A sleuthing Canadian history buff has discovered documents detailing famed horror actor Boris Karloff's early years in British Columbia, including his secret marriage to a Vancouver woman -- the original Bride of Frankenstein.
Provincial records also showed 23-year-old Grace Harding's 1910 marriage to the 22-year-old Karloff -- then a recent British immigrant and aspiring actor still known by his un-scary birth name, William Henry Pratt -- ended messily in 1913 amid accusations of adultery.
The delicious finds, revealed in the latest edition of BC History magazine, are proof life with the future movie monster -- who had five more failed marriages before his death in 1969 -- was never easy.
WRITER'S SEARCH
Greg Nesteroff, a writer and researcher from Castlegar, had been searching for documents to confirm Karloff's vague recollection in one biography that he made his stage debut at a theatre in Nelson.
Nesteroff discovered strong circumstantial evidence the young actor did, but the bigger historical scoop came when he tapped into B.C.'s vital records archive.
"I plunked Karloff's name into the search engine," he said.
"When that came up empty, I tried William Henry Pratt and found the marriage to Grace Harding, which seemed promising based on the date. I looked up the certificate and was thrilled to find the groom's age, birthplace and parents' names all matched Karloff's. It had been hidden for 95 years."
Published biographies and websites maintained by Karloff's cult-like community of fans have never mentioned Grace Harding. Even Karloff's only child was surprised by the discovery, said Nesteroff, who has been in contact with Sara Karloff, daughter from a later marriage to Dorothy Stine.
1909 IMMIGRANT
Born into a privileged but fractious British family in 1887, William Pratt decided to emigrate in 1909, choosing Canada over Australia with the flip of a coin. He worked briefly at a farm in Caledonia, Ont., and in Banff, Alta., before working a string of jobs in and around Vancouver -- ditch digger, surveyor and real estate salesman.
Then, writes Nesteroff, Karloff did something "which has been completely forgotten: He got married."
The wedding took place on Feb. 23, 1910, at Holy Rosary Cathedral, Nesteroff learned. Pratt's bride, the New Zealand-born Harding, was the daughter of an immigrant clerk with B.C.'s finance ministry.
TRAVELLING TROUPE
But by 1913, Pratt's acting ambitions had led him to join the Jeanne Russell Co. travelling theatre troupe, adopt the stage name Boris Karloff and, apparently, commence an affair with actress Margot Beaton.
On Jan. 8., 1913, Nesteroff found, Grace obtained a divorce order on the grounds of adultery, naming Beaton as Karloff's paramour.
"Finding the divorce certificate was just as exciting because it contained a scandalous detail I didn't expect."
Just 10 days after the divorce papers were signed, Harding married realtor Cecil Hadfield and moved to Calgary. Nesteroff found records showing she was back in Vancouver by 1945, but then lost her trail.
Karloff completed a two-year run with the Jeanne Russell Co. -- including stops in Cranbrook, Calgary and Regina -- before moving to the U.S. and winning roles in several silent pictures in the 1920s.
FAMOUS ROLE
But it was Karloff's performance as the monster in the 1931 horror classic Frankenstein that made him famous. Hailed for his sympathetic portrayal of the pieced-together protagonist, Karloff went on to star in a series of sequels -- including 1935's popular Bride of Frankenstein -- and other hits of the horror genre.
He may be best known to later generations as the voice of the Grinch in the animated television adaptation of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Karloff is believed to have wed another Canadian, Olive de Wilton, before 1920, although the legal status of that partnership has never been clear.
His other wives were Montana Williams, Helen Soule (1924-28), Stine (1928-46), and Evelyn Helmore, who married Karloff in 1946 and was widowed when he died in 1969.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006
