Boris Karloff: A Gentleman's Life
by Scott Allen Nollen
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Book Summary Information
Author: Scott Allen NollenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-07-31
ISBN: 1887664238
Number of pages: 356
Publisher: Midnight Marquee PR
Book Reviews of Boris Karloff: A Gentleman's Life
Book Review: "To live in the hearts we leave behind is not to die"
Summary: 4 Stars
"Boris Karloff: A Gentleman's Life" is one of a myriad of books on the late artist, but makes up for its later presence by being very intricate - it was written with the cooperation of Karloff's only child, daughter Sara Jane - and well done, offering a few insights in his life that have not been discussed as in depth in other biographies.
Although Karloff's English childhood (spent under the name of William Henry Pratt) does not get as much attention as one might hope, it gives an otherwise deft account of his family and ancestry, including his previous-to-now somewhat glossed over Indian heritage. The book is rather succint in the beginning, covering his early steps in Canadian theater, silent films, and Hollywood talkies up to the obvious mile marker, Frankenstein, in 1931. It is after that film that a lot of the book's detail kicks in - relationship with the SAG, that to his daughter, his latter two wives, Dorothy and Evelyn, that of Evelyn and Sara Jane, his disregard of the ever-increasing accolades (he had his Grammy award used as a doorstop) and a great deal of detail on his performance in and the history of Arsenic and Old Lace (he got the job when he promised to not "to eat the baby in the last act"), even his impish sense for pranks. The persons involved are shown as genuine people with their own issues, especially Evelyn I think, something not done as much as in the otherwise stellar "Dear Boris" by Cynthia Lindsay. The book is illustrated with photos that are a bit grainy at times but are of a great variety, as is the appendices on Karloff's roles.
Grateful to have work and delighted for it to be something he loved, Karloff was the quintessential English country gentleman who, as his daughter once said, "made a living scaring children and little old ladies." Although it his role as the Frankenstein Creature that made him a star, it was truly Karloff's patience, dedication, talent and kindness that endeared him to so many.
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