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Boris Karloff was born in England in 1887. He moved to Canada at 21 and then the U.S., and he was a stage actor who appeared in a large number of silent movies, but with only limited success. In 1931, he was cast as Frankenstein's monster, and his enormous success in that movie over-shadowed the fine performances he turned in on Scarface (1932), The Lost Patrol (1934), and The House of Rothschild (also in 1934). He was typecast as a monster/horror movie star, and with few exceptions, that is all he played the remainder of his career. He had great roles in The Mummy, The Bride of Frankenstein, and many others. He wore a huge amount of make-up in the Frankenstein movies and The Mummy, and he had health issues that made that even more uncomfortable, and so he later mostly played roles that did not require substantial make-up. In 1941 Karloff was offered the stage role of Jonathan Brewster (written specifically for him) in Arsenic and Old Lace, and he received a percentage of the profits. The film rights were sold to Warner Bros, who wanted Karloff to reprise his stage role, but he rightly thought appearing in the movie would hurt the play (and his profits) so he refused (which was a sound business decision, but robbed us of a great film portrayal!). The movie was filmed in late 1941, but the studio had agreed not to release it until the play finished its run, so it was not released until 1944 when the play finally ended after over 1,400 performances! Karloff is also well remembered for his great narration of Chuck Jones' great animated version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. and Erich von Stroheim was a legendary Austrian actor/director/writer from the 1910s to the 1950s. He did not make any movies in Austria, but rather he worked at a variety of jobs in Austria, and became a member of the elite Austrian Dragoons military unit. He resigned his commission in 1914 and moved to the United States, where he became both an actor and worked behind the scenes. He became a leading actor (he was nicknamed "The Man You Love to Hate", because he mostly played German villains), and he became Hollywood's leading director with major triumphs such as Foolish Wives, The Wedding March, and Greed. But he almost bankrupted Paramount Studios with his never finished "Queen Kelly", and that ended his career as a director, but he made extremely memorable acting appearances in Grand Illusion and Sunset Boulevard (nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for this film), as well as appearing in many less notable movies.

Important Added Info: Note that there is a paper snipe glued on the back of the still that describes the scene on the front (it does not affect the front of the still). There is a stamp on the back of the still that reads, "PHOTOGRAPH BY VANDAMM STUDIO". Note that the still shows a great candid image of Karloff and Von Stroheim with Denise Vernae, a young French actress. Karloff was then appearing on Broadway in the role of Jonathan Brewster in "Arsenic & Old Lace", and Von Stroheim was about to begin the role in the Chicago company version of the play, and the two legendary actors appeared together for a publicity stunt! Finally, note that this is a deluxe still printed on double weight paper stock.

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