Born As: William Henry Pratt Nationality: UK - United Kingdom Date of Birth: November 23, 1887 Place of Birth: Camberwell, London, England, UK Date of Death: February 2, 1969 Place of Death: Midhurst, Sussex, England, UK
During the production of Frankenstein (1931) there was some concern that seven year old Marilyn Harris, who played Maria, the little girl thrown into the lake by the creature, would be overly frightened by the sight of Karloff in costume and make-up to play the scene. When the cast was assembled to travel to the location, Marilyn ran from her car directly up to Karloff, who was in full make-up and costume, took his hand and asked "May I drive with you?" Delighted, and in typical Karloff fashion, he responded "Would you, darling?" She rode to the location in the star's limo with "The Monster."
When he died, the newspaper obituary featured a picture of Frakenstein's monster. Unfortunately, the image was actually Glen Strange in full make-up, not Karloff.
A photo of him keeping wicket while C. Aubrey Smith was batting was included in a display in the Long Room at Lord's cricket ground in 2004. The display was to celebrate Sussex (the oldest county side) winning the County Championship for the first time and the photo was included because Smith had been a captain of Sussex CCC.
Played cricket for Enfield Cricket Club (just north of London, England) before emigrating, and the club has his picture hanging in the pavilion.
Appeared in 80 films before his breakthrough role in Frankenstein (1931).
Refused to reprise his role as the Frankenstein Monster in Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), because he felt spoofs wouldn't sell to the audience.
According to his daughter, Sarah, he had to have 3 major back surgeries in his lifetime, which were first brought on by the scene in the original Frankenstein where he had to carry Colin Clive up several flights of stairs.
On June 30, 1912, a then-unknown Karloff had taken some time off to canoe while touring around the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. When he came back to the city, he returned to find his accomodation had been destroyed by a tornado that killed 28. He organized a concert that raised some much needed funds for the city.
Often thought of as a very large man, he was in actuality a slim man of medium height who more massive lifts and padding to look large as Frankenstein's monser.
In 1956 he was a celebrity contestent on "The $64,000 Question." The category he chose was children's fairy tales. He won the $32,000 level and quit due to tax considerations.
