Boris Karloff is one of four classic horror icons, alongside actors Lon Cheney, White Lugosi and Vincent Price. Because of his unusual appearance, he was invited to play the monster in the 1931 film "Frankenstein", which became a cult classic in American cinema. Boris Karloff has starred in over 170 films, mainly in the horror genre.
Childhood and early years of the actor
Boris Karloff, née William Henry Pratt, was born on 23 November 1887 in Camberwell, South London. The boy was the youngest of nine children of Edward and Eliza Pratt.
The family tree of the Pratt family is respected in high society, because their ancestors for centuries have traditionally been in the service of the monarchs of Great Britain.
Father Edward Pratt worked in the Indian Customs Department and collected taxes on salt and opium. In 1879, for work, he and his family had to move to England. Edward had a tough character, so when the boy was two years old, William's parents separated.
Of the seven William brothers, four have traditionally chosen military careers. But the growing William had other plans: “I was a lazy devil at school because I knew exactly what I wanted to do - go on stage. I was not going to take exams, I only wanted to be an actor. The boy's decision was unusual: there have never been actors in the family.
After the mother and children moved to Anfield, they were admitted to the parish school of St. Mary Magdalene. There, William joined a drama group and at the age of nine made his debut in one of the productions of Cinderella: “Instead of playing a handsome prince, I put on black tights, a skullcap and played the Demon King, and it charged me with a long and happy life. to play monsters."
The first steps in an acting career
In 1909, at the age of 21, William spent £ 150 to leave his home country. He emigrated to Canada and arrived in Vancouver with five dollars in his pocket. The young man got a job as a laborer in the theater for a penny, because the theater managers were not interested in hiring a young actor without work experience.
William Pratt had to change his job to a real estate agent. There he met his future wife. This acquaintance inspired Pratt to return to looking for work in the field of acting. By a happy coincidence, there was an empty seat in a theater company, and William Pratt decided to take advantage of the opportunity. “Finally, I became an actor. But I mumbled, got confused, missed lines, bumped into furniture and thus pissed off the director,”Pratt recalled. When the production was successful, the actor received $ 30 a week, and when it failed, only $ 15.
Over the next ten years, Pratt devoted himself to theatrical work. Then he decided to change his name to a stage name - Boris Karloff. Later, the actor said that he chose this name from the family tree on the maternal side.
Boris Karloff's Hollywood career
A few years later, Boris Karloff came to Los Angeles looking for work in a film studio. The actor's earliest appearances in front of the camera were crowd scenes in 1919 films and the unnamed role of a Mexican in Masked Rider.
For the next ten years, the roles of the actor were so insignificant that he again had to look for additional income, resorting to manual labor.
Finally, in 1931, Boris Karloff, at one of the lunches during a break from filming, the assistant director James Weil of Universal Studios noticed the actor and asked him to play a terrible monster. “I was so happy because it meant trying something new. It meant a lot to me. But, at the same time, I felt a little offended, because at that moment I was wearing the best suit and strict makeup, and he wanted to make a monster out of me!”The actor joked.
The actor's finest hour came after the premiere of the horror film "Frankenstein" in 1931. Success awaited the actor precisely in the horror genre: "The Mummy", "Ghoul", "Black Cat", "Bride of Frankenstein", "The Raven", "Son of Frankenstein".
Along with filming a movie, Boris Karloff periodically appeared on the theater stage.
In 1933, Karloff became one of the nine founders of the Screen Actors Guild of the United States, which aims to protect the rights of big screen actors.
Despite the fact that it was his work in the cinema that made Boris Karloff famous, he regularly appeared in television projects and on the radio. Boris Karloff was very fond of children, he recorded many successful audio albums with songs and stories for them.
The total number of the actor's films is more than 170. One of the last films by Boris Karloff is the horrors of 1971 "Snake People".
Personal life of Boris Karloff
The famous actor had six marriages (according to other sources - 7 or 8), five of which ended in divorce. The main reason for the breakup was often Karloff's busy schedule and his amorous nature.
When Karloff worked as a real estate agent, he met his future first wife. On February 23, 1910, he married Jesse Grace Harding, but they divorced three years later.
From 1915 to 1919, the actor was married to actress and traveler Olive De Wilton. In 1920, Boris Karloff married Montana Lorena Williams, but divorced a year later. In 1924, Helen Vivian Soul became the wife of the actor, four years later the marriage broke up.
In 1930 Boris Karloff married librarian Dorothy Stein. The couple had a daughter, Sarah Jane, on November 23, 1938. However, this 16-year marriage ended in divorce on April 10, 1946. And the next day, April 11, Boris Karloff married a friend of his ex-wife. The chosen one was the actress Evelyn Hope. Karloff lived with her for 23 years, until his death.
Karloff continued to work until the end of his days, even when he fell ill. Throughout his life, the actor had back problems. Boris Karloff was a heavy smoker. The bad habit undermined the actor's health, so during the filming of his last films, Karloff had to resort to an oxygen cylinder.
He was a very sociable person and was always surrounded by friends. The actor's hobbies included gardening, growing roses, playing cricket and watching rugby. Born English, Karloff was very fond of drinking tea.
Boris Karloff died on February 2, 1969, at the age of 81.
