Boris Karloff
Known for Acting · 274 credits
- Born
- 1887-11-23
- Died
- 1969-02-02
- Place of birth
- Camberwell, London, England, UK
- Also known as
- William Henry Pratt · بوریس کارلوف
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.
Known For
TV Shows (34)
Climax!
1954
as Dr. Philip Nestri / Vicar Tellworth
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950
as Bennett Kimball
What's My Line?
1950
as Self
Studio One
1948
as Skaggs / Professor Koernig / King Arthur
The Wild Wild West
1965
as Mr. Singh
The Red Skelton Show
1951
as Professor Townsend (Spy)
Route 66
1960
The Name of the Game
1968
as Mikhail Orlov
Lights Out
1949
Thriller
1960
as Clayton Mace / Self - Host / Dr. Albert Farnham / Dr. Thorne / Doktor Konrad Markesan / Pop Jenkins / Col. Jackson Beauregard Finchess
McCloud
1970
as Hjalmar Poelzig (archive footage) (uncredited)
Telephone Time
1956
Suspense
1949
as Toff / Bronson / Rasputin
Shirley Temple's Storybook
1958
as Narrator (voice) / Father Knickerbocker
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956
as Self
This Is Your Life
1955
as Self
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Sir Arthur Strangeways / Montgomery Royle / Larkin
Tales of Tomorrow
1951
The United States Steel Hour
1953
as George Redford
Suspicion
1957
as Judge Winthrop Gelsey
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
1966
as Mother Muffin
The George Gobel Show
1954
as Self
DuPont Show of the Month
1957
Shindig!
1964
as Self - Guest Host / Singer
Colonel March of Scotland Yard
1956
as Colonel March Of Scotland Yard
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Cauchon / Jonathan Brewster
Out of This World
1962
as Host
General Electric Theater
1953
as Mr. Blue Ocean / Henry E. Church
The Lux Show
1957
as Self
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Charles Brandon
The Veil
1958
The Rosemary Clooney Show
1956
as Self
Down You Go
1951
as Self
Starring Boris Karloff
1949
Movies (240)
Scarface
1932
as Gaffney
Frankenstein
1931
as The Monster
The Mummy
1932
as Imhotep / Ardath Bey
Bride of Frankenstein
1935
as The Monster
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991
as The Monster / Gustav Niemann / Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde / etc.
Unconquered
1947
as Guyasuta, Chief of the Senecas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
1966
as Narrator / The Grinch (voice)
The Raven
1963
as Dr. Scarabus
The Terror
1963
as Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe
Targets
1968
as Byron Orlok
The Climax
1944
as Dr. Friedrich Hohner
The Ghoul
1933
as Prof. Morlant
Black Sabbath
1963
as Gorca (segment "The Wurdalak")
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
1947
as Dr. Hollingshead
Destination Nightmare
1958
as Host / Ira Perry / Pete Wade Sr. / Professor Charles Goncourt / Morgan Debs
The Lost Patrol
1934
as Sanders
Boo
1932
as Frankenstein's Monster (edited from "Frankenstein")
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
as Self (archive footage)
Night Key
1937
as David Mallory
Son of Frankenstein
1939
as The Monster
The Movie Orgy
1968
as Self (archive footage)
Bikini Beach
1964
as Art Dealer
Lured
1947
as Charles van Druten
The Black Cat
1934
as Hjalmar Poelzig
Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists!
2021
as Self (archive footage)
The Man with Nine Lives
1940
as Dr. Leon Kravaal
Bedlam
1946
as George Sims
Creepy Classics
1987
as Dr. Scarabus - (archive footage)
The Universal Story
1996
as Self (archive footage)
The Old Dark House
1932
as Morgan
The Prisoner
1923
as Prince Kapolski
House of Frankenstein
1944
as Dr. Gustav Niemann
The Black Room
1935
as Baron Gregor de Berghman / Anton de Berghman
Curse of the Crimson Altar
1968
as Professor John Marsh
Madhouse
1974
as (archive footage)
Horror!!!
1964
as Self
The Yellow Ticket
1931
as Drunken Orderly
Transylvania Twist
1989
as Man in Room (archive footage)
The Strange Door
1951
as Voltan
The Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)
Mr. Wong, Detective
1938
as James Lee Wong
The Mummy's Hand
1940
as Kharis (archive footage / uncredited)
The Last Repair Shop
2024
as The Monster (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Man Who Changed His Mind
1936
as Dr. Laurence
Mad Monster Party?
1967
as Baron Boris von Frankenstein (voice)
The Infidel
1922
as The Nabob
The Walking Dead
1936
as John Ellman
Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982
as Self (archive footage)
The Man They Could Not Hang
1939
as Dr. Henryk Savaard
The Daydreamer
1966
as The Rat (voice)
Die, Monster, Die!
1965
as Nahum Witley
Sharp Shooters
1928
as Cafe Proprietor (uncredited)
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
1949
as Swami Talpur
The House of Rothschild
1934
as Count Ledrantz
The Venetian Affair
1966
as Dr. Pierre Vaugiroud
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1953
as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Heroes of Horror
2001
as (archive footage)
Tap Roots
1948
as Tishomingo
The Mask of Fu Manchu
1932
as Dr. Fu Manchu
Voodoo Island
1957
as Phillip Knight
The American Nightmare
2000
as Self
The Sorcerers
1967
as Prof. Marcus Monserrat
The Boogie Man Will Get You
1942
as Prof. Nathaniel Billings
The Fatal Hour
1940
as James Lee Wong
Black Friday
1940
as Dr. Ernest Sovac
The Sea Bat
1930
as Corsican
The Invisible Ray
1936
as Dr. Janos Rukh
The Criminal Code
1931
as Ned Galloway
Breakdowns of 1937
1937
as Self
The Body Snatcher
1945
as John Gray
Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
2014
as Various roles (archive footage)
Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story
2022
as Self - Interviewee
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
1947
as Gruesome
The Cave Girl
1921
as Baptiste
Devil's Island
1939
as Dr. Charles Gaudet
Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991
as Doctor Gustav Niemann (archive footage)
The Mystery of Mr. Wong
1939
as James Lee Wong
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
1974
as Self (archive footage)
The Incredible Doktor Markesan
1962
as Dr. Konrad Markesan
The Prairie Wife
1925
as Diego
The Mad Genius
1931
as Fedor's Father (uncredited)
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
1966
as The Corpse
Cauldron of Blood
1968
as Franz Badulescu
The Comedy of Terrors
1964
as Amos Hinchley
Cracked Nuts
1931
as Boris - First Revolutionary
The Raven
1935
as Edmond Bateman
The Unholy Night
1929
as Abdul Mohammed Bey - the Hindu Lawyer (uncredited)
His Majesty, the American
1919
as Henchman in cloth cap
The Greater Glory
1926
as Scissors Grinder
Night World
1932
as 'Happy' MacDonald
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
as (archive footage)
The Mummy's Curse
1944
as Kharis in Flashback (archive footage / uncredited)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Special Edition
1994
as (voice - archive footage)
The Last of the Mohicans
1920
as Indian (uncredited)
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999
as Self (archive footage)
Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld
1994
as Self (archive footage)
You'll Find Out
1940
as Judge Spencer Mainwaring
Tonight or Never
1931
as Waiter
Tower of London
1939
as Mord
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
2021
as Self (archive footage)
Behind the Mask
1932
as Jim Henderson
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013
as Self (archive footage)
Corridors of Blood
1958
as Dr. Thomas Bolton
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
1988
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed
2000
as Self (archive footage)
Fear Chamber
1968
as Dr. Carl Mandel
Dynamite Dan
1924
as Tony Garcia
Frankenstein 1970
1958
as Baron Viktor von Frankenstein
Behind That Curtain
1929
as Beetham's Manservent
Smart Money
1931
as Sport Williams
Skyscraper Souls
1932
as Man Approaching Ticket Counter
Cinema Circus
1937
as Himself
The Invisible Menace
1938
as Jevries
Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To
1990
as (archive footage)
Bela Lugosi: The Fallen Vampire
2007
as Himself (archive footage)
West of Shanghai
1937
as "General" Wu Yen Fang
Grip of the Strangler
1958
as James Rankin
Sabaka
1955
as General Pollegar
Doomed to Die
1940
as James Lee Wong
British Intelligence
1939
as Valdar
About Boris Karloff
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. Se… With 274 credits spanning from 1919 to 2025, Boris Karloff has appeared in 240 films and 34 TV shows.
Fans searching for Boris Karloff movies, Boris Karloff filmography, or the latest projects starring Boris Karloff can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Boris Karloff Movies
- Scarface (1932) — as Gaffney
- Frankenstein (1931) — as The Monster
- The Mummy (1932) — as Imhotep / Ardath Bey
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935) — as The Monster
- Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991) — as The Monster / Gustav Niemann / Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde / etc.
Where to Watch Boris Karloff Films
Most Boris Karloff movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Boris Karloff, check our movies catalogue and browse page.