (1952)
CBS Television Workshop: "Don Quixote" (1952) -- TV series episode
Celebrity Time: "May 25" (1952; a.k.a. The Eyes Have It) -- TV game-show episode
Curtain Call: "The Soul of the Great Bell" (1952) -- TV series episode
I've Got a Secret: "June 19" (1952) -- TV game-show episode
Lux Video Theatre: "Fear" (1952) -- TV series episode
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars: "The House of Death" (1952) -- TV series episode
Studio One: "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" (1952; a.k.a. Studio One in Hollywood) -- TV series episode
Tales of Tomorrow: "Memento" (1952) -- TV series episode
Texaco Star Theater: "Episode #4.33" (1952; a.k.a. The Milton Berle Show/The Buick-Berle Show) -- TV series episode
Texaco Star Theater: "Episode #5.11" (1952; a.k.a. The Milton Berle Show/The Buick-Berle Show) -- TV series episode
That Reminds Me: "February 27" (1952) -- Tv game-show episode
The Stork Club: "January 30" (1952) -- TV series episode
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1953)
ABC Album: "The Chase" (1953; a.k.a. The Plymouth Playhouse) -- TV series episode
The Hindu (1953)
Hollywood Opening Night: "The Invited Seven" (1953) -- TV series episode
Il Mostro dell'Isola (1953; a.k.a. The Monster of the Island)
Rheingold Theatre "" (1953) -- TV series episode
Robert Montgomery Presents: "Burden of Proof" (1953) -- TV series episode
Suspense!: "The Black Prophet" (1953) -- TV series episode
Suspense!: "The Signal Man" (1953) -- TV series episode
Tales of Tomorrow: "Past Tense" (1953) -- TV series episode
Who Said That?: "April 30" (1953) -- TV game-show episode
Climax!: "The White Carnation" (1954) -- TV series episode
The George Gobel Show: "Episode #1.5" (1954) -- TV series episode
I've Got a Secret: "October 13" (1954) -- TV game-show episode
Sabaka (1954)
Truth or Consequences: "November 7" (1954; a.k.a. The New Truth and Consequences) -- TV game-show episode
Down You Go (1954-1955) -- TV game-show
Colonel March of Scotland Yard (1954-1956) -- TV series
The Best of Broadway: "Arsenic and Old Lace" (1955) -- TV series episode, with Peter Lorre
The Donald O'Connor Show: "Episode #1.8" (1955) -- TV series episode
The Elgin Hour: "Sting of Death" (1955) -- TV series episode
General Electric Theater: "Mr. Blue Ocean" (1955) -- TV series episode
I've Got a Secret: "August 24" (1955) -- TV game-show episode
Max Liebman Presents: A Connecticut Yankee (1955) -- TV movie
The United States Steel Hour: "Counterfeit" (1955) -- TV series episode
The Alcoa Hour: "Even the Weariest River" (1956) -- TV series episode
The Amazing Dunninger: "July 18" (1956) -- TV series episode
Climax!: "Bury Me Later" (1956) -- TV series episode
The Ernie Kovacs Show: "August 13" (1956) -- TV series episode
Frankie Laine Time: "Episode #2.2" (1956) -- TV series episode
Playhouse 90: "Rendezvous in Black" (1956) -- TV series episode
The Red Skelton Show: "Episode #6.8" (1956) -- TV series episode
The $64,000 Challenge: "Dec. 11; Dec. 18; Dec. 25" (1956) -- TV game-show episodes
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show: "Episode #1.9" (1957) -- TV series episode
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show: "Episode #2.2" (1957) -- TV series episode
The Gisele MacKenzie Show: "Episode #1.8" (1957) -- TV series episode
Hallmark Hall of Fame: "The Lark" (1957) -- TV series episode
The Kate Smith Show: "April 28" (1957) -- TV series episode
Lux Video Theatre: "The Man Who Played God" (1957) -- TV series episode
The Rosemary Clooney Show: "Wolf-Grandmother" (1957) -- TV series episode
The Rosemary Clooney Show: "October 31" (1957) -- TV series episode
Suspicion: "The Deadly Game" (1957) -- TV series episode
This Is Your Life : "Boris Karloff" (1957) -- TV series episode
Voodoo Island (1957)
The Betty White Show: "February 12" (1958) -- TV series episode
Corridors of Blood (1958)
Frankenstein 1970 (1958)
The Haunted Strangler (1958)
Lux Video Theatre: "January 8" (1958) -- TV series episode
Playhouse 90: "Heart of Darkness" (1958) -- TV series episode
The Rosemary Clooney Show: "January 8" (1958) -- TV series episode
Shirley Temple's Storybook: "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" (1958) -- TV series episode
Studio One: "The Shadow of a Genius" (1958; a.k.a. Studio One in Hollywood) -- TV series episode
Telephone Time: "The Vestris" (1958) -- TV series episode
Tonight Starring Jack Paar: "April 22" (1958; a.k.a. The Jack Paar Tonight Show) -- TV series episode
The Veil (1958) -- TV series, never aired
The Gale Storm Show: "It's Murder My Dear" (1959) -- TV series episode
General Electric Theater: "The Indian Giver" (1959) -- TV series episode
The DuPont Show of the Month: "Treasure Island" (1960) -- TV series episode
Playhouse 90: "To the Sound of Trumpets" (1960) -- TV series episode
The Secret World of Eddie Hodges (1960)
Sunday Showcase: "Hollywood Sings" (1960) -- TV series episode
Thriller (1960-1962) -- TV series
The Dickie Henderson Show: "The Gangster" (1962) -- TV series episode
Hallmark Hall of Fame: "Arsenic & Old Lace" (1962) -- TV series episode
Out of This World (1962) -- TV series
PM East: "February 12" (1962) -- TV series episode
Route 66: "Lizard's Leg and Owlet's Wing" (1962) -- TV series episode, with Lon Chaney Jr. & Peter Lorre
Theatre '62: "The Paradine Case" (1962) -- TV series episode
Black Sabbath (1963)
Chronicle: "A Danish Fairy Tale" (1963) -- TV series episode
The Hy Gardner Show: "March 3" (1963) -- TV series episode, with Peter Lorre
I've Got a Secret: "January 28" (1963) -- TV game-show episode
Mondo Balordo (1963; a.k.a. A Fool's World) -- documentary
The Raven (1963)
The Terror (1963)
Bikini Beach (1964)
The Comedy of Terrors (1964)
The Garry Moore Show: "Episode #6.28" (1964) -- TV series episode
Hollywood and the Stars: "Monsters We've Known and Loved" (1964) -- TV series episode
The Tonight Show: "June ?" (1964) -- TV series episode
Die Monster Die! (1965)
The Entertainers: "January 16" (1965) -- TV series episode
Shindig!: "Episode #2.14" (1965) -- TV series episode
Butternut Coffee Commercial (1966) -- TV commercial
The Daydreamer (1966)
Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966)
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.: "The Mother Muffin Affair" (1966) -- TV series episode
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
Schaeffer Pens Commercial (1966) -- TV commercial
The Venetian Affair (1966)
The Wild Wild West: "The Night of the Golden Cobra" (1966) -- TV series episode
Blind Man's Bluff (1967; a.k.a. Cauldron of Blood)
I Spy: "Mainly on the Plains" (1967) -- TV series episode
Mad Monster Party (1967)
Mondo Balordo (1967)
The Sorcerers (1967)
Volkswagen Commercial (1967) -- TV commercial
A-1 Steak Sauce Commercial (1968) -- TV commercial
Curse of the Crimson Altar (1968; a.k.a. The Crimson Cult)
The Fear Chamber (1968)
House of Evil (1968)
The Incredible Invasion (1968; a.k.a. Alien Terror)
Isle of the Snake People (1968)
The Jonathan Winters Show: "Episode #2.6" (1968) -- TV series episode
The Name of the Game: "The White Birch" (1968) -- TV series episode
The Red Skelton Show: "Episode #18.1" (1968) -- TV series episode, with Vincent Price
Targets (1968)
Boris Karloff seemed like such a gentleman as well as being a wonderful actor! Great tribute!
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I was researching the famous Anna from the story Anna and the King and I found "Background historical research ... done by Dr. W.S. Bristowe, an English scholar. The above information was extracted from an article written by William Warren and published in the fascinating Traveller's Tales - Thailand."
Anna Leonowens
"According to Dr Bristowe, Anna was already busily burying her past when she arrived in Singapore.... Among other things, this required a complete break with her sister Eliza back in India, a step she may have been doubly glad she took - given the social prejudices of the time - if word ever reached her that Eliza's eldest daughter married a Eurasian named Pratt. As thorough as ever, Dr Bristowe traced that family, too, and made the engaging discovery the youngest child of the union - that is, Anna's grand-nephew - became the actor Boris Karloff, of Frankenstein fame.
Thank you for that insightful information. Karloff truly was a fascinating man with quite an interesting background. No doubt that he learned early on from his family to keep his personal life as private as possible.
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