
Boris Karloff
Known for Acting · 274 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)

Robert Montgomery Presents
1950
as Bennett Kimball

What's My Line?
1950
as Self

Climax!
1954
as Dr. Philip Nestri / Vicar Tellworth

Studio One
1948
as Skaggs / Professor Koernig / King Arthur

The Wild Wild West
1965
as Mr. Singh

The Red Skelton Show
1951
as Professor Townsend (Spy)

Route 66
1960

The Name of the Game
1968
as Mikhail Orlov

Lights Out
1949

Thriller
1960
as Clayton Mace / Self - Host / Pop Jenkins / Col. Jackson Beauregard Finchess / Dr. Thorne / Doktor Konrad Markesan / Dr. Albert Farnham

McCloud
1970
as Hjalmar Poelzig (archive footage) (uncredited)

Suspense
1949
as Toff / Bronson / Rasputin

Telephone Time
1956

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956
as Self

Shirley Temple's Storybook
1958
as Narrator (voice) / Father Knickerbocker

This Is Your Life
1955
as Self

The United States Steel Hour
1953
as George Redford

Tales of Tomorrow
1951
Lux Video Theatre
1950
as Sir Arthur Strangeways / Montgomery Royle / Larkin

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.
1966
as Mother Muffin

Suspicion
1957
as Judge Winthrop Gelsey
The George Gobel Show
1954
as Self

DuPont Show of the Month
1957

Shindig!
1964
as Self - Guest Host / Singer

Colonel March of Scotland Yard
1956
as Colonel March Of Scotland Yard

Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951
as Cauchon / Jonathan Brewster

Out of This World
1962
as Host

General Electric Theater
1953
as Mr. Blue Ocean / Henry E. Church

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
1951
as Charles Brandon
The Lux Show
1957
as Self

The Veil
1958
The Rosemary Clooney Show
1956
as Self
Down You Go
1951
as Self
Starring Boris Karloff
1949
Movies (240)

Scarface
1932
as Gaffney

Frankenstein
1931
as The Monster

Bride of Frankenstein
1935
as The Monster

The Mummy
1932
as Imhotep / Ardath Bey
Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991
as The Monster / Gustav Niemann / Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde / etc.

How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
1966
as Narrator / The Grinch (voice)

Unconquered
1947
as Guyasuta, Chief of the Senecas

The Raven
1963
as Dr. Scarabus

Targets
1968
as Byron Orlok

The Terror
1963
as Baron Victor Frederick Von Leppe

Bikini Beach
1964
as Art Dealer

Black Sabbath
1963
as Gorca (segment "The Wurdalak")

The Climax
1944
as Dr. Friedrich Hohner

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
1947
as Dr. Hollingshead

The Movie Orgy
1968
as Self (archive footage)
Destination Nightmare
1958
as Host / Ira Perry / Pete Wade Sr. / Professor Charles Goncourt / Morgan Debs

The Ghoul
1933
as Prof. Morlant

Night Key
1937
as David Mallory

The Lost Patrol
1934
as Sanders

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975
as Self (archive footage)

Lured
1947
as Charles van Druten

The Black Cat
1934
as Hjalmar Poelzig

Hollywood in the Atomic Age: Monsters! Martians! Mad Scientists!
2021
as Self (archive footage)

The Universal Story
1996
as Self (archive footage)

The Old Dark House
1932
as Morgan

Son of Frankenstein
1939
as The Monster

Curse of the Crimson Altar
1968
as Professor John Marsh

Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff
1949
as Swami Talpur

Boo
1932
as Frankenstein's Monster (edited from "Frankenstein")

The Yellow Ticket
1931
as Drunken Orderly

The Mummy's Hand
1940
as Kharis (archive footage / uncredited)

Oops, Those Hollywood Bloopers!
1982
as Self (archive footage)

The Horror Show
1979
as (archive footage)

Creepy Classics
1987
as Dr. Scarabus - (archive footage)

Transylvania Twist
1989
as Man in Room (archive footage)

The Man with Nine Lives
1940
as Dr. Leon Kravaal

Madhouse
1974
as (archive footage)

Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
1953
as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde

The Strange Door
1951
as Voltan

The Sea Bat
1930
as Corsican

The Walking Dead
1936
as John Ellman

The Last Repair Shop
2024
as The Monster (archive footage) (uncredited)

Mad Monster Party?
1967
as Baron Boris von Frankenstein (voice)

Bedlam
1946
as George Sims

The Prisoner
1923
as Prince Kapolski

The Man They Could Not Hang
1939
as Dr. Henryk Savaard

Monster Madness: The Golden Age of the Horror Film
2014
as Various roles (archive footage)

The Fatal Hour
1940
as James Lee Wong

Die, Monster, Die!
1965
as Nahum Witley

Devil's Island
1939
as Dr. Charles Gaudet

The Unholy Night
1929
as Abdul Mohammed Bey - the Hindu Lawyer (uncredited)

The House of Rothschild
1934
as Count Ledrantz

Black Friday
1940
as Dr. Ernest Sovac

Horror!!!
1964
as Self

Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome
1947
as Gruesome
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
1974
as Self (archive footage)

The Man Who Changed His Mind
1936
as Dr. Laurence

Tap Roots
1948
as Tishomingo
Boris Karloff: The Rest of the Story
2022
as Self - Interviewee

Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld
1994
as Self (archive footage)

The Body Snatcher
1945
as John Gray

House of Frankenstein
1944
as Dr. Gustav Niemann

Mr. Wong, Detective
1938
as James Lee Wong

The Mummy's Curse
1944
as Kharis in Flashback (archive footage / uncredited)

The American Nightmare
2000
as Self

Monster by Moonlight! The Immortal Saga of 'The Wolf Man'
1999
as Self (archive footage)

The Black Room
1935
as Baron Gregor de Berghman / Anton de Berghman

Sharp Shooters
1928
as Cafe Proprietor (uncredited)

The Mad Genius
1931
as Fedor's Father (uncredited)

The Mask of Fu Manchu
1932
as Dr. Fu Manchu

The Venetian Affair
1966
as Dr. Pierre Vaugiroud

Dracula: A Cinematic Scrapbook
1991
as Doctor Gustav Niemann (archive footage)

The Mystery of Mr. Wong
1939
as James Lee Wong

Night World
1932
as 'Happy' MacDonald

The Criminal Code
1931
as Ned Galloway

The Boogie Man Will Get You
1942
as Prof. Nathaniel Billings

The Daydreamer
1966
as The Rat (voice)

How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Special Edition
1994
as (voice - archive footage)

The Infidel
1922
as The Nabob

Voodoo Island
1957
as Phillip Knight

The Invisible Ray
1936
as Dr. Janos Rukh
Heroes of Horror
2001
as (archive footage)

Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984
as (archive footage)

Frankenstein 1970
1958
as Baron Viktor von Frankenstein

Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013
as Self (archive footage)

The Sorcerers
1967
as Prof. Marcus Monserrat

The Greater Glory
1926
as Scissors Grinder

The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini
1966
as The Corpse
Cinema Circus
1937
as Himself

Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster
2021
as Self (archive footage)

The Bells
1926
as The Mesmerist

Old Ironsides
1926
as Saracen Guard (uncredited)

The Raven
1935
as Edmond Bateman

Breakdowns of 1937
1937
as Self

The Comedy of Terrors
1964
as Amos Hinchley

Heart of Darkness
1958
as Mr. Kurtz

Mummy Dearest: A Horror Tradition Unearthed
2000
as Self (archive footage)

The Prairie Wife
1925
as Diego

His Majesty, the American
1919
as Henchman in cloth cap

Charlie Chan at the Opera
1936
as Gravelle

Tower of London
1939
as Mord

Smart Money
1931
as Sport Williams

Bela Lugosi: The Fallen Vampire
2007
as Himself (archive footage)

Behind That Curtain
1929
as Beetham's Manservent

Behind the Mask
1932
as Jim Henderson

Grip of the Strangler
1958
as James Rankin

Doomed to Die
1940
as James Lee Wong

The Last of the Mohicans
1920
as Indian (uncredited)

Two Sisters
1929
as Cecil

Skyscraper Souls
1932
as Man Approaching Ticket Counter

Tarzan and the Golden Lion
1927
as Owaza

Cracked Nuts
1931
as Boris - First Revolutionary

The Cave Girl
1921
as Baptiste

Isle of the Snake People
1971
as Carl van Molder / Damballah

The Incredible Doktor Markesan
1962
as Dr. Konrad Markesan

Before I Hang
1940
as Dr. John Garth

Let It Rain
1927
as Crook

The 'Frankenstein' Files: How Hollywood Made a Monster
1999
as Self (archive footage)

Universal Horror
1998
as (archive footage)

Corridors of Blood
1958
as Dr. Thomas Bolton
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 274 credits spanning from 1919 to 2025, Boris Karloff has appeared in 240 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 CineFlixo, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Boris Karloff Movies
- Scarface (1932) — as Gaffney
- Frankenstein (1931) — as The Monster
- Bride of Frankenstein (1935) — as The Monster
- The Mummy (1932) — as Imhotep / Ardath Bey
- Frankenstein: A Cinematic Scrapbook (1991) — as The Monster / Gustav Niemann / Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde / etc.
Where to Watch Boris Karloff Films
Most Boris Karloff movies and series are available to stream on CineFlixo 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.