William Henry Pratt

 William Henry Pratt, better known as Boris Karloff (November 23, 1887 – February 2, 1969)

He is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein (1931). His career experienced something of a revival in the 1960s thanks to hosting the TV anthology series Thriller (1960) and indie director Roger Corman, with Karloff contributing wonderful performances in The Raven (1963), The Terror (1963), the ultra-eerie Black Sabbath (1963) and the H.P. Lovecraft-inspired Monster of Terror (1965). Karloff's last great role was as an aging horror movie star confronting a modern-day sniper in the Peter Bogdanovich film Targets (1968). His TV career was capped off by achieving Christmas immortality as the narrator of Chuck Jones's perennial animated favorite, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966). Karloff was also a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild, and was especially outspoken regarding working conditions on sets that actors were expected to deal with in the mid-1930s, some of which were extremely hazardous. Karloff was married five times, and had one daughter. He died in Sussex, England of pneumonia at age 81 and was cremated.