It was 40 years ago yesterday…

February 4th, 2009 at 10:17am Will Pfeifer

… that Boris Karloff, one of the screen’s true icons, died in his native England.

Born William Henry Pratt, Karloff made dozens of movies before his breakthrough performance as the Monster in 1931’s FRANKENSTEIN, forever cementing his image as a horror movie star. Actually, Karloff starred in all sorts of movies, just a fraction of them horror. In 1931 alone (a heckuva year for Karloff), he appeared in 16 films, including a portrayal of a drunken reporter with no scruples in the great pre-Code newspaper drama, FIVE STAR FINAL.

But it was the Monster he was best known for, of course, and as good as he is in the original FRANKENSTEIN, he’s even better in the 1935 sequel, THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, giving the Monster a voice, humanity and a sense of humor. I also like him in 1934’s THE BLACK CAT, where he plays a Satanic architect with the memorable (and unpronounceable) name of Hjalmar Poelzig who fights Bela Lugosi to the death.

In later years, Karloff became the grand old man of horror, playing a version of himself in Peter Bogdonovich’s excellent drama TARGETS and, of course, lending his voice to the holiday classic, HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS.

It’s ironic that a soft-spoke man of average height (he was 5′11 — Lugosi was taller at 6′1) who had a bit of a lisp became a legendary movie monster, but hey — that’s Hollywood!

Entry Filed under: actors, Horror movies