William Henry Pratt was the real name of which horror film star?

William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), popularly known as Boris Karloff, was an English actor. Famous for his roles in horror films, he played Frankenstein's monster in ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Bride of Frankenstein’, and ‘Son of Frankenstein’, and Imhotep in ‘The Mummy’. He was roped in for the role of the monster in ‘Frankenstein’ after famous actor Bela Lugosi refused to play the role. Karloff was highly appreciated for this performance and he came to prominence almost overnight.

He was also known for his non-horror roles in films like ‘The Lost Patrol,’ based on a World War I story, and the animated television special ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’, where he provided the voice of the narrator and the Grinch. In his early years, Boris Karloff struggled hard to establish his acting career. He spent a decade in Hollywood working for repertory companies as a character actor while appearing in 45 silent films for Universal Studios. After almost 80 films where he went unnoticed, he became a sensation with his role of a monster in ‘Frankenstein’, where his face was hidden by makeup and he had no dialogue.

He married five times and had one child, daughter Sara Karloff, by fourth wife Dorothy Stine. A longtime heavy smoker, he had emphysema which left him with only half of one lung still functioning. He contracted bronchitis in 1968 and died of pneumonia at the King Edward VII Hospital, in Sussex, on 2 February 1969, at the age of 81.