William Henry Pratt, known professionally as Boris Karloff and occasionally billed as Karloff the Uncanny, was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film Frankenstein (1931) established him as a horror icon, and he reprised the role for the sequels Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and Son of Frankenstein (1939). He also appeared as Imhotep in The Mummy (1932), and voiced the Grinch in, as well as narrating, the animated television special of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966), which won him a Grammy Award.
Karloff c. 1940s
Theatrical teaser poster
English Heritage blue plaque at 36 Forest Hill Road, London, marking Karloff's birthplace
Karloff at age 26 in 1913
Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, also commonly known as Frankenstein, is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus as the main antagonist. Shelley's title thus compares the monster's creator, Victor Frankenstein, to the mythological character Prometheus, who fashioned humans out of clay and gave them fire.
Steel engraving (993 × 78 mm), for the frontispiece of the 1831 revised edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, published by Colburn and Bentley, London
The actor T. P. Cooke as the monster in an 1823 stage production of Shelley's novel
Charles Stanton Ogle in the 1910 film version
Close-up of Charles Ogle as the monster in Thomas Edison's Frankenstein (1910)
