Frankenstein museum display
Sara Karloff was born on her father’s 51st birthday, November 23, 1938. Boris Karloff was filming Son Of Frankenstein at that time. Sara jokes that she was “the most expensive birthday present ever.”
Ms. Karloff is widowed, has two grown sons and three grandchildren. She has lived in Rancho Mirage, California, since 1981. In 1993, following the death of her step-mother Evelyn, Sara assumed the responsibility for persona and licensing rights relating to her famous father and formed Karloff Enterprises. The company’s goal is to maintain a standard of excellence and appropriateness when the name or likeness of her father is used. Through the learning process, she has been able to make merchandise and collectibles available to her father’s fans.
Sara met Ron Chaney (great-grandson of Lon Chaney Sr. and grandson of Lon Chaney Jr.) and Bela Lugosi Jr. (son of Bela Lugosi) for the first time in 1993 at a famous Monsters of Filmland convention. As a result of that meeting a very special friendship was formed.
Although initiated by Ron Chaney, Ms. Karloff spear-headed a three year effort to have their respective famous relatives immortalized in a series of commemorative United States Postage Stamps. Petitions were circulated all over the country, and with the help of the Screen Actors Guild, the media, genre magazines, and thousands of fans worldwide, more than 17,000 signatures were collected in support of the project.
While similar projects often take much longer, in just under three years the Post Office notified the families that their petition for commemorative stamps had been approved. Annually, the Post Office receives in excess of 30,000 requests for commemorative stamps, with approximately thirty issued. This beautiful set of five stamps honoring these four men to their immense contributions to cinematic history and the horror film genre in particular was issued on September 30, 1997.
In 2003, Boris was yet again immortalized onto a third US stamp, an honor heretofore has been reserved only for US Presidents.
Sara continues to attend conventions around the world, speaking about her iconic father and his remarkable legacy. Her favorite audiences are students where the questions reinforce her belief that these classic films and multi-generational in their appeal, and their continued popularity is thanks to the wonderful fans.
You can find the website for Karloff Enterprises here.
Panel
Saturday at 3:45 pm in Grand Gallery A-C
Boris Karloff: My Father
The daughter of the legendary Frankenstein actor shares stores of the person she knew as Dad. Expect home movies and a very unique look at the iconic character actor.
