He traveled to Canada in his early twenties and began working on the stage; his first appearance in film was 1916's The Dumb Girl of Portici.

The period from 1919 to 1931 saw Karloff's resume fleshed out, appearing in a variety of films including The Last of the Mohicans (1920), The Prisoner (1923) and The Sea Bat. All told, by 1931 Karloff had worked on over 75 films.

To that point everything had been a prologue. Then came Frankenstein. Preferring Karloff over Lugosi for the role of The Monster, director James Whale cast the 44 year old Boris as the infamous creation of Dr. Frankenstein; soon, one of THE seminal horror monsters was born.

But guided by Karloff's steady hand, this monster was different, graced by a tenderness and fragile respect for beauty. The vulnerable Monster destroys, but only when there is no other choice.

Karloff's horror career was born with Frankenstein and the following year saw him work in The Old Dark House (also directed by Whale) and The Mask of Fu Manchu. Another creation was born that year, as Karloff donned the bandages in The Mummy.

The remainder of the '30s saw Karloff appear in two Frankenstein sequels, The Raven (1935), The Ghoul (1933) and The Black Cat (1935) .

Karloff continued to work throughout the '40s and '50s, including another Frankenstein sequel (1944's House of Frankenstein). He worked with director Roger Corman in the '60s, appearing in The Raven and The Terror.

Upon his death in 1969, Karloff's career boasted an immense legacy of classic horror performances. Were he to have graced us with his definitive portrayal of Mary Shelley's creature alone, we would have been happy. All else is simply spare parts.

NOTABLE KARLOFF FILMS	YEAR
Bedlam	1946
The Black Cat	1934
The Black Room	1935
Black Sabbath	1963
Bride of Frankenstein	1935
Die, Monster, Die!	1965
Frankenstein	1931
The Ghoul	1933
The Mummy	1932
The Raven	1935
Son of Frankenstein	1939
Targets	1968
The Terror	1963
The Tower of London	1939