He’s an icon of horror movies, appearing in Frankenstein (1931) and its sequels, as well as The Mummy (1932). But perhaps the most malevolent monster actor Boris Karloff ever played was also the last contemptuous creature he ever played: the Grinch. Today, Karloff’s delivery of the whimsical story’s lines stands the test of time but a lot was going on in his life that almost made this casting fall through.
1966’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas! took as many as 14 months of production time to complete. It debuted on CBS on Sunday, December 18, 1966. Dr. Seuss, whose real name was Ted Geisel, worked with animation and cartoon director Chuck Jones on the Warner Bros. Cartoons training cartoons Private Snafu during World War II. Seeing the Grinch as the best holiday villain since Ebenezer Scrooge, the two knew they had something special – but they needed the perfect voice to tell their story.
Boris Karloff was the dream casting for ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas!’
“To me, one of the most important things was my getting Boris Karloff,” said Jones. Karloff was tasked with voicing both the Grinch and the movie’s narrator. “He had this lovely, wonderful voice. Everybody thought of him as a villain. And he was so dear when he read it, you know. He gave accent to each one and each note and the narrator was important there.”
They had Karloff read the entire script so that the words would be read by his consistent, deep, rhythmic voice and bear the same intonation and speech patterns. Then, sound engineers removed the higher points in Karloff’s recorded words, resulting in the gravelly sonorous sound the Grinch has become known for.
The Grinch was the last in the list of creatures Boris Karloff ever played
By the time Karloff voiced the mean, green Grinch, he was 79 years old and boasted a career that’s an inspiring story of rising against the odds. As a boy, Karloff had a stutter and a lisp; he was able to master his stutter but not his lisp, which endured throughout his nearly five decades of acting. Both of his parents died when Karloff, born William Henry Pratt, was still young, leaving him to be raised mostly by his siblings.
By the time the ’60s rolled around, Karloff’s career was starting to reach a plateau. How the Grinch Stole Christmas! provided a revival in the states, but at the time, Karloff was contending with emphysema; eventually, crippling arthritis would exacerbate Karloff’s grief.
By the end of his career, Karloff, so known for his powerful voice, would have just one functioning lung and required oxygen between takes. Ultimately, Karloff died on February 2, 1969, after contracting pneumonia; he was 81 and never played another creature on film again but his final performance is one celebrated to this day and earned him a Grammy Award for “Best Recording For Children.” You’re a talented one, Mr. Grinch.
