Boris Karloff
Known for Acting · 275 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)
This Is Your Life
1955
as Self
The Red Skelton Show
1951
as Professor Townsend
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950
as Bennett Kimball
What's My Line?
1950
as Self
The Wild Wild West
1965
as Mr. Singh
Climax!
1954
as Dr. Philip Nestri / Vicar Tellworth
Studio One
1948
as Skaggs / Professor Koernig / King Arthur
The United States Steel Hour
1953
as George Redford
Thriller
1960
as Clayton Mace / Self - Host / Dr. Thorne / Dr. Albert Farnham / Pop Jenkins / Col. Jackson Beauregard Finchess / Doktor Konrad Markesan
Lights Out
1949
Route 66
1960
Suspicion
1957
as Judge Winthrop Gelsey
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956
as Self
Telephone Time
1956
McCloud
1970
as Hjalmar Poelzig (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Name of the Game
1968
as Mikhail Orlov
Suspense
1949
as Toff / Bronson / Rasputin
Shirley Temple's Storybook
1958
as Narrator (voice) / Father Knickerbocker
Shindig!
1964
as Self - Guest Host / Singer
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Sir Arthur Strangeways / Montgomery Royle / Larkin
Tales of Tomorrow
1951
The George Gobel Show
1954
as Self
The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
1966
as Mother Muffin
Colonel March of Scotland Yard
1956
as Colonel March Of Scotland Yard
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Cauchon / Jonathan Brewster
DuPont Show of the Month
1957
The Lux Show
1957
as Self
The Veil
1958
Out of This World
1962
as Host
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Charles Brandon
General Electric Theater
1953
as Mr. Blue Ocean / Henry E. Church
The Rosemary Clooney Show
1956
as Self
Down You Go
1951
as Self
Starring Boris Karloff
1949
Movies (241)
Frankenstein
1931
as The Monster
Sharp Shooters
1928
as Cafe Proprietor (uncredited)
Bride of Frankenstein
1935
as The Monster
Unconquered
1947
as Guyasuta, Chief of the Senecas
Scarface
1932
as Gaffney
Macabre Serenade
1968
as Matthias Morteval
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
1966
as Narrator / The Grinch (voice)
Cracked Nuts
1931
as Boris - First Revolutionary
The Mummy
1932
as Imhotep / Ardath Bey
Black Sabbath
1963
as Gorca (segment "The Wurdalak")
Son of Frankenstein
1939
as The Monster
The Movie Orgy
1968
as Self (archive footage)
The Raven
1963
as Dr. Scarabus
Soft Cushions
1927
as The Chief Conspirator
Tap Roots
1948
as Tishomingo
Hollywood Hobbies
1935
as Himself
The Lost Patrol
1934
as Sanders
House of Frankenstein
1944
as Dr. Gustav Niemann
The Old Dark House
1932
as Morgan
Targets
1968
as Byron Orlok
The American Nightmare
2000
as Self
Doom of Dracula
1966
as The Madman (archive footage)
Curse of the Crimson Altar
1968
as Professor John Marsh
The Last of the Mohicans
1920
as Indian (uncredited)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
1947
as Dr. Hollingshead
The Black Cat
1934
as Hjalmar Poelzig
The Body Snatcher
1945
as John Gray
The Mummy's Curse
1944
as Kharis in Flashback (archive footage / uncredited)
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
1947
as Gruesome
The Venetian Affair
1966
as Dr. Pierre Vaugiroud
His Majesty, the American
1919
as Henchman in cloth cap
Sabaka
1955
as General Pollegar
The Terror
1963
as Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe
Bedlam
1946
as George Sims
The Mask of Fu Manchu
1932
as Dr. Fu Manchu
Suspense: A Night at an Inn
as Toff
Mad Monster Party?
1967
as Baron Boris von Frankenstein (voice)
Before I Hang
1940
as Dr. John Garth
The Walking Dead
1936
as John Ellman
Hatchet for the Honeymoon
1970
as Gorca (archive footage)
Grip of the Strangler
1958
as James Rankin
The Last Repair Shop
2024
as The Monster (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Mummy's Hand
1940
as Kharis (archive footage / uncredited)
Corridors of Blood
1958
as Dr. Thomas Bolton
Transylvania Twist
1989
as Man in Room (archive footage)
The King of the Kongo
1929
as Scarface Macklin
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
1966
as The Corpse
Bela Lugosi: The Fallen Vampire
2007
as Himself (archive footage)
The Ghoul
1933
as Prof. Morlant
Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies
2025
as Self - (archive footage)
The Greater Glory
1926
as Scissors Grinder
Dracula in the Movies
1992
as (archive footage)
Black Friday
1940
as Dr. Ernest Sovac
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
as Self (archive footage)
The Strange Door
1951
as Voltan
Lured
1947
as Charles van Druten
The House of Rothschild
1934
as Count Ledrantz
The Meddlin' Stranger
1927
as Al Meggs
Die, Monster, Die!
1965
as Nahum Witley
The Black Room
1935
as Baron Gregor de Berghman / Anton de Berghman
The Raven
1935
as Edmond Bateman
Madhouse
1974
as (archive footage)
The Vanishing Rider
1928
as The Villain
Skyscraper Souls
1932
as Man Approaching Ticket Counter
King of the Wild
1931
as Mustapha
The Grim Reaper
1961
as Self
Horror!!!
1964
as Self
Heroes of Horror
2001
as (archive footage)
Universal Horror
1998
as (archive footage)
The Sorcerers
1967
as Prof. Marcus Monserrat
Five Star Final
1931
as T. Vernon Isopod
Perils of the Wild
1925
Isle of the Dead
1945
as Gen. Nikolas Pherides
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
2021
as Self (archive footage)
Devil's Island
1939
as Dr. Charles Gaudet
The Man with Nine Lives
1940
as Dr. Leon Kravaal
The Comedy of Terrors
1964
as Amos Hinchley
Omar the Tentmaker
1922
as Imam Mowaffak
Destination Nightmare
1958
as Host / Ira Perry / Pete Wade Sr. / Professor Charles Goncourt / Morgan Debs
Business and Pleasure
1932
as Sheik Ali-Ben Joseph
The Unholy Night
1929
as Abdul Mohammed Bey - the Hindu Lawyer (uncredited)
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
1974
as Self (archive footage)
Charlie Chan at the Opera
1936
as Gravelle
Smart Money
1931
as Sport Williams
Cauldron of Blood
1968
as Franz Badulescu
Tower of London
1939
as Mord
The Invisible Ray
1936
as Dr. Janos Rukh
The Man They Could Not Hang
1939
as Dr. Henryk Savaard
The Ape
1940
as Dr. Bernard Adrian
The Climax
1944
as Dr. Friedrich Hohner
The Fatal Warning
1929
as Mullins
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
1949
as Swami Talpur
British Intelligence
1939
as Valdar
The Woman and the Puppet
1920
as (uncredited)
Let It Rain
1927
as Crook
The Black Castle
1952
as Dr. Meissen
Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1953
as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde
Lugosi: The Dark Prince
2006
as Self (archive footage)
The Daydreamer
1966
as The Rat (voice)
A Connecticut Yankee
1955
as King Arthur
Mr. Wong, Detective
1938
as James Lee Wong
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991
as The Monster / Gustav Niemann / Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde / etc.
Voodoo Island
1957
as Phillip Knight
The Yellow Ticket
1931
as Drunken Orderly
Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999
as Self (archive footage)
Tarzan and the Golden Lion
1927
as Owaza
Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld
1994
as Self (archive footage)
The Fatal Hour
1940
as James Lee Wong
Creepy Classics
1987
as Dr. Scarabus - (archive footage)
Without Benefit of Clergy
1921
as Ahmed Khan
A Masque of Madness (Notes on Film 06-B, Monologue 02)
2013
as Self (archive footage)
Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991
as Doctor Gustav Niemann (archive footage)
The Devil Commands
1941
as Dr. Julian Blair
The Eagle of the Sea
1926
as Pirate (uncredited)
The Universal Story
1996
as Self (archive footage)
Monster Movie Trivia Quiz
2004
Breakdowns of 1937
1937
as Self
Riders of the Plains
1924
Tonight or Never
1931
as Waiter
You'll Find Out
1940
as Judge Spencer Mainwaring
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 275 credits spanning from 1919 to 2025, Boris Karloff has appeared in 241 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
- Frankenstein (1931) — as The Monster
- Sharp Shooters (1928) — as Cafe Proprietor (uncredited)
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935) — as The Monster
- Unconquered (1947) — as Guyasuta, Chief of the Senecas
- Scarface (1932) — as Gaffney
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.