Boris Karloff Net Worth

Boris Karloff's Quotes

• [on whether he resented being typed as a "horror star"] One always hears of actors complaining of being typed - if he's young, he's typed as a juvenile; if he's handsome, he's typed as a leading man. I was lucky. Whereas bootmakers have to spend millions to establish a trademark, I was handed a trademark free of charge. When an actor gets in a position to select his own roles, he's in big trouble, for he never knows what he can do best. I'm sure I'd be damn good as little Lord Fauntleroy, but who would pay ten cents to see it?
• When I was nine, I played the demon king in "Cinderella" and it launched me on a long and happy life of being a monster.
• My wife has good taste. She has seen very few of my movies.
• [In 1936, on his appeal to children, who empathized with the monster] I don't really scare them any more than do Jungle Jim, Dan Dunn, Tarzan, and the other heroes of the comic sections.
• You could heave a brick out of the window and hit ten actors who could play my parts. I just happened to be on the right corner at the right time.

Interesting Facts about Boris Karloff

1. Received a Tony Award nomination in 1956 for his dramatic role in "The Lark".
2. Shares a birthday with his daughter Sara Karloff.
3. He was considered a late bloomer in Hollywood; Frankenstein (1931) premiered when he was 44 years old.
4. Pictured on two of a set of five 32¢ US commemorative postage stamps, issued 30 September 1997, celebrating "Famous Movie Monsters". He is shown on one stamp as the title character in The Mummy (1932) and on the other as the monster in Frankenstein (1931). Other actors honored in this set of stamps, and the classic monsters they portray, are Lon Chaney as The Phantom of the Opera (1925); Bela Lugosi as Dracula (1931); and Lon Chaney Jr. as The Wolf Man (1941).
5. A photograph of Karloff in his Frankenstein (1931) monster makeup appears on one stamp of a sheet of 10 USA 37¢ commemorative postage stamps, issued 25 February 2003, celebrating American Filmmaking: Behind the Scenes. The stamp, which honors makeup artists, shows Jack P. Pierce and an unidentified assistant applying the monster makeup.
6. In contrast to the image he presented in most of his films, the private Karloff was, by every account, a quiet, bookish man off- screen. A true gentleman, he had many friends, both in and out of show business, and he was particularly fond of children. For the latter, among other things, he recorded many successful albums of children's stories.
7. When told by a mutual friend that Bobby Pickett, who recorded the hit song "Monster Mash", was a huge fan of his, Karloff replied, "Tell him I enjoy his record very much." Pickett still considers that the greatest compliment he has ever gotten, and Karloff eventually sang the song himself on a television special.
8. Suffered from chronic back trouble for most of his adult life, the result of the heavy brace he had to wear as part of his Frankenstein costume. He never let it slow him up, though, and kept active to the end of his life.
9. He had East Indian heritage on his father's side, which gave Karloff a dark skin tone. In several films, he was cast in roles such as Arabs and American Indians.
10. His favorite author was Joseph Conrad. In the 1950s, he was cast as Kurtz in a production of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" on Playhouse 90 (1956).
11. His first Broadway play was "Arsenic and Old Lace" in a role that was written for him. He played Jonathan Brewster, whose face has been changed by a disreputable plastic surgeon named Dr. Einstein so that he now looks like Boris Karloff. He also performed the role in the road company of this production.
12. When he traveled to England to shoot The Ghoul (1933), it was the first time in nearly 25 years that he returned to his home country and reunited with the surviving members of his family.
13. In the final years of his life, walking, and even just standing, became a painful ordeal. Some directors would change the script to place Karloff's character in a wheelchair, so that he would be more comfortable.
14. He would mark his lines in the script. Jack Nicholson saw this and adopted the procedure himself.
15. 1956: He was a celebrity contestant on The $64,000 Question (1955). The category he chose was children's fairy tales. He won the $32,000 level and quit due to tax considerations.
16. Often thought of as a very large man, he was in reality a slim man of medium height. He wore huge lifts and much padding to give him the massive look as Frankenstein's monster.
17. It has long been rumored that on June 30, 1912, a then-unknown Karloff had taken some time off to canoe while touring around the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada when a tornado had hit, and that he had further organized a concert to raised money for the victims. However, this myth is simply not true, as uncovered by noted Canadian historian, Greg Nesteroff after doing extensive research on Boris Karloff's life in Canada. Karloff was never part of the concert or benefit's organizing.
18. According to daughter Sara Karloff, he had to have three major back surgeries in his lifetime as a result of carrying Colin Clive up the stairs of the windmill in the climax of Frankenstein (1931).
19. Refused to reprise his role as Frankenstein's Monster in Bud Abbott Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), because he felt spoofs would not sell to the audience. He did agree to do publicity for the film and posed for pictures of himself going to see the film.
20. He appeared in 80 films before his breakthrough role in Frankenstein (1931).