ULTIMATE BORIS KARLOFF COLLECTION
Old Time Radio - 2 CD - 120 mp3
William
Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better
known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.
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, as well as the narrator,
in the animated television special of Dr. Seuss’s How the
Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966).
Karloff was born at 36 Forest Hill Road, East Dulwich,
London, England, where a blue plaque can now be seen. His
parents were Edward John Pratt, Jr. and Eliza Sarah Millard.
His paternal grandparents were Edward John Pratt, an
Anglo-Indian, and Eliza Julia (Edwards) Pratt, a sister of
Anna Leonowens (whose tales about life in the royal court of
Siam (now Thailand) were the basis of the musical The King
and I.) The two sisters were also of Anglo-Indian heritage.
Karloff was brought up in Enfield. He was the youngest of
nine children, and following his mother's death was raised
by his elder siblings. He later attended Enfield Grammar
School before moving to Uppingham School and Merchant
Taylors' School, and went on to attend King's College London
where he studied to go into the consular service. He dropped
out in 1909 and worked as a farm labourer and did various
odd jobs until he happened into acting. His brother, Sir
John Thomas Pratt, became a distinguished British diplomat.
Karloff was bow-legged, had a lisp, and stuttered as a young
boy. He conquered his stutter, but not his lisp, which was
noticeable all through his career.
In 1909, Pratt travelled to Canada and began appearing in
stage shows throughout the country; and some time later
changed his professional name to "Boris Karloff". Some have
theorized that he took the stage name from a mad scientist
character in the novel The Drums of Jeopardy called "Boris
Karlov". However, the novel was not published until 1920, at
least eight years after Karloff had been using the name on
stage and in silent films (Warner Oland played "Boris Karlov"
in a movie version in 1931). Another possible influence was
thought to be a character in the Edgar Rice Burroughs
fantasy novel H.R.H. The Rider which features a "Prince
Boris of Karlova", but as the novel was not published until
1915, the influence may be backward, that Burroughs saw
Karloff in a play and adapted the name for the character.
Karloff always claimed he chose the first name "Boris"
because it sounded foreign and exotic, and that "Karloff"
was a family name. However, his daughter Sara Karloff
publicly denied any knowledge of Slavic forebears, "Karloff"
or otherwise. One reason for the name change was to prevent
embarrassment to his family. Whether or not his brothers
(all dignified members of the British foreign service)
actually considered young William the "black sheep of the
family" for having become an actor, Karloff himself
apparently worried they did feel that way. He did not
reunite with his family until 1933, when he went back to
England to make The Ghoul, extremely worried that his
siblings would disapprove of his new, macabre claim to world
fame. Instead, his elder brothers jostled for position
around their "baby" brother and happily posed for publicity
photographs with him.
Karloff joined the Jeanne Russell Co. in 1911 and performed
in towns like Kamloops, BC and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
After the devastating Regina, Saskatchewan, Regina Cyclone
of 30 June 1912, Karloff and other performers
helped with cleanup efforts. He later took a job as a
railway baggage handler and joined the Harry St. Clair Co.,
that performed in Minot, North Dakota, for a year, in an
opera house above a hardware store.
Due to the years of difficult manual labour in Canada and
the U.S. while trying to establish his acting career, he
suffered back problems for the rest of his life. Because of
his health, he did not fight in World War I.
Once Karloff arrived in Hollywood, he made dozens of silent
films, but work was sporadic, and he often had to take up
manual labor such as digging ditches and driving a cement
truck to earn a living. A number of his early major roles
were in movie serials, such as The Masked Rider (1919), in
Chapter 2 of which he can be glimpsed onscreen for the first
time, The Hope Diamond Mystery (1920) and King of the Wild
(1930). In these early roles he was often cast as an exotic
Arabian or Indian villain. A key film which brought Karloff
recognition was The Criminal Code (1931), a prison drama in
which he reprised a dramatic part he had played on stage.
Another significant role in the fall of 1931 saw Karloff
play a key supporting part as an unethical newspaper
reporter in Five Star Final, a harshly critical film about
tabloid journalism which was nominated for an Oscar as Best
Picture of 1931-32.
But it was his role as Frankenstein's monster in
Frankenstein (1931) which made him a star. The bulky costume
with four inch platform boots made it an arduous role but
the costume and torturously administered make-up produced
the classic image. Boris was lucky to get the part, not
least as it had supposedly been offered it to Bela Lugosi,
who declined it. A year later, Karloff played another iconic
character, Imhotep in The Mummy. Also quickly followed The
Old Dark House with Charles Laughton and the star role in
The Mask of Fu Manchu. These films all very much confirmed
his newfound stardom.
The 5'11" (1.8 m) brown-eyed Karloff played a wide variety
of roles in other genres besides horror. He was memorably
gunned down in a bowling alley in the 1932 film Scarface. He
played a religious World War I soldier in the 1934 John Ford
epic The Lost Patrol. Karloff gave a string of lauded
performances in 1930s Universal horror movies, including
several with his main rival for heir to Lon Chaney, Sr.'s
horror throne, Béla Lugosi. Karloff was cast for the role of
The Monster in Frankenstein after Bela Lugosi refused to
play the part, making his subsequent career possible.
Karloff played Frankenstein's monster in two other films,
Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939),
with the latter also featuring Lugosi. Karloff would revisit
the Frankenstein mythos in film several times afterward. The
first would be as the villainous Dr. Niemann in House of
Frankenstein (1944), where Karloff would be contrasted with
Glenn Strange's portrayal of The Monster.
Karloff
returned to the role of the "mad scientist" in 1958's
Frankenstein 1970, as Baron Victor von Frankenstein II, the
grandson of the original inventor. The finale reveals that
the crippled Baron has given his own face (i.e. Karloff's)
to The Monster. The actor appeared at a celebrity baseball
game as The Monster in 1940, hitting a gag home run and
making catcher Buster Keaton fall into an acrobatic dead
faint as The Monster stomped into home plate. Norman Z.
McLeod filmed a sequence in The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
with Karloff in The Monster make-up, but it was deleted.
Karloff donned the headpiece and neck bolts for the final
time in 1962 for a Halloween episode of the TV series Route
66, but he was playing "Boris Karloff," who, within the
story, was playing "The Monster."
While the long, creative partnership between Karloff and
Lugosi never led to a close mutual friendship, it produced
some of the actors' most revered and enduring productions,
beginning with The Black Cat. Follow-ups included Gift of
Gab (1934), The Raven (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936),
Black Friday (1940), You'll Find Out (also 1940), and The
Body Snatcher (1945). During this period, he also starred
with Basil Rathbone in Tower of London (1939).
From 1945 to 1946, Karloff appeared in three films for RKO
produced by Val Lewton: Isle of the Dead, The Body Snatcher,
and Bedlam. In a 1946 interview with Louis Berg of the Los
Angeles Times, Karloff discussed his three-picture deal with
RKO, his reasons for leaving Universal Pictures and working
with producer Lewton. Karloff left Universal because he
thought the Frankenstein franchise had run its course. The
latest installment was what he called a "'monster clambake,'
with everything thrown in — Frankenstein, Dracula, a
hunchback and a 'man-beast' that howled in the night. It was
too much. Karloff thought it was ridiculous and said so."
Berg continues, "Mr. Karloff has great love and respect for
Mr. Lewton as the man who rescued him from the living dead
and restored, so to speak, his soul."
During this period, Karloff was also a frequent guest on
radio programs, whether it was starring in Arch Oboler's
Chicago-based Lights Out productions (most notably the
episode "Cat Wife") or spoofing his horror image with Fred
Allen or Jack Benny.
An enthusiastic performer, he returned to the Broadway stage
in the original production of Arsenic and Old Lace in 1941,
in which he played a homicidal gangster enraged to be
frequently mistaken for Karloff. Although Frank Capra cast
Raymond Massey in the 1944 film, which was shot in 1941,
while Karloff was still appearing in the role on Broadway,
Karloff reprised the role on television with Tony Randall
and Tom Bosley in a 1962 production on the Hallmark Hall of
Fame. Somewhat less successful was his work in the J. B.
Priestley play The Linden Tree. He also appeared as Captain
Hook in the play Peter Pan with Jean Arthur. He was
nominated for a Tony Award for his work opposite Julie
Harris in The Lark, by the French playwright Jean Anouilh
about Joan of Arc, which was also reprised on Hallmark Hall
of Fame.
In later years, Karloff hosted and acted in a number of
television series, most notably Thriller, Out of This World,
and The Veil, the last of which was never broadcast and only
came to light in the 1990s. In the 1960s, Karloff appeared
in several films for American International Pictures,
including The Comedy of Terrors, The Raven, and The Terror.
the latter two directed by Roger Corman, and Die, Monster,
Die!. He also featured in Michael Reeves' second feature
film The Sorcerers (1966).
During
the 1950s Karloff appeared on British TV in the series
Colonel March of Scotland Yard, in which he portrayed John
Dickson Carr's fictional detective Colonel March who was
known for solving apparently impossible crimes.
Karloff, along with H. V. Kaltenborn, was a regular panelist
on the NBC game show, Who Said That?, which aired between
1948 and 1955. Later, as a guest on NBC's The Gisele
MacKenzie Show, Karloff sang "Those Were the Good Old Days"
from Damn Yankees, while Gisele MacKenzie performed the
solo, "Give Me the Simple Life". On The Red Skelton Show,
Karloff guest starred along with horror actor Vincent Price
in a parody of Frankenstein, with Red Skelton as the monster
"Klem Kadiddle Monster." In 1966, Karloff also appeared with
Robert Vaughn and Stefanie Powers in the spy series The Girl
from U.N.C.L.E., in the episode "The Mother Muffin Affair."
Karloff performed in drag as the titular Mother Muffin. That
same year he also played an Indian Maharajah on the
adventure series The Wild Wild West ("The Night of the
Golden Cobra"). In 1967, he played an eccentric Spanish
professor who thinks he's Don Quixote in a whimsical episode
of I Spy ("Mainly on the Plains").
In the mid-1960s, Karloff gained a late-career surge of
American popularity when he narrated the made-for-television
animated film of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas,
and also provided the voice of the Grinch, although the
song, "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" was sung by American
voice actor Thurl Ravenscroft. Karloff later received a
Grammy Award in the spoken word category after the story was
released as a record. (Because Ravenscroft was uncredited
for his contribution to How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, his
performance of the song was often mistakenly attributed to
Karloff.)
In 1968 he starred in Targets, a movie directed by Peter
Bogdanovich about a young man who embarks on a spree of
killings carried out with handguns and high powered rifles.
The movie starred Karloff as retired horror film actor,
Byron Orlok, a thinly disguised version of himself—facing an
end of life crisis, resolved through a confrontation with
the shooter.
Karloff ended his career by appearing in four low-budget
Mexican horror films: The Snake People, The Incredible
Invasion, The Fear Chamber, and House of Evil. This was a
package deal with Mexican producer Luis Vergara. Karloff's
scenes were directed by Jack Hill and shot back to back in
Los Angeles in the spring of 1968. The films were then
completed in Mexico. All four were released posthumously,
with the last, The Incredible Invasion, not released until
1971, two years after Karloff's death.
Cauldron of Blood, shot in Spain in 1967 and starring
Karloff and Viveca Lindfors, was also released after
Karloff's death.
SHOWS LIST
An Evening With Boris Karloff 01 Introduction
An Evening With Boris Karloff 02 Dracula Part One
An Evening With Boris Karloff 03 Dracula Part Two
An Evening With Boris Karloff 04 Dracula Part Three
An Evening With Boris Karloff 05 All About The Monster
An Evening With Boris Karloff 06 Frankenstein
An Evening With Boris Karloff 07 The Mummy Part One
An Evening With Boris Karloff 08 The Mummy Part Two
An Evening With Boris Karloff 09 The Mummy Part Three
An Evening With Boris Karloff 10 The Mummy Part Four
An Evening With Boris Karloff 11 The Bride Of Frankenstein
Part One
An Evening With Boris Karloff 12 The Bride Of Frankenstein
Part Two
An Evening With Boris Karloff 13 The Bride Of Frankenstein
Part Three
An Evening With Boris Karloff 14 The Bride Of Frankenstein
Part Four
An Evening With Boris Karloff 15 The Son Of Frankenstein
Part One
An Evening With Boris Karloff 16 The Son Of Frankenstein
Part Two
An Evening With Boris Karloff 17 The Son Of Frankenstein
Part Three
An Evening With Boris Karloff 18 The Son Of Frankenstein
Part Four
An Evening With Boris Karloff 19 The Son Of Frankenstein
Part Five
An Evening With Boris Karloff 20 The Wolf Man Part One
An Evening With Boris Karloff 21 The Wolf Man Part Two
An Evening With Boris Karloff 22 The House Of Frankenstein
Part One
An Evening With Boris Karloff 23 The House Of Frankenstein
Part Two
An Evening With Boris Karloff 24 Finale
Arthur Jean and Boris Karloff - Peter-Pan 01
Arthur Jean and Boris Karloff - Peter-Pan 02
Arthur Jean and Boris Karloff - Peter-Pan 03
Arthur Jean and Boris Karloff - Peter-Pan 04
Bergen and McCarthy 451028 Boris Karloffs Haunted House
Best Plays 520706 Arsenic and Old Lace
Bill Stern Sports Newsreel 500113 532 Guest Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff - Poe The Raven Bela Lugosi Ep.1 1935
Boris Karloff - Poe The Raven Bela Lugosi Ep.2 1935
Boris Karloff - Poe The Raven Bela Lugosi Ep.3 1935
Boris Karloff - The Haunted Strangler
Boris Karloff narrates - Rip Van Winkle
Boris Karloff narrates - Sleepy Hollow
Boris Karloff Show 5712xx Boris Karloff Special Message To
Station Owners
Boris Karloff Show xx-xx-xx The Vampires Grave
Boris Karloffs Treasure Chest 501126 Johnny Appleseed
Creeps By Night 44-03-07 04 The Strange Burial of Alexander
Jordan
Creeps by Night 44-05-02 11 The Final Reckoning
Creeps By Night 44-05-02 12 The Final Reckoning
Creeps By Night 44-05-09 13 The Hunt
Creeps By Night 44-05-16 14 The Walking Dead
Creeps By Night 44-06-06 17 The Three Sisters
Dr Seuss w Boris Karloff - Youre A Mean One Mr Grinch
Duffys Tavern 45-01-12 154 Archies Adaptation of
Frankenstein with Boris Karloff
Duffys Tavern 51-10-05 408 Archie Get Boris Karloff To Scare
Off Buyers Of The Bar
Fred Allen Show 451028 04 Charlie McCarthy Sues Fred for
Slander
Fred Allen Show 451118 07 Renting A House
Helen Hayes Theater 451208 Angel Street
Hildegardes_Radio_Room10-23-45
How The Grinch Stole Christmas Narrated By Boris Karloff
Information Please 410124 Boris Karloff Louis E Lawes
Information Please 420220 J.Carradine Boris Karloff
Information Please 430517 Jan Struther Boris Karloff
Inner Sanctum 410525 Death Is a Joker
Inner Sanctum 410803 The Tell Tale Heart
Inner Sanctum 420503 Study for Murder
Inner Sanctum 451023 Corridor of Doom
Inner Sanctum 451106 The Wailing Wall
Inner Sanctum 520622 Birdsong for a Murderer
Inner Sanctum 520713 Death For Sale
Inner Sanctum 560622 Birdsong For A Murderer
Inner Sanctum Boris Karloff - Homicidal Maniac
Its Time to smile - 1941-12-17 - Eddie Cantor - Guest -
Boris Karloff
Jack Benny - 47-01-19 - I Stand Condemned
Jimmy Durante - 471210 Guest Boris Karloff
Kraft Music Hall 471225 With Boris Karloff
Lights Out 380323 The Dream
Lights Out 380330 Valse Trieste with Boris Karloff
Lights Out 380406 Cat Wife
Lights Out 470716 Death Robbery
Martin and Lewis 520418 Guest Boris Karloff
Movies 4 The Blind - 1940 - British Intelligence
Mystery Playhouse 440425 Creeps by Night - Those Who Walk in
Darkness
Mystery Playhouse 441121 Six Who Did Not Die
NBC University Theater 481017 History of Mr Polly
Philco 471029 005 Boris Karloff Victor Moore Bing Crosby
Readers Digest 57-12-16 Boris Karloff - Chung Ling Soo
Readers Digest 57-12-17 Boris Karloff - Shakespeares
Hometown
Readers Digest 57-12-18 Boris Karloff - Story Of Wood
Readers Digest 57-12-19 Boris Karloff - Dr Harvey Cushing
Readers Digest 57-12-20 Boris Karloff - The White House
Readers Digest 57-12-21 Boris Karloff - Two Stories
Readers Digest 58-01-10 Aunt Chloes Reward
Readers Digest 58-01-11 How Smart is a Fish
Readers Digest 58-01-12 Laughter is the Best Medicine
Readers Digest 58-01-13 Napoleon
Readers Digest 58-01-14 Teachers Tricks
Report To The Nation 451103 John Daly Boris Karloff
Rip Van Winkle
Screen Guild Theatre - Arsenic & Old Lace - 251146
Sealtest Variety Theater 481028 - Happy Halloween
Sealtest Variety Theater 490623 - The Stranger arrives
Shell Chateau 350831 Karloff Georgia Weathern
Spike Jones Show 490409 Boris Karloff
Stars on Parade 05-04-51 Big Man with Boris Karloff
Suspense 450125 Drurys Bones Boris Karloff
Suspense 471210 Wet Saturday with Boris Karloff
Tales of the Frightened 01 The Man In The Raincoat
Tales of the Frightened 02 The Deadly Dress
Tales of the Frightened 03 The Hand Of Fate
Tales of the Frightened 04 Don't Lose Your Head
Tales of the Frightened 05 Call At Midnight
Tales of the Frightened 06 Just Inside The Cemetary
Tales of the Frightened 07 The Fortune Teller
Tales of the Frightened 08 The Vampire Sleeps
Tales of the Frightened 09 Mirror Of Death
Tales of the Frightened 10 Never Kick A Black Cat
Tales of the Frightened 11 The Ladder
Tales of the Frightened 12 Nightmare
Tales of the Frightened 13 Voice From The Grave
The Raven - Movie Promo - Raven Record
The Year without a Santa Claus
Theater Guild On The Air 45-11-11 Emperor Jones Where the
Cross Is Made
Theater Guild On The Air 50-12-24 David Copperfield
Theatre Guild On The Air 53-05-04 Great Expectations
Truth or Consequences 481030 Boris Karloff
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PUBLIC DOMAIN NOTE
This item is the public domain and was created between January 1, 1923 and
December 31, 1971
This item is in the public domain due to failure to comply with required
formalities
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Trademark and Patent Office, it has been determined that the programs listed
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