Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | The Dumb Girl of Portici | Lois Weber | Credited as an extra. | |
| 1918 | The Lightning Raider | George B. Seitz | 15-chapter film serial. | |
| 1919 | The Masked Rider | Aubrey M. Kennedy | 15-chapter film serial. | |
| His Majesty, the American | Joseph Henabery | Credited as an extra. | ||
| The Prince and Betty | Robert Thornby | Bit part. | ||
| 1920 | The Deadlier Sex | Jules Borney | Robert Thornby | |
| The Courage of Marge O'Doone | Tavish | David Smith | ||
| The Last of the Mohicans | Maurice Tourneur, Clarence Brown | Credited as an extra. | ||
| 1921 | The Hope Diamond Mystery | Priest of Kama-Sita / Dakar | Stuart Paton | Film serial. |
| Without Benefit of Clergy | Ahmed Khan | James Young | ||
| Cheated Hearts | Nil Horned | Hobart Henley | ||
| The Cave Girl | Baptiste | Joseph Franz | ||
| 1922 | The Man from Downing Street | Edward Monckton / Maharajah Jehan Deharwar | Edward José | |
| The Infidel | the Nabob | James Young | ||
| The Altar Stairs | Hugo | Lambert Hillyer | ||
| 1923 | Omar the Tentmaker | the Holy Imam Mowaffak | James Young | |
| The Woman Conquers | Raoul Maris | Tom Forman | ||
| The Gentleman from America | Edward Sedgwick | Uncredited Bit part. | ||
| The Prisoner | Prince Kapolski | Jack Conway | ||
| 1924 | Riders of the Plains | Jacques Jaccard | ||
| The Hellion | Outlaw | Bruce Mitchell | ||
| Dynamite Dan | Tony Garcia | Bruce Mitchell | ||
| 1925 | Parisian Nights | Pierre | Alfred Santell | |
| Forbidden Cargo | Pietro Castillano | Tom Buckingham | ||
| The Prairie Wife | Diego | Hugo Ballin | ||
| Perils of the Wild | Francis Ford | |||
| Never the Twain Shall Meet | Villain | Maurice Tourneur | ||
| Lady Robinhood | Cabraza | Ralph Ince | ||
| 1926 | The Greater Glory | the Scissors Grinder | Curt Rehfeld | |
| Her Honor, the Governor | Snipe Collins | Chet Withey | ||
| The Bells | Mesmerist | James Young | ||
| The Nickel-Hopper | Big Bohunk | Hal Yates | ||
| The Golden Web | Dave Sinclair | Walter Lang | ||
| The Eagle of the Sea | Pirate | Frank Lloyd | ||
| Flames | Blackie Blanchett | Lewis H. Moomaw | ||
| Old Ironsides | Saracen Guard | James Cruze | ||
| Flaming Fury | Gaspard | James Hogan | ||
| Valencia | Dimitri Buchowetzki | Uncredited Bit part. | ||
| The Man in the Saddle | Robber | Clifford S. Smith | Uncredited. | |
| 1927 | Tarzan and the Golden Lion | Ozawa, Waziri Chief | J. P. McGowan | |
| Let It Rain | the Crooks | Edward Francis Cline | ||
| The Meddlin' Stranger | Al Meggs | Richard Thorpe | ||
| The Princess from Hoboken | Pavel | Allan Dale | ||
| The Phantom Buster | Ramón | William Bertram | ||
| Soft Cushions | The Chief Conspirator | Edward Francis Cline | ||
| Two Arabian Knights | Purser | Lewis Milestone | ||
| The Love Mart | Fleming | George Fitzmaurice | ||
| 1928 | The Vanishing Rider | The Villain | Ray Taylor | Film serial |
| Burning the Wind | Pug Doran | Henry MacRae, Herbert Blaché | ||
| Vultures of the Sea | Grouchy | Richard Thorpe | Film serial | |
| The Little Wild Girl | Maurice Kent | Frank Mattison | ||
| 1929 | The Devil's Chaplain | Boris | Duke Worne | |
| The Fatal Warning | Mullins | Richard Thorpe | Film serial | |
| The Phantom of the North | Jules Gregg | Harry S. Webb | ||
| Two Sisters | Cecil | Scott Pembroke | ||
| Anne Against the World | Duke Worne | Bit part. | ||
| Behind That Curtain | Sudanese servant | Irving Cummings | First sound film. | |
| The King of the Kongo | Macklin / Martin | Richard Thorpe | Film serial. | |
| The Unholy Night | Abdoul | Lionel Barrymore | ||
| 1930 | The Bad One | Guard | George Fitzmaurice | |
| The Sea Bat | Corsican | Wesley Ruggles | ||
| The Utah Kid | Baxter | Richard Thorpe | ||
| The Mother's Cry | Baxter | Hobart Henley | ||
| 1931 | Sous les verrous ("Pardon Us" - French version) | The Tiger | James Parrott | |
| The Criminal Code | Ned Galloway | Howard Hawks | ||
| King of the Wild | Mustapha | B. Reeves Eason, Richard Thorpe | Final film serial. | |
| Cracked Nuts | Revolutionary | Edward F. Cline | ||
| Young Donovan's Kid | Cokey Joe | Fred Niblo | ||
| Smart Money | Sport Williams | Alfred E. Green | ||
| The Public Defender | Professor | J. Walter Ruben | ||
| I Like Your Nerve | Luigi | William McGann | ||
| Graft | Joe Terry | William Christy Cabanne | ||
| Five Star Final | "Reverend" Vernon Isopod | Mervyn LeRoy | ||
| The Yellow Ticket | Orderly | Raoul Walsh | ||
| The Mad Genius | Fedor's Father | Michael Curtiz | ||
| The Guilty Generation | Tony Ricca | Rowland V. Lee | ||
| Frankenstein | The Monster | James Whale | ||
| Tonight or Never | The Waiter | Mervyn LeRoy | ||
| 1932 | Behind the Mask | Jim Henderson | John Francis Dillon | |
| Alias the Doctor | Autopsy Surgeon | Lloyd Bacon, Michael Curtiz | ||
| Business and Pleasure | Sheikh | David Butler | ||
| Scarface | Gaffney | Howard Hawks | ||
| The Miracle Man | Nikko | Norman Z. McLeod | ||
| Night World | "Happy" MacDonald | Hobart Henley | ||
| The Old Dark House | Morgan | James Whale | ||
| The Mask of Fu Manchu | Dr. Fu Manchu | Charles J. Brabin, Charles Vidor, King Vidor | ||
| The Mummy | Imhotep/Ardath Bey | Karl Freund | ||
| 1933 | The Ghoul | Prof. Morlant | T. Hayes Hunter | |
| 1934 | The Lost Patrol | Sanders | John Ford | |
| The House of Rothschild | Count Ledrantz | Alfred L. Werker | ||
| The Black Cat | Hjalmar Poelzig | Edgar G. Ulmer | ||
| Gift of Gab | Cameo Appearance (as Karloff) | Karl W. Freund | ||
| 1935 | Bride of Frankenstein | The Monster | James Whale | |
| The Raven | Edmond Bateman | Lew Landers | ||
| The Black Room | Baron Gregor de Berghmann / Anton de Berghmann | Roy William Neill | ||
| 1936 | The Invisible Ray | Dr. Janos Rukh | Lambert Hillyer | |
| The Walking Dead | John Ellman | Michael Curtiz | ||
| Juggernaut | Victor Sartorius | Michael Curtiz | ||
| The Man Who Changed His Mind | Dr. Laurence | Robert Stevenson | ||
| Charlie Chan at the Opera | Gravelle | H. Bruce Humberstone | ||
| 1937 | Night Key | Dave Mallory | Lloyd Corrigan | |
| West of Shanghai | Gen. Wu Yen Fang | John Farrow | ||
| 1938 | The Invisible Menace | Dave Mallory | Lloyd Corrigan | |
| Mr. Wong, Detective | James Lee Wong | William Nigh | ||
| 1939 | Devil's Island | Dr. Charles Gaudet | William Nigh | |
| Son of Frankenstein | The Monster | Rowland V. Lee | ||
| The Mystery of Mr. Wong | James Lee Wong | William Nigh | ||
| Mr. Wong in Chinatown | James Lee Wong | William Nigh | ||
| The Man They Could Not Hang | Dr. Henryk Savaard | Nick Grinde | ||
| Tower of London | Mord the Executioner | Rowland V. Lee | ||
| 1940 | The Fatal Hour | James Lee Wong | William Nigh | |
| British Intelligence | Valdar | Terrell O. Morse | ||
| Black Friday | Dr. Ernest Sovac | Arthur Lubin | ||
| The Man with Nine Lives | Dr. Leon Kravaal | Nick Grinde | ||
| Doomed to Die | James Lee Wong | William Nigh | ||
| Before I Hang | Dr. John Garth | Nick Grinde | ||
| The Ape | Dr. Bernard Adrian | William Nigh | ||
| You'll Find Out | Judge Mainwaring | David Butler | ||
| 1941 | The Devil Commands | Dr. Julian Blair | Edward Dmytryk | |
| 1942 | The Boogie Man Will Get You | Prof. Nathaniel Billings | Lew Landers | |
| 1944 | The Climax | Dr. Hohner | George Waggner | |
| House of Frankenstein | Dr. Gustav Niemann | Erle C. Kenton | ||
| 1945 | The Body Snatcher | John Gray | Robert Wise | |
| Isle of the Dead | Gen. Nikolas Pherides | Mark Robson | ||
| 1946 | Bedlam | Master George Sims | Mark Robson | |
| 1947 | The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | Dr. Hugo Hollingshead | Norman Z. McLeod | |
| Lured | Charles von Druten | Douglas Sirk | ||
| Unconquered | Guyasuta, Chief of the Senecas | Cecil B. DeMille | ||
| Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome | Gruesome | John Rawlins | ||
| 1948 | Tap Roots | Tishomingo | George Marshall | |
| The Emperor's Nightingale | Narrator | Jiří Trnka | English-language version only. | |
| 1949 | Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff | Swami Talpur | Charles Barton | |
| 1951 | The Strange Door | Voltan | Joseph Pevney | |
| 1952 | Colonel March Investigates | Col. March | Cy Raker Endfield | Compiled from episodes of the television series Colonel March of Scotland Yard |
| The Black Castle | Dr. Meissen | Nathan Juran | ||
| 1953 | Abbott and Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Hyde | Charles Lamont | |
| 1954 | The Island Monster | Roberto Bianchi Montero | ||
| The Hindu | General Pollegar | Frank Ferrin | ||
| 1957 | Voodoo Island | Dr. Phillip Knight | Reginald Le Borg | |
| 1958 | The Juggler of Our Lady | Narrator | Al Kousel | Animated short |
| The Haunted Strangler | James Rankin | Robert Day | ||
| Frankenstein 1970 | Baron Victor von Frankenstein | Howard W. Koch | ||
| Corridors of Blood | Dr. Thomas Bolton | Robert Day | ||
| 1963 | Black Sabbath | Gorca | Mario Bava | |
| The Terror | Baron Von Leppe | Roger Corman | ||
| The Raven | Dr. Scarabus | Roger Corman | ||
| 1964 | Bikini Beach | Art dealer | William Asher | |
| The Comedy of Terrors | Amos Hinchley | Jacques Tourneur | ||
| 1965 | Die, Monster, Die! (UK: Monster of Terror) |
Nahum Witley | Daniel Haller | |
| 1966 | The Daydreamer | The Rat | Jules Bass | Voice only |
| The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini | The Corpse | Don Weis | ||
| How the Grinch Stole Christmas! | The Grinch and the Narrator | Chuck Jones | Animated film. | |
| 1967 | The Venetian Affair | Dr. Pierre Vaugiroud | Jerry Thorpe | |
| Mad Monster Party? | Baron Boris von Frankenstein | Jules Bass | Voice only | |
| The Sorcerers | Professor Marcus Montserrat | Michael Reeves | ||
| 1968 | Targets | Byron Orlok | Peter Bogdanovich | |
| Curse of the Crimson Altar | Prof. Marshe | Vernon Sewell | ||
| The Fear Chamber | Dr. Carl Mandel | Juan Ibañez, Jack Hill | ||
| House of Evil | Mathias Morteval | Luis Enrique Vergara, Jack Hill | ||
| 1970 | El Coleccionista de cadáveres aka Blind Man's Bluff | Franz Badulescu | Santos Alcocer, Edward Mann | Released after Karloff's death |
| 1971 | The Incredible Invasion | Prof. John Meyer | Luis Enrique Vergara, Jack Hill | Released after Karloff's death |
| Isle of the Snake People | Karl Van Molder / Damballah | Juan Ibañez, Jack Hill | Released after Karloff's death |
Read more about this topic: Boris Karloff Filmography