Editing Boris Karloff (section)

==Professional career==
{{original research section|date=December 2018}}
[[File:Boris Karloff 1913.jpg|thumb|Karloff at age 26 in 1913]]

===Adoption of stage name===
Pratt began appearing in theatrical performances in [[Canada]] in 1911. He was present in [[Regina, Saskatchewan]] in June 1912, the day the [[Regina Cyclone]] destroyed much of the city.  The theatre group he was with gave a benefit performance that night at the [[Regina Theatre (Saskatchewan)|Regina Theatre]] to assist in relief efforts.  The next week, appearing in [[Saskatoon, Saskatchewan|Saskatoon]], they donated half of the receipts from their performances to Regina relief.<ref>John E. Stewardson, [https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/environment/regina-s-day-of-wrath-the-killer-cyclone-of-1912 "Regina's Day of Wrath: The Killer Cyclone of 1912"], ''[[Canada's History]]'', April 10, 2016.</ref>

During this period he chose ''Boris Karloff'' as his stage name.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date= 9 April 1912|title=The Half-Breed: Mr. Boris Karloff Makes a Decided Hit as Ross Kennion |url= |work=[[Regina Leader-Post|Regina Leader]] |location= Regina, Saskatchewan |access-date= }}</ref>  Karloff always said he chose the first name "[[Boris (given name)|Boris]]" simply because it sounded foreign and exotic, and that "Karloff" was a family name. Karloff's daughter, Sara, publicly denied any knowledge of Slavic forebears, "Karloff" or otherwise. It has been speculated by film historians that he took the stage name from a [[mad scientist]] character named "Boris Karlov" in the novel ''[[The Drums of Jeopardy (novel)|The Drums of Jeopardy]]'' by [[Harold MacGrath]]. The novel was not published until 1920, at least eight years after Karloff had been using the name on stage and in films. ([[Warner Oland]] played "Boris Karlov" in a [[The Drums of Jeopardy (1931 film)|film version in 1931]].) Another possible influence was thought to be a character in the [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]] fantasy novel ''[[The Rider (novel)|The Rider]],'' which features a "Prince Boris of Karlova", but as the novel was not published until 1915, the influence may be backward, that Burroughs saw Karloff in a play and adapted the name for the character.

One reason for the name change was to prevent embarrassment to the Pratt family.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}} Whether or not his brothers (all dignified members of the [[British Foreign Service]]) actually considered young William the "black sheep of the family" for having become an actor, Karloff apparently worried they felt that way. He did not reunite with his family until he returned to Britain to make ''[[The Ghoul (1933 film)|The Ghoul]]'' (1933), extremely worried that his siblings would disapprove of his new, [[macabre]] claim to world fame. Instead, his brothers jostled for position around him and happily posed for publicity photographs upon their reunion with him. After the photo was taken, Karloff's brothers immediately started asking about getting a copy of their own. The story of the photo became one of Karloff's favorites.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mank|first1=Gregory William|title=Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff : the expanded story of a haunting collaboration, with a complete filmography of their films together|url=https://archive.org/details/belalugosiborisk00mank|url-access=limited|date=2009|publisher=McFarland & Co., Publishers|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0786434800|page=[https://archive.org/details/belalugosiborisk00mank/page/n148 140]}}</ref>

=== Canadian and U.S. stage work ===
Karloff joined the Jeanne Russell Company in 1911 and performed in towns including [[Kamloops]] ([[British Columbia]]) and [[Prince Albert, Saskatchewan|Prince Albert]] ([[Saskatchewan]]). After the devastating tornado in Regina on 30 June 1912, Karloff, who was in the midst of an engagement at the Regina Theatre, and other performers helped with clean-up efforts.<ref>{{cite book | last=Waiser | first=William A. | title=Saskatchewan: A New History | location=Calgary | publisher=Fifth House | year=2005 | isbn=978-1-894856-43-0}}</ref><ref>Karloff discussed this experience during an appearance on the [[CBC Television|CBC]] panel series ''[[Front Page Challenge]]'' in the 1960s.</ref> He later took a job as a railway baggage handler and joined the Harry St. Clair Company that performed in [[Minot, North Dakota]], for a year in an opera house above a hardware store.

While he was trying to establish his acting career, Karloff had to perform years of manual labour in Canada and the U.S. to make ends meet. Among this work, he spent one year laying track, digging ditches, shoveling coal, clearing land, and working with surveying parties for the [[British Columbia Electric Railway|B.C. Electric Railway Company]], at the rate of $2.50 per day.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Nesteroff |first1=Greg |title=British Columbia History |journal=Journal of the British Columbia Historical Federation |date=2006 |volume=39 |issue=1 |page=17 |url=https://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/bchf/bch_2006_01.pdf |access-date=25 June 2023 |issn=1710-7881}}</ref> From this gruelling work with the BCER and other employers, Karloff was left with back problems for the rest of his life. Because of his health, he did not serve in [[World War I]].

During this period, Karloff worked in various theatrical stock companies across the U.S. to hone his acting skills. Some acting companies mentioned were the Harry St. Clair Players and the Billie Bennett Touring Company. By early 1918 he was working with the Maud Amber Players in [[Vallejo, California]], but because of the [[Spanish flu]] outbreak in the San Francisco area and the fear of infection, the troupe was disbanded. He was able to find work with the Haggerty Repertory for a while (according to the 1973 obituary of Joseph Paul Haggerty, he and Boris Karloff remained lifelong friends).

=== Early Hollywood career ===
{{further|Boris Karloff filmography}}

[[File:Boris Karloff in The Mask of Fu Manchu.jpg|thumb|Karloff as [[Fu Manchu]] in ''[[The Mask of Fu Manchu]]'' (1932).]]
[[File:FrankensteinLobbyCardKarloffandClive.png|right|thumb|219px|[[Colin Clive]] and Karloff in ''Frankenstein'' (1931)]]
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Once Karloff arrived in Hollywood, he appeared in small roles in dozens of [[silent film]]s, but the work was sporadic and he often had to take up manual labour such as digging ditches or delivering construction plaster to make ends meet. (According to Karloff, his first film was a [[Frank Borzage]] picture at [[Universal Pictures|Universal]] for which he received $5 as an extra; the title of this film has never been traced.)<ref>Beverley Bare Buehrer. 'Boris Karloff: A Bio-bibliography'. Greenwood Press: Westport, Connecticut (1993), pages 5–6.</ref><ref>Scott Allen Nollen, "Boris Karloff: A Gentleman's Life". 2018. BearManor Media. Pages 20-23.</ref>

His first certain screen role was in a film serial, ''[[The Lightning Raider]]'' (1919) with [[Pearl White]]. He was in another serial that same year, ''[[The Masked Rider (1919 film)|The Masked Rider]]'' (1919), the earliest of his film appearances that has survived. Karloff could also be seen in ''[[His Majesty, the American]]'' (1919) with [[Douglas Fairbanks]], ''[[The Prince and Betty (film)|The Prince and Betty]]'' (1919), ''[[The Deadlier Sex]]'' (1920) with [[Blanche Sweet]], and ''[[The Courage of Marge O'Doone]]'' (1920). He played an Indian in ''[[The Last of the Mohicans (1920 American film)|The Last of the Mohicans]]'' (1920) with [[Wallace Beery]] and he would often be cast as an Arab or Indian in his early films.

Karloff's first major role came in a film serial, ''[[The Hope Diamond Mystery]]'' (1920). He was Indian in ''[[Without Benefit of Clergy]]'' (1921) and an Arab in ''[[Cheated Hearts (film)|Cheated Hearts]]'' (1921) and villainous in ''[[The Cave Girl (film)|The Cave Girl]]'' (1921). He was a maharajah in ''[[The Man from Downing Street]]'' (1922), a Nabob in ''[[The Infidel (1922 film)|The Infidel]]'' (1922) and had roles in ''[[The Altar Stairs]]'' (1922), ''[[Omar the Tentmaker (film)|Omar the Tentmaker]]'' (1922) (as an Imam), ''[[The Woman Conquers]]'' (1922), ''[[The Gentleman from America]]'' (1923), ''[[The Prisoner (1923 film)|The Prisoner]]'' (1923) and the serial ''[[Riders of the Plains]]'' (1923).

Karloff did a Western, ''[[The Hellion (1924 film)|The Hellion]]'' (1923), and a drama, ''[[Dynamite Dan (film)|Dynamite Dan]]'' (1924). He could be seen in ''[[Parisian Nights]]'' (1925), ''[[Forbidden Cargo (1925 film)|Forbidden Cargo]]'' (1925), ''[[The Prairie Wife]]'' (1925) and the serial ''[[Perils of the Wild]]'' (1925). Karloff went back to bit part status in ''[[Never the Twain Shall Meet (1925 film)|Never the Twain Shall Meet]]'' (1925), directed by [[Maurice Tourneur]], but he had a good support part in ''[[Lady Robinhood]]'' (1925) starring [[Evelyn Brent]] in the titular role.

Karloff went on to be in ''[[The Greater Glory]]'' (1926), ''[[Her Honor, the Governor]]'' (1926), ''[[The Bells (1926 film)|The Bells]]'' (1926) (as a mesmerist), ''[[The Nickel-Hopper]]'' (1926) with [[Mabel Normand]], ''[[The Golden Web (1926 film)|The Golden Web]]'' (1926), ''[[The Eagle of the Sea]]'' (1926), ''[[Flames (1926 film)|Flames]]'' (1926), ''[[Old Ironsides (film)|Old Ironsides]]'' (1926) with Wallace Beery and [[Esther Ralston]], ''[[Flaming Fury (1926 film)|Flaming Fury]]'' (1926), ''[[Valencia (1926 film)|Valencia]]'' (1926), ''[[The Man in the Saddle (1926 film)|The Man in the Saddle]]'' (1926) with [[Hoot Gibson]], ''[[Tarzan and the Golden Lion (film)|Tarzan and the Golden Lion]]'' (1927) (as an African), ''[[Let It Rain (1927 film)|Let It Rain]]'' (1927), ''[[The Meddlin' Stranger]]'' (1927), ''[[The Princess from Hoboken]]'' (1927), ''[[The Phantom Buster]]'' (1927) with [[Buddy Roosevelt]], and ''[[Soft Cushions]]'' (1927).

Karloff had roles in ''[[Two Arabian Knights]]'' (1927), ''[[The Love Mart]]'' (1927) with [[Noah Beery|Noah Beery Sr.]], ''[[The Vanishing Rider]]'' (1928) (a serial), ''[[Burning the Wind]]'' (1928), ''[[Vultures of the Sea]]'' (1928), and ''[[The Little Wild Girl]]'' (1928).

He was in ''[[The Devil's Chaplain]]'' (1929), ''[[The Fatal Warning]]'' (1929) for Richard Thorpe, ''[[The Phantom of the North]]'' (1929), ''[[Two Sisters (1929 film)|Two Sisters]]'' (1929), ''[[Anne Against the World]]'' (1929), ''[[Behind That Curtain (film)|Behind That Curtain]]'' (1929) with [[Warner Baxter]], and ''[[The King of the Kongo]]'' (1929), a serial directed by Thorpe.

While one day sitting at the bus stop in the pouring rain, [[Lon Chaney]] Sr., 'The Man of a Thousand Faces', spotted Karloff and offered him a ride. Chaney told him "to find something different that will set you apart and is different from anything someone else has done or is willing to do and do it better".{{Citation needed|date=January 2022}}

Karloff had an uncredited bit part in ''[[The Unholy Night]]'' (1930) directed by [[Lionel Barrymore]], and bigger parts in ''[[The Bad One]]'' (1930),''[[The Sea Bat]]'' (1930) starring [[Charles Bickford]] and directed by Lionel Barrymore and [[Wesley Ruggles]], and ''[[The Utah Kid (1930 film)|The Utah Kid]]'' (1930) directed by Thorpe.

A film which brought Karloff recognition was ''[[The Criminal Code]]'' (1931), a prison drama directed by [[Howard Hawks]] in which he reprised a dramatic part he had played on stage. In the same period, Karloff had a supporting role as a mob boss in Hawks' [[gangster film]] ''[[Scarface (1932 film)|Scarface]]'' starring [[Paul Muni]] and [[George Raft]], but the film was not released until 1932 because of censorship problems.

He did another serial for Thorpe, ''[[King of the Wild]]'' (1931), then had support parts in ''[[Cracked Nuts (1931 film)|Cracked Nuts]]'' (1931) with [[Wheeler and Woolsey]], ''[[Young Donovan's Kid]]'' (1931) with [[Jackie Cooper]], ''[[Smart Money (1931 film)|Smart Money]]'' (1931) with [[Edward G. Robinson]] and [[James Cagney]] in their only film together, ''[[The Public Defender]]'' (1931) with [[Richard Dix]], ''[[I Like Your Nerve]]'' (1931) with [[Douglas Fairbanks Jr.]] and [[Loretta Young]], and ''[[Graft (1931 film)|Graft]]'' (1931) with [[Regis Toomey]] and future agent [[Sue Carol]].

Another significant role in the autumn of 1931 saw Karloff play a key supporting part as an unethical newspaper reporter in ''[[Five Star Final]]'' with Edward G. Robinson, a film about tabloid journalism which was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]].

He could also be seen in ''[[The Yellow Ticket (1931 film)|The Yellow Ticket]]'' (1931) with [[Elissa Landi]], [[Lionel Barrymore]] and [[Laurence Olivier]] during Olivier's memorable first round in Hollywood, ''[[The Mad Genius]]'' (1931) with [[John Barrymore]], ''[[The Guilty Generation]]'' (1931) with [[Robert Young (actor)|Robert Young]] and ''[[Tonight or Never (1931 film)|Tonight or Never]]'' (1931) with [[Gloria Swanson]].

===Stardom===
Karloff acted in eighty-one films before being discovered by [[James Whale]] and cast in ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]'' (1931). Karloff's role as [[Frankenstein's monster]] was physically demanding – it necessitated a bulky costume with four-inch platform boots – but the costume and extensive makeup produced an iconic image. The costume was a job in itself for Karloff with the shoes weighing {{convert|11|lb|kg}} each, which further aggravated his back problems.<ref>Buehrer, Beverley B. (1993). ''Boris Karloff: A bio-bibliography''. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press. p. 88. {{ISBN|031327715X}}</ref> Universal Studios quickly copyrighted the makeup design for the Frankenstein monster that [[Jack Pierce (makeup artist)|Jack P. Pierce]] had created.

It took a while for Karloff's stardom to be established with the public – he had small roles in ''[[Behind the Mask (1932 film)|Behind the Mask]]'' (1932), ''[[Business and Pleasure]]'' (1932) and ''[[The Miracle Man (1932 film)|The Miracle Man]]'' (1932). As receipts for ''Frankenstein'' and ''Scarface'' flooded in, Universal gave Karloff third billing in ''[[Night World (1932 film)|Night World]]'' (1932), with [[Lew Ayres]], [[Mae Clarke]] and [[George Raft]].
[[File:Gloria Stuart and Boris Karloff in The Old Dark House.jpg|thumb|right|[[Gloria Stuart]] and Karloff in ''[[The Old Dark House (1932 film)|The Old Dark House]]'' (1932)]]
[[File:Gloria Stuart and Boris Karloff in The Old Dark House 1932.jpg|thumb|right|Karloff and Gloria Stuart in ''The Old Dark House'' (1932)]]
[[File:The Mummy (Boris Karloff).jpg|thumb|Karloff in ''[[The Mummy (1932 film)|The Mummy]]'' (1932)]]
[[File:Frankenstein's monster (Boris Karloff).jpg|thumb|right|Karloff in ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935)]]
[[File:Boris Karloff as The Monster in Bride of Frankenstein film trailer.jpg|thumb|right|Karloff in ''Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935) trailer]]
[[File:Brideoffrankenstein.jpg|thumb|right|[[Elsa Lanchester]] and Karloff in ''Bride of Frankenstein'' (1935)]]
Karloff was reunited with Whale at Universal for ''[[The Old Dark House (1932 film)|The Old Dark House]]'' (1932), a horror film based on the novel ''Benighted'' by [[J. B. Priestley]], in which he finally enjoyed top billing above [[Melvyn Douglas]], [[Charles Laughton]], [[Raymond Massey]] and [[Gloria Stuart]]; he was billed simply as "KARLOFF", a custom that Universal continued for several years. He was loaned to [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] to play the titular role in ''[[The Mask of Fu Manchu]]'' (also 1932), for which he had top billing.

Back at Universal, he was cast as [[Imhotep (character)|Imhotep]] who is revived in ''[[The Mummy (1932 film)|The Mummy]]'' (1932), an original story inspired by the unsealing of [[Tutankhamun|Tutankhamun's]] tomb—though a [[remake]] of ''Dracula'' set in Egypt, conceived to continue the success of the ''Dracula'' and ''Frankenstein'' adaptations. ''The Mummy'' was as successful at the box-office as his other two films and Karloff was now established as a star of horror films. Like ''Frankenstein'', ''The Mummy'' would spawn a line of sequels, although Karloff would not reprise the iconic 1932 role.

Karloff returned to England to star in ''[[The Ghoul (1933 film)|The Ghoul]]'' (1933), then made a non-horror film for John Ford, ''[[The Lost Patrol (1934 film)|The Lost Patrol]]'' (1934), for which his performance was highly acclaimed.

Karloff was third billed in the [[Twentieth Century Pictures]] historical film ''[[The House of Rothschild]]'' (1934) with [[George Arliss]], which was highly popular.<ref>{{cite news|last=Churchill|first=Douglas W.|date=December 30, 1934|title=The Year in Hollywood: 1934 May Be Remembered as the Beginning of the Sweetness-and-Light Era|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/12/30/archives/the-year-in-hollywood-1984-may-be-remembered-as-the-beginning-of.html|work=New York Times|page=X5}}</ref>

Horror had become Karloff's primary genre, and he gave a string of lauded performances in [[Universal Monsters|Universal's horror films]], including several with [[Bela Lugosi]], his main rival as heir to [[Lon Chaney]]'s status as the leading horror film star. While the long-standing, creative partnership between Karloff and Lugosi never led to a close friendship, it produced some of the actors' most revered and enduring productions, beginning with ''[[The Black Cat (1934 film)|The Black Cat]]'' (1934) and continuing with ''[[Gift of Gab (film)|Gift of Gab]]'' (1934), in which both had cameos. Karloff reprised the role of Frankenstein's monster in ''[[Bride of Frankenstein]]'' (1935) for James Whale. Then he and Lugosi were reunited for ''[[The Raven (1935 film)|The Raven]]'' (1935). Billed only by his last name during this period, Karloff had [[Billing (performing arts)|top billing]] above Lugosi in all their films together despite Lugosi having the larger role in ''The Raven''.

For [[Columbia Pictures|Columbia]], Karloff made ''[[The Black Room (1935 film)|The Black Room]]'' (1935) then he returned to Universal for ''[[The Invisible Ray (1936 film)|The Invisible Ray]]'' (1936) with Lugosi, more a science fiction film. Karloff was then cast in a [[Warner Bros.]] horror film, ''[[The Walking Dead (1936 film)|The Walking Dead]]'' (1936).

Because the [[Motion Picture Production Code]] (known as the Hays Code) began to be seriously enforced in 1934, horror films declined in the second half of the 1930s. Karloff worked in other genres, making two films in Britain, ''[[Juggernaut (1936 film)|Juggernaut]]'' (1936) and ''[[The Man Who Changed His Mind]]'' (1936) which was released in the U.S. as ''The Man Who Lived Again''.

He returned to Hollywood to play a supporting role in ''[[Charlie Chan at the Opera]]'' (1936), then starred in a crime drama, ''[[Night Key]]'' (1937). At Warners, he did two films with [[John Farrow]], playing a Chinese warlord in ''[[West of Shanghai]]'' (1937) and a murder suspect in ''[[The Invisible Menace]]'' (1938).

Karloff went to [[Monogram Pictures|Monogram]] to play the title role of a Chinese detective in ''[[Mr. Wong, Detective]]'' (1938), which led to a series. Karloff's portrayal of the character is an example of Hollywood's use of [[Examples of Yellowface|yellowface]] and its portrayal of East Asians in the earlier half of the 20th century. He had another heroic role in ''[[Devil's Island (1939 film)|Devil's Island]]'' (1939).

Universal found reissuing ''Dracula'' and ''Frankenstein'' led to success at the box-office and began to produce horror films again starting with ''[[Son of Frankenstein]]'' (1939). Karloff reprised his role, with Lugosi also starring as Ygor and top-billed [[Basil Rathbone]] as Dr. Frankenstein. This was Karloff's first Universal film since the original ''Frankenstein'' in which Karloff was not top billed as "KARLOFF", a custom that the studio had used for eight films in a row while Karloff was at the height of his career. Basil Rathbone held top billing for ''Son of Frankenstein'', and since Rathbone, Karloff and Lugosi were all billed above the title, billing Basil, Boris and Bela was hard to resist. Karloff was never billed by simply his last name again. Regarding ''Son of Frankenstein'', the film's director [[Rowland V. Lee]] said his crew let Lugosi "work on the characterization; the interpretation he gave us was imaginative and totally unexpected&nbsp;... when we finished shooting, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he stole the show. Karloff's monster was weak by comparison."<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Son of Frankenstein|first=Phil |last=Edwards|publisher=[[Marvel UK]]|isbn=0786402571|volume=3|issue=10|magazine=[[Starburst (magazine)|Starburst]]|date=January 1997 }}</ref>

After ''[[The Mystery of Mr. Wong]]'' (1939) and ''[[Mr. Wong in Chinatown]]'' (1939) he signed a three-picture deal with Columbia, starting with ''[[The Man They Could Not Hang]]'' (1939). Karloff returned to Universal to make ''[[Tower of London (1939 film)|Tower of London]]'' (1939) with Rathbone, playing the murderous henchman of King [[Richard III of England|Richard III]].

[[File:British Intelligence (1940) still 1.jpg|thumb|left|Karloff with [[Margaret Lindsay]] in ''British Intelligence'' (1940)]]
Karloff made a fourth Mr Wong film at Monogram ''[[The Fatal Hour (1940 film)|The Fatal Hour]]'' (1940). At Warners he was in ''[[British Intelligence (film)|British Intelligence]]'' (1940), then he went to Universal to do ''[[Black Friday (1940 film)|Black Friday]]'' (1940) with Lugosi.

Karloff's second and third films for Columbia were ''[[The Man with Nine Lives (film)|The Man with Nine Lives]]'' (1940) and ''[[Before I Hang]]'' (1940). In between he did a fifth and final Mr Wong film, ''[[Doomed to Die]]'' (1940).

Karloff appeared at a celebrity baseball game as Frankenstein's monster in 1940, hitting a gag home run and making catcher [[Buster Keaton]] fall into an acrobatic dead faint as the monster stomped into home plate.

Karloff finished a six picture commitment with Monogram with ''[[The Ape (1940 film)|The Ape]]'' (1940). He and Lugosi appeared with [[Peter Lorre]] in a comedy at [[RKO Pictures|RKO]], ''[[You'll Find Out]]'' (1941), then he went to Columbia for ''[[The Devil Commands]]'' (1941) and ''[[The Boogie Man Will Get You]]'' (1941).

===Professional expansion and further success===
[[File:Doomed to Die (1940) 1.jpg|thumb|L–R: [[Marjorie Reynolds]], Boris Karloff (seated), [[Raymond Hatton]] and [[Grant Withers]] in ''[[Doomed to Die]]'' (1940) ]]An enthusiastic performer, he returned to the Broadway stage in the original production of ''[[Arsenic and Old Lace (play)|Arsenic and Old Lace]]'' in 1941, in which he played a homicidal gangster enraged to be frequently mistaken for Karloff. [[Frank Capra]] cast [[Raymond Massey]] in the [[Arsenic and Old Lace (film)|1944 film]], which was shot in 1941, while Karloff was still appearing in the role on Broadway. The play's producers allowed the film to be made conditionally: it was not to be released until the production closed. (Karloff reprised his role on television in the anthology series ''[[The Best of Broadway]]'' (1955), and with [[Tony Randall]] and [[Tom Bosley]] in a [[Arsenic & Old Lace|1962 production]] on the ''[[Hallmark Hall of Fame]]''. He also starred in a radio adaptation produced by Screen Guild Theatre in 1946.)

In 1944, he underwent a spinal operation to relieve a chronic arthritic condition.<ref>{{cite news |title=Karloff Undergoes Operation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/07/25/archives/karloff-undergoes-operation.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=25 July 1944 }}</ref>

Karloff returned to film roles in ''[[The Climax (1944 film)|The Climax]]'' (1944), an unsuccessful attempt to repeat the success of ''[[Phantom of the Opera (1943 film)|Phantom of the Opera]]'' (1943). More liked was ''[[House of Frankenstein (1944 film)|House of Frankenstein]]'' (1944), marking Karloff's "retirement" from playing the Monster, where instead, he comes full circle to play the villainous Dr. Niemann, a mad scientist fixated on life-experiments much like Henry Frankenstein, and pass the torch to actor [[Glenn Strange]], who would play the Monster in subsequent films.

Karloff made three films for producer [[Val Lewton]] at RKO: ''[[The Body Snatcher (1945 film)|The Body Snatcher]]'' (1945), his last teaming with Lugosi, ''[[Isle of the Dead (film)|Isle of the Dead]]'' (1945) and ''[[Bedlam (1946 film)|Bedlam]]'' (1946).

In a 1946 interview with Louis Berg of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', Karloff discussed his arrangement with RKO, working with Lewton and his reasons for leaving Universal. Karloff left Universal because he thought the Frankenstein franchise had run its course; the entries in the series after ''Son of Frankenstein'' were B-pictures. Berg wrote that the last installment in which Karloff appeared—''House of Frankenstein''—was what he called a " 'monster clambake,' with everything thrown in—Frankenstein, Dracula, a hunchback and a 'man-beast' that howled in the night. It was too much. Karloff thought it was ridiculous and said so." Berg explained that the actor had "great love and respect for" Lewton, who was "the man who rescued him from the living dead and restored, so to speak, his soul."<ref>{{cite news |author=Louis Berg |title=Farewell to Monsters |url=http://www.whiskeyloosetongue.com/articles/history/karloff.pdf |work=The Los Angeles Times |page=F12 |date=12 May 1946 |access-date=7 November 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090920151215/http://www.whiskeyloosetongue.com/articles/history/karloff.pdf |archive-date=20 September 2009 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Horror films experienced a decline in popularity after the war, and Karloff found himself working in other genres.

For the [[Danny Kaye]] comedy ''[[The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947 film)|The Secret Life of Walter Mitty]]'' (1947), Karloff appeared in a brief but starring role as Dr. Hugo Hollingshead, a psychiatrist. Director [[Norman Z. McLeod]] shot a sequence with Karloff in the Frankenstein monster make-up, but it was deleted from the finished film.

Karloff appeared in a film noir, ''[[Lured]]'' (1947), and as an Indian in ''[[Unconquered (1947 film)|Unconquered]]'' (1947). He had support roles in ''[[Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome]]'' (1947), ''[[Tap Roots]]'' (1948), and ''[[Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff]]'' (1949).

[[File:Boris Karloff radio show WNEW 1950.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Karloff had his own weekly children's radio show "Boris Karloff's Treasure Chest" on [[WBBR|WNEW]], New York, in 1950. He played children's music and told stories and riddles. Although the programme was meant for children, Karloff attracted many adult listeners as well.]]
During this period, Karloff was a frequent guest on radio programmes, whether it was starring in [[Arch Oboler]]'s Chicago-based ''[[Lights Out (radio show)|Lights Out]]'' productions (including the episode "Cat Wife") or spoofing his horror image with [[Fred Allen]] or [[Jack Benny]]. In 1949, he was the host and star of ''[[Starring Boris Karloff]],'' a radio and television anthology series for the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] broadcasting network.

He appeared as the villainous [[Captain Hook]] in ''[[Peter Pan (1950 musical)|Peter Pan]]'' in a 1950 stage musical adaptation which also featured [[Jean Arthur]].

Karloff returned to horror films with ''[[The Strange Door]]'' (1951) and ''[[The Black Castle]]'' (1952).

He was nominated for a [[Tony Award]] for his work opposite [[Julie Harris (American actress)|Julie Harris]] in ''[[L'Alouette (The Lark)|The Lark]],'' by the French playwright [[Jean Anouilh]], about [[Joan of Arc]], which he reprised years later on TV's ''Hallmark Hall of Fame.''

[[File:Boris Karloff Captain Hook Peter Pan.jpg|thumb|150px|Boris Karloff as Captain Hook in Peter Pan (1950)]]
[[File:Red Skelton Boris Karloff Red Skelton Show 1954.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Karloff played a foreign scientist who hoped to gain defence secrets from Cookie the Sailor (Skelton) on ''The Red Skelton Show'' in 1954.]]
[[File:"Colonel March of Scotland Yard".jpg|thumb|right|150px|Karloff played [[detective]] [[Colonel March]] on ''Colonel March of Scotland Yard'' in 1955.]]

During the 1950s, he appeared on British television in the series ''[[Colonel March of Scotland Yard]],'' in which he portrayed [[John Dickson Carr]]'s fictional detective Colonel March, who was known for solving apparently impossible crimes. [[Christopher Lee]] appeared alongside Karloff in the episode "At Night, All Cats are Grey" broadcast in 1955.<ref>Johnson, Tom (2009). ''The Christopher Lee Filmography: All Theatrical Releases, 1948–2003''. p. 79. McFarland.</ref> A little later, Karloff co-starred with Lee in the film ''[[Corridors of Blood]]'' (1958).

Karloff appeared in ''[[Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde]]'' (1952) and visited Italy for ''[[The Island Monster]]'' (1954) and then returned to Hollywood to appear in ''[[Sabaka]]'' (1954).

Karloff, along with [[H. V. Kaltenborn]], was a regular panelist on the [[NBC]] [[game show]], ''[[Who Said That?]]'' which aired between 1948 and 1955. Later, as a guest on NBC's ''The [[The Gisele MacKenzie Show|Gisele MacKenzie]] Show'', Karloff sang "Those Were the Good Old Days" from ''[[Damn Yankees]]'' while Gisele MacKenzie performed the solo, "Give Me the Simple Life". On ''[[The Red Skelton Show]],'' Karloff guest starred along with actor [[Vincent Price]] in a parody of Frankenstein, with [[Red Skelton]] as "Klem Kadiddle Monster". He served as host and one of the stars of the anthology series ''[[The Veil (American TV series)|The Veil]]'' (1958), a 12-episode Hal Roach TV series which was never broadcast at all due to financial problems at the producing studio; the complete series was later rediscovered in the 1990s and eventually released on DVD.

Karloff made some horror films in the late 1950s: ''[[Voodoo Island]]'' (1957), ''[[The Haunted Strangler]]'' (1958), ''[[Frankenstein 1970]]'' (1958) (this time as the Baron), and ''[[Corridors of Blood]]'' (1958). Karloff donned the Frankenstein Monster make-up for the last time in 1962 for a Halloween episode of the TV series ''[[Route 66 (TV series)|Route 66]]'', which also featured [[Peter Lorre]] and [[Lon Chaney Jr.]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Buehrer |first=Beverley Bare |date=1993 |title=Boris Karloff: A Bio-bibliography |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=137 |isbn=978-0313277153}}</ref>

During this period, he hosted and acted in a number of television series, including ''[[Thriller (U.S. TV series)|Thriller]]'' and Britain's ''[[Out of This World (UK TV series)|Out of This World]]''.

===Spoken word recordings and horror anthologies===
He recorded the title role of [[Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Cymbeline]]'' for the Shakespeare Recording Society ([[Caedmon Audio]] 1962). He also recorded the narration for [[Sergei Prokofiev]]'s ''[[Peter and the Wolf]]'' with the [[Vienna State Opera]] Orchestra under [[Mario Rossi (conductor)|Mario Rossi]].{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

Records he made for the children's market included ''Three Little Pigs and Other Fairy Stories'', ''Tales of the Frightened'' (volume 1 and 2), [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s ''[[Just So Stories]]'' and, with [[Cyril Ritchard]] and [[Celeste Holm]], ''Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes'',<ref>{{cite news | author=Deborah Stead | title=Children's Books; Play me a Story: it's tape time | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/11/books/children-s-books-play-me-a-story-it-s-tape-time.html | work=The New York Times | date=11 June 1989 | access-date=19 April 2009 | archive-date=28 November 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181128024943/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/11/books/children-s-books-play-me-a-story-it-s-tape-time.html | url-status=live }}</ref> and [[Lewis Carroll]]'s ''[[The Hunting of the Snark]]''.<ref>''The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll, read by Boris Karloff'', Saland Publishing / IODA, 2008</ref>

Karloff was credited for editing several horror anthologies, commencing with ''Tales of Terror'' (Cleveland and NY: World Publishing Co, 1943) (compiled with the help of Edmond Speare).<ref>Mike Ashley and William G. Contento (eds) ''The Supernatural Index: A Listing of Fantasy, Supernatural, Occult, Weird and Horror Anthologies''. Westport CT and London: Greenwood Press, 1995, p. 26.</ref> This wartime-published anthology went through at least five printings to September 1945. It has been reprinted recently (Orange NJ: Idea Men, 2007). Karloff's name was also attached to ''And the Darkness Falls'' (Cleveland and NY: World Publishing Co, 1946); and ''The Boris Karloff Horror Anthology'' (London: Souvenir Press, 1965; simultaneous publication in Canada - Toronto: The Ryerson Press; US pbk reprint NY: Avon Books, 1965 retitled as ''Boris Karloff's Favourite Horror Stories''; UK pbk reprints London: Corgi, 1969 and London: Everest, 1975, both under the original title), though it is less clear whether Karloff himself actually edited these.

''Tales of the Frightened'' (Belmont Books, 1963), though based on the recordings by Karloff of the same title, and featuring his image on the book cover, contained stories written by [[Michael Avallone]]; the second volume, ''More Tales of the Frightened'', contained stories authored by [[Robert Lory]]. Both Avallone and Lory worked closely with Canadian editor and book packager Lyle Kenyon Engel, who also ghost-edited a horror story anthology for horror film star [[Basil Rathbone]].

=== Final roles and work ===
[[File:The Terror (1963).webm|thumb|thumbtime=20:15|start=20:11|end=20:54|Boris Karloff acting with a young [[Jack Nicholson]] in a scene from the 1963 film ''[[The Terror (1963 film)|The Terror]]'']]
Karloff went to Italy to appear in ''[[Black Sabbath (film)|Black Sabbath]]'' (1963) directed by [[Mario Bava]]. He made ''[[The Raven (1963 film)|The Raven]]'' (1963) for [[Roger Corman]] and [[American International Pictures]] (AIP). When ''The Raven'' had successfully wrapped shooting with time left in Karloff's contract, Corman conscribed a new story with the same sets to feature Karloff in ''[[The Terror (1963 film)|The Terror]]'' (1963), with [[Jack Nicholson]] in the leading role and Karloff playing a baron who murdered his wife. He made a cameo in AIP's ''[[Bikini Beach]]'' (1964) and had a bigger role in that studio's ''[[The Comedy of Terrors]]'' (1964), directed by [[Jacques Tourneur]], and travelled to England to make ''[[Die, Monster, Die!]]'' (1965) co-starring Nick Adams. British actress [[Suzan Farmer]], who played his daughter in the film, later recalled Karloff was aloof during production "and wasn't the charming personality people perceived him to be", probably because he was in such intense pain in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/10/04/suzan-farmer-stalwart-hammer-films-obituary/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2017/10/04/suzan-farmer-stalwart-hammer-films-obituary/ |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Suzan Farmer, stalwart of Hammer films – obituary|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=4 October 2017|access-date=25 October 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 1966, Karloff also appeared with [[Robert Vaughn]] and [[Stefanie Powers]] in the spy series ''[[The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.]]'', in the episode "The Mother Muffin Affair", Karloff performing in drag as the titular character. That same year, he also played an Indian [[Maharajah]] on the installment of the adventure series ''[[The Wild Wild West]]'' titled "The Night of the Golden Cobra". Karloff's last film for AIP was ''[[The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini]]'' (1966).

In 1967, he played an eccentric Spanish professor who believes himself to be [[Don Quixote]] in a whimsical episode of ''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]'' titled "Mainly on the Plains", which he filmed in Spain. ''[[Cauldron of Blood]]'', shot in [[Spain]] around the same time, and co-starring [[Viveca Lindfors]], was only released in 1970 after Karloff's death.

In the mid-1960s, he enjoyed a late-career surge in the United States when he narrated the made-for-television animated film of [[Dr. Seuss]]' ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'', and also provided the voice of the [[Grinch]], although the song "[[You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch]]" was sung by the American voice actor [[Thurl Ravenscroft]]. The film was first broadcast on [[CBS-TV]] in 1966. Karloff later received a [[Grammy Award]] for "[[Grammy Award for Best Album for Children|Best Recording For Children]]" after the recording was commercially released.<ref name=grammy>{{cite web|title=Past Winners Search for "grinch"|url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&field_nominee_work_value=grinch&year=All&genre=All|publisher=Grammy.com|access-date=26 December 2013}}</ref> Because Ravenscroft (who never met Karloff in the course of their work on the show)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cartoonician.com/hes-grrrrreat-the-thurl-ravenscroft-interview/ |title="He's Grrrrreat! The Thurl Ravenscroft Interview," ''Hogan's Alley'' No. 14, 1998 |access-date=11 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322133421/http://cartoonician.com/hes-grrrrreat-the-thurl-ravenscroft-interview/ |archive-date=22 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> was uncredited for his contribution to ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'', his performance of the song was at times misattributed to Karloff.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brundage |first1=David |title=Tony the Tiger, not Frankenstein, sang 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch' |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1851977422 |access-date=20 December 2021 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 24, 2016 |id={{ProQuest|1851977422}} |ref=GrinchSinger}}</ref>

He appeared in ''[[Mad Monster Party?]]'' (1967) and went to England to star in the second feature film of the British director [[Michael Reeves (director)|Michael Reeves]], ''[[The Sorcerers]]'' (1967).

Karloff starred in ''[[Targets]]'' (1968), the first feature film directed by [[Peter Bogdanovich]], featuring two separate plotlines that converge into one. In one, a disturbed young man kills his family, then embarks on a killing spree. In the other, a famous horror-film actor confirms his retirement, agreeing to one last appearance at a drive-in cinema. Karloff starred as the retired horror film actor, Byron Orlok, a thinly disguised version of himself; Orlok (named both for Karloff himself and [[Count Orlok]]) was facing an end-of-life crisis, which he resolves through a confrontation with the crazed gunman at the drive-in cinema.

Around the same time, he played the occult expert Professor Marsh in a British production titled ''The Crimson Cult'' (''[[Curse of the Crimson Altar]]'', also 1968), which was the last Karloff film to be released during his lifetime.

He ended his career by appearing in four low-budget [[Mexico|Mexican]] horror films: ''[[Isle of the Snake People]]'', ''[[The Incredible Invasion]]'', ''[[Fear Chamber]]'' and ''[[House of Evil]]''. This was a package deal with Mexican producer [[Luis Enrique Vergara]]. Karloff's scenes for all four films were directed by [[Jack Hill]] and shot back-to-back within one month in Los Angeles in the spring of 1968. The films were later completed in Mexico and theatrically released in the early 1970s. Karloff was originally slated to travel to Mexico to shoot the films, but he had emphysema and crippling arthritis. Only half of one lung was still functioning and he required oxygen between takes, so Hill arranged for Karloff to film his scenes in California.<ref>Jacobs, Stephen (2011). ''Boris Karloff: More Than A Monster''. Tomahawk Press. p. 504. ISBN 978-0-9557670-4-3.</ref>

Due to the unexpected sudden death of the producer Vergara, all four Mexican films were embroiled for a while in legal actions and were only released posthumously in 1971, with the last, ''The Incredible Invasion'', not released until 1972, more than two years after Karloff's death.