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.
A photo of him keeping wicket while C. Aubrey Smith was batting was included in a display in the Long Room at Lord's cricket ground in 2004. The display was to celebrate Sussex (the oldest county side) winning the County Championship for the first time and the photo was included because Smith had been a captain of Sussex CCC.
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.
According to daughter Sara Karloff, he had to have three major back surgeries in his lifetime.
Almost 25 years after his death, he appeared in archive footage taken from Bride of Frankenstein (1935) in the opening credits of "Weird Science" (1994). The same is true of Ernest Thesiger.
Although he will forever be linked to Frankenstein's Monster, Karloff actually played Frankenstein's creation only three times--once in the original Frankenstein (1931), again in Bride of Frankenstein (1935) and finally in Son of Frankenstein (1939). He played Dr. Frankenstein only once, in Frankenstein - 1970 (1958).
Appeared in 80 films before his breakthrough role in Frankenstein (1931).
Both of Karloff's parents died when he was still a child.
Considered a late bloomer in Hollywood. Frankenstein (1931) premiered when he was 44 years old.
During the production of Frankenstein (1931) there was some concern that seven-year-old Marilyn Harris, who played Maria, the little girl thrown into the lake by the creature, would be overly frightened by the sight of Karloff in costume and make-up when it came time to shoot the scene. When the cast was assembled to travel to the location, Marilyn ran from her car directly up to Karloff, who was in full make-up and costume, took his hand and asked "May I drive with you?" Delighted, and in typical Karloff fashion, he responded, "Would you, darling?" She then rode to the location with "The Monster.".
Great-nephew of Anna Leonowens.
He celebrated his 51st birthday during the production of Son of Frankenstein (1939) and remarked that he received the best birthday present ever: the birth of his daughter Sara Karloff. He reportedly rushed from the set to the hospital in full makeup and costume.
He had East Indian heritage on this father's side. This gave Karloff a dark skin tone. In several films he was cast in roles such as Arabs and American Indians.
He is commemorated by a plaque inside St.Paul's Church (The Actors' Church), Covent Garden, London.
He was Christopher Lee's neighbor for many years.
He was raised by his older brothers and a stepsister.
He was the biggest star to lend his voice to a sound effect. Universal added his anguished scream over the dead Ygor from Son of Frankenstein (1939) to its stock sound effects library and used it for subsequent films, including House of Frankenstein (1944) (the cry when Daniel the hunchback falls from the roof).
He was the original inspiration for the first illustrations of the Incredible Hulk.
He was the youngest of eight sons.
He would mark his lines in the script. Jack Nicholson saw this and adopted the procedure himself.