1. William Henry Pratt was born in Surrey, England in 1887.

2. Lots of different versions of how William Henry Pratt became Boris Karloff. (1) Some theorised that he took the stage name from a mad scientist character in the novel The Drums of Jeopardy called “Boris Karlov”.  (2) Some thought he got the name from Edgar Rice Burroughs fantasy novel H. R. H. The Rider which features a “Prince Boris of Karlova”.  (3) Karloff always claimed he chose the first name “Boris” because it sounded foreign and exotic, and that “Karloff” was a family name.  Well 1 & 2 were things published after Karloff had taken the name and 3 was denied by his daughter who says Karloff is nowhere in their family history.  Which leaves (4) The most likely truth is it is from a character in a 1904 book by Harold MacGrath called “The Man on the Box”, which was made into a play in 1905 and later, films starting in 1914.

3. Once Boris Karloff arrived in Hollywood, he made dozens of silent films, but work was sporadic, and he often had to take up manual labour such as digging ditches or delivering construction plaster to earn a living.

4. Boris Karloff appeared with Bela Lugosi in eight films: 1934’s Gift of Gab, 1934’s The Black Cat 1935’s The Raven, 1936’s The Invisible Ray, 1939’s Son of Frankenstein, 1940’s You’ll Find Out, 1940’s Black Friday and 1945’s The Body Snatcher.

5. Boris Karloff was one of the 12 original founders of the Screen Actors Guild and held SAG card number 9.  Boris Karloff made an amazing 16 movies in 1932.  Not a single Boris Karloff movie ever won an Oscar®.

6. Boris Karloff and Frankenstein trivia: (1) His make-up took four hours each day for Jack P. Pierce to apply and his cumbersome costume weighed 48 pounds in the uncomfortable heat of summer.  (2) The monster’s shoes weighed between 11 and 13 pounds.  (3) Karloff was already 44 when he became an “overnight” Hollywood sensation.  (4) Karloff was considered as such an anonymous actor by Universal that he was not invited to the December 6th premiere.

7. Boris Karloff was married six times…..he had one daughter.

8. Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee were neighbors for years….bet the neighbor kids had fun with that.

9. Boris Karloff’s last words to his wife as he was dying of pneumonia were “Walter Pidgeon.”.

10. Check out Boris Karloff’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.