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and asked me to join him for a cup of coffee
after lunch, which I did. He asked me if I
would make a test for him tomorrow. ‘What
for?’ I asked. ‘For a damned awful monster!’
he said. Of course, I was delighted, because
it meant another job if I was able to land
it. Actually, that’s all it meant to me. At the
same time I felt rather hurt, because at the
time I had on a very good straight make-up
and my best suit – and he wanted to test me
for a monster!”
After the success of Frankenstein the
studios, naturally, wanted to feature Karloff
in further horror offerings, and in that
decade alone he starred in such genre
classics as
TheMummy
,
The Ghoul
,
The
Black Cat
,
The Raven
,
Bride of Frankenstein
and
Son of Frankenstein
.
Although he would remain, primarily, a
movie actor Karloff would return to the stage
from time to time, with varying degrees of
success. The plays Arsenic and
Old Lace
,
On Borrowed Time
,
Peter Pan
, and
The Lark
were successful.
The Linden Tree
and
The
Shop at Sly Corner
were not (both closed
after only 7 performances).
In 1933 Boris Karloff became one of
the nine foundingmembers of the Screen
Actors Guild, established to look after
the rights of movie actors. He was always
an advocate for actors’ rights and had,
himself, suffered at the hands of the studios.
After shooting the famous lake scene in
Frankenstein
, for example, when theMonster
inadvertently drowns the little girl, the cast
and crew returned to the studio. “We went
back to the studio in the evening to have
some supper and then… back onto the
backlot and worked all night until five in
the morning… I had it [the make-up] on for
over 25 hours. It was a long pull.” In addition,
Karloff was required to report to the studio
at 4 a.m. in order for Jack Pierce to apply the
makeup (which took over four hours) to be
ready for the 9 a.m. start. At that time neither
the application nor the removal process (an
hour and a half) was considered to be part of
Karloff’s working day.
Although the movies would prove to be
the mainstay of his career, Karloff would
regularly appear on television and radio.
Did you know Boris Karloff?
Do you have a relative who knew
him? Please contact Stephen Jacobs
at
His guest appearances would often play
on his horror persona. For example, on 18
April 1953, he was the guest on DeanMartin
and Jerry Lewis’s radio show. “In spite of
the fiendish parts that I play in pictures,”
Karloff toldMartin, “I’m really a kind and
mild-manneredman. In fact, I’m as soft-
hearted and gentle a man as you could ever
meet. Don’t I appear that way? Dean—why
don’t you answer?” “I can’t,” Martin replied.
“You’re chokingme!” Still, TV and radio
also presented himwith some of his best
dramatic roles. It remains a pity that more of
his shows are unavailable for us to enjoy.
Karloff was rarely out of work. Such a busy
schedule, however, had a detrimental effect
on his home life and inMay 1946 Karloff and
Dorothy divorced. He married his fifth and
final wife, Evelyn Helmore, the following day.
Karloff continued to work until the end of
his life, even when dogged by ill health. He
had been plagued by back problems and
later wore a brace on his left leg. His years
of smoking also took its toll and during the
making of his final films an oxygen tank
accompanied him on set.
When he died, on 2 February 1969 aged
81, the newspapers, naturally, concentrated
on his horror roles – most significantly that
of theMonster in
Frankenstein
. It’s doubtful
that Karloff would have been concerned.
“Well, I must admit the whole of my career
has, shall I say, a familiar ring about it,” he
said in 1968. “They don’t change the pattern
very much. But I don’t hanker for changes.”
by Stephen Jacobs
Official biographer of Boris Karloff and
author of More than aMonster
In
Arsenic and Old Lace
on Broadway 1941
