{"id":1663,"date":"2016-05-30T08:30:59","date_gmt":"2016-05-30T15:30:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.karloff.com\/?page_id=1663"},"modified":"2016-05-30T08:33:22","modified_gmt":"2016-05-30T15:33:22","slug":"1663-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.karloff.com\/articles-and-interviews\/1663-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Boris Karloff: A Brief Biography"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following is a reprint from\u00a0the summer 2013 issue of\u00a0the alumni magazine of Merchant Taylors’ School, and is used by permission of the author.<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Boris Karloff: a brief biography<\/h1>\n

By Stephen Jacobs<\/h3>\n

The day before Frankenstein opened in November 1931 Boris Karloff was one of a myriad of character actors in Hollywood. The night after the opening he was a star, and would remain one for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n

Yet being a star hadn\u2019t been the be all and end all for Karloff. For his main ambition had always been the same \u2013 to be a professional actor. Financial security was nice, of course, but he had endured over two decades as an actor without it. But this was the life he had chosen \u2013 to the consternation of his family.<\/p>\n

Boris Karloff was born William Henry Pratt on the 23rd November 1887 in Camberwell, South London. The youngest of the nine children of Edward and Eliza Pratt Billy, as he was known, was expected to follow his father and the majority of his siblings into Government Service.<\/p>\n

Billy\u2019s father, Edward Pratt, had had a volatile career in India, working in various roles within the Customs department, collecting tax on salt and opium. In 1879, having been forced to retire, Edward brought his family to England. He remained an embittered man and in December 1889, when Billy was just two years old, Edward and Eliza legally separated.<\/p>\n

Of Billy\u2019s 7 brothers 4 followed in the father\u2019s footsteps, as he later recalled: \u201cTwo were in the Indian Civil Service [Edward and Frederick], two were in the Chancellor\u2019s Service in China [John and Richard] and I was supposed to go to the Chancellor\u2019s Service in China with them\u2026 I didn\u2019t want to.\u201d Billy had other plans. \u201cI was a lazy little devil at school because I knew exactly what I wanted to do, go on the stage,\u201d he said. \u201cI was not going to pass any examinations if I could possibly help it. I wanted to be an actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

He would not be the first actor in the family. His favourite brother, George, had also trodden the boards, billed under the stage name of George Marlowe. \u201cDespite the fact that George was an extraordinarily handsome man, he never went very far on the stage,\u201d Karloff later explained, \u201cwhich was the reason he gave it up for a city job. But I tried to emulate him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Billy\u2019s love of acting had begun at an early age. After his mother and siblings moved to Enfield they attended St. Mary Magdalene\u2019s church on Windmill Hill. Here Billy joined a drama group and at Christmas 1896, at the age of nine, made his acting debut appearing in one of the plays\u2014a version of Cinderella. \u201cInstead of playing the hand\u00adsome prince, I donned black tights and a skullcap and rallied the forces of evil as the Demon King,\u201d he recalled. That role proved to be the catalyst. \u201cFrom then on,\u201d he proclaimed, \u201cI resolved to be an actor.\u201d Despite brotherly attempts to dissuade him from an acting career Billy\u2019s mind was set. Even his schooling at such notable institutions as Enfield Grammar, Merchant Taylors\u2019 and Uppingham could not divert him from seeking a life on the stage.<\/p>\n

In 1909, aged 21, he used a \u00a3150 legacy to leave the country. He emigrated to Canada and made his way to Vancouver, working along the way. When he arrived in the city he had only five dollars in his pocket. Within days he was down to 15 cents. \u201cThere wasn\u2019t a hope of stage work,\u201d he explained. \u201cThere was little doing in the theatre at that time and, in any case, managers were not interested in gangling youths with no experience. The dire necessity of eating was soon apparent.\u201d He took what work he could. \u201cMen were wanted to dig a race track and a fair ground,\u201d he said, \u201cand the pay was one and threepence an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

He later found work as a real estate broker. He also found himself a wife. On 23 February 1910 Billy married a fellow English \u00e9migr\u00e9, Jessie Grace Harding. His new bearing in life, however, had little effect on his ultimate ambitions and his search for an acting job continued. He eventually was offered a place with the theatrical troupe the Jeanne Russell Players and left his wife in the city while he made his way to join the company. \u201cI had finally become an actor, but I mumbled, bumbled, missed cues, rammed into furniture and sent the director\u2019s blood pressure soaring,\u201d he admitted. \u201cWhen the curtain went up, I was getting 30 dollars a week. When it descended, I was down to 15 dollars.\u201d Thus began almost a decade of the theatrical work with various companies as Billy \u2013 now calling himself Boris Karloff (he later erroneously claimed the surname came from ancestors on his mother\u2019s side) \u2013 learned his trade. Years later he arrived in Los Angeles and began to look for work. \u201cI made the rounds of the only possible outlet, the film studios,\u201d he said. \u201cI appeared before the camera for the first time in a crowd scene being directed by Frank Borzage at Universal City.\u201d<\/p>\n

For over a decade Karloff made a living, initially as an extra and then as a character actor. Sometimes the work was so scarce he would have to return to manual labouring to earn a crust. Two more wives came and went (he had divorced Grace in 1913) and in 1930 he married librarian Dorothy Stine. The couple would have one child \u2013 a daughter named Sara Jane \u2013 who was born on 23 November 1938 (her father\u2019s 51st birthday).<\/p>\n

One day in June 1931 Karloff entered the commissary at Universal Studio where he was making the picture Graft. That day would change his life forever. \u201cI was having lunch,\u201d Karloff explained, \u201cand James Whale sent either the first assistant or maybe it was his secretary over to me, and asked me to join him for a cup of coffee after lunch, which I did. He asked me if I would make a test for him tomorrow. \u2018What for?\u2019 I asked. \u2018For a damned awful monster!\u2019 he said. Of course, I was delighted, because it meant another job if I was able to land it. Actually, that\u2019s all it meant to me. At the same time I felt rather hurt, because at the time I had on a very good straight make-up and my best suit – and he wanted to test me for a monster!\u201d<\/p>\n

After the success of Frankenstein the studios, naturally, wanted to feature Karloff in further horror offerings, and in that decade alone he starred in such genre classics as The Mummy, The Ghoul, The Black Cat, The Raven, Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein.<\/p>\n

Although he would remain, primarily, a movie actor Karloff would return to the stage from time to time, with varying degrees of success. The plays Arsenic and Old Lace, On Borrowed Time, Peter Pan, and The Lark were successful. The Linden Tree and The Shop at Sly Corner were not (both closed after only 7 performances).<\/p>\n

In 1933 Boris Karloff became one of the nine founding members of the Screen Actors Guild, established to look after the rights of movie actors. He was always an advocate for actors\u2019 rights and had, himself, suffered at the hands of the studios. After shooting the famous lake scene in Frankenstein, for example, when the Monster inadvertently drowns the little girl, the cast and crew returned to the studio. \u201cWe went back to the studio in the evening to have some supper and then\u2026 back onto the backlot and worked all night until five in the morning\u2026 I had it [the make-up] on for over 25 hours. It was a long pull.\u201d In addition, Karloff was required to report to the studio at 4 a.m. in order for Jack Pierce to apply the makeup (which took over four hours) to be ready for the 9 a.m. start. At that time neither the application nor the removal process (an hour and a half) was considered to be part of Karloff\u2019s working day.<\/p>\n

Although the movies would prove to be the mainstay of his career, Karloff would regularly appear on television and radio. His guest appearances would often play on his horror persona. For example, on 18 April 1953, he was the guest on Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis\u2019s radio show. \u201cIn spite of the fiendish parts that I play in pictures,\u201d Karloff told Martin, \u201cI\u2019m really a kind and mild-mannered man. In fact, I\u2019m as soft-hearted and gentle a man as you could ever meet. Don\u2019t I appear that way? Dean\u2014why don\u2019t you answer?\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t,\u201d Martin replied. \u201cYou\u2019re choking me!\u201d Still, TV and radio also presented him with some of his best dramatic roles. It remains a pity that more of his shows are unavailable for us to enjoy.<\/p>\n

Karloff was rarely out of work. Such a busy schedule, however, had a detrimental effect on his home life and in May 1946 Karloff and Dorothy divorced. He married his fifth and final wife, Evelyn Helmore, the following day.<\/p>\n

Karloff continued to work until the end of his life, even when dogged by ill health. He had been plagued by back problems and later wore a brace on his left leg. His years of smoking also took its toll and during the making of his final films an oxygen tank accompanied him on set.<\/p>\n

When he died, on 2 February 1969 aged 81, the newspapers, naturally, concentrated on his horror roles \u2013 most significantly that of the Monster in Frankenstein. It\u2019s doubtful that Karloff would have been concerned. \u201cWell, I must admit the whole of my career has, shall I say, a familiar ring about it,\u201d he said in 1968. \u201cThey don\u2019t change the pattern very much. But I don\u2019t hanker for changes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following is a reprint from\u00a0the summer 2013 issue of\u00a0the alumni magazine of Merchant Taylors’ School, and is used by permission of the author. Boris Karloff: a brief biography By Stephen Jacobs The day before Frankenstein opened in November 1931 Boris Karloff was one of a myriad of character actors in Hollywood. The night after the opening he was a … Continue reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1648,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1663","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karloff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karloff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karloff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karloff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karloff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1663"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.karloff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1667,"href":"https:\/\/www.karloff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1663\/revisions\/1667"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.karloff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.karloff.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}