Born William Henry Pratt on November 23, 1887 in Dulwich, England, Boris Karloff was educated at London University. After immigrating to Canada in 1909 and working as a farm hand, he made his screen debut in The Dumb Girl of Portici in 1916.

Karloff's ominous, stage trained voice aided him in making the transition from silent to sound movies. In 1931, he starred as the monster in Frankenstein, a role that had been turned down by Bela Lugosi. He went on to star in hundreds of horror films.