Frankenstein's monster
Encyclopedia
Frankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley
's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus
. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name. He does call himself, when speaking to his creator, Victor Frankenstein
, the "Adam of your labours". He is also variously referred to as a "creature", "fiend", "the demon", "wretch", "devil", "thing", "being" and "ogre" in the novel.
The monster's namelessness became part of the stage tradition as Mary Shelley's story was adapted into serious and comic plays in London and Paris during the decades after the novel's first appearance. Mary Shelley herself attended a performance of Presumption, the first successful stage adaptation of her novel. "The play bill amused me extremely, for in the list of dramatic personae came _________, by Mr T. Cooke,” she wrote to her friend Leigh Hunt. "This nameless mode of naming the unnameable is rather good."
The name of the creator—Frankenstein—soon came to be used to name the creation. That happened within the first decade after the novel was published, but it became cast in concrete after the story was popularized in the famous 1930s Universal
film series starring Boris Karloff
. The film was based largely on a play by Peggy Webling
, performed in London in 1927. Webling's Frankenstein actually does give his creature his name. The Universal film treated the Monster's identity in a manner that reflects its resemblance to Mary Shelley's novel: the name of the actor, not the character, is hidden by a question mark. Nevertheless, the creature soon enough became best known in the popular imagination as "Frankenstein".
, eldest son of Alphonse and Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein, builds the creature in his laboratory
through methods of science
(he was a chemistry
student at University of Ingolstadt
) and alchemy
(largely based on the writings of Paracelsus
, Albertus Magnus
, and Cornelius Agrippa) which are not clearly described. Immediately upon bringing the creature to life, Frankenstein flees from it in horror and disavows his experiment. Abandoned, frightened, and completely unaware of his own identity, the monster wanders through the wilderness searching for someone who would understand and shelter him.
He finds brief solace by hiding out in the woodshed of a remote cottage inhabited by the DeLaceys, a family of peasant
s. While they are unaware of his existence, he learns every part of their lives by eavesdropping on their conversations and comes to think of them as his own family, calling them his 'protectors'. He develops the power of speech from listening to the family teach their language (French
) to an Arabian
daughter-in-law, and very quickly becomes eloquent, educated, and well-mannered.
One day, the creature musters the courage to finally make his presence known. He introduces himself to the family's patriarch, their blind
father, and experiences kindness and acceptance for the first (and last) time. The blind man can not see his "accursed ugliness" and so treats him as a friend. When the rest of the family returns, they are terrified of the creature and drive him away. Bewildered but still hopeful, he rescues a peasant girl from a river, but shot in the shoulder by a man who claims her. Heartbroken, the creature renounces all of humankind and swears revenge on his creator, Frankenstein, for bringing him into the world.
The monster searches for Frankenstein relentlessly, guided by some papers which were in the pocket of the clothing he took from his creator's rooms. From these he discovers Frankenstein's whereabouts, but also discovers the horrific details of his own birth. Upon arriving near Frankenstein's village, he meets and tries to befriend a small boy, William, hoping that the innocent youth will not be prejudice
d against him. The boy is instantly frightened and threatens to call for his father, Monsieur Frankenstein, revealing to the creature that the boy is related to his enemy. The creature kills him, and, in a further gesture of hatred against humanity, frames for the murder
a girl named Justine Mouritz, who is the Frankensteins' maid servant. Justine Moritz is sent to the gallows
because Frankenstein decides it would be futile to confess his experiment, as no one would believe him.
Full of grief and despair, Frankenstein retreats to the mountains to find peace within himself. The monster approaches Frankenstein on top of the mountain and insists that Frankenstein hear his plight. Here, the monster tells Frankenstein his story and pleads with him to create a female equivalent to himself so that he can hide from human
ity with one of his own kind. Frankenstein agrees, but relents just before finishing the mate, aghast at the possibility of creating a race of monsters. Enraged, the creature threatens to destroy everything Frankenstein holds dear. Before fleeing into the night, the creature swears to Frankenstein that "I will be with you on your wedding night!"
He later makes good on his threat by killing Frankenstein's best friend, Henry Clerval, and his bride, Elizabeth Lavenza. Victor Frankenstein's father, Alphonse, then dies of grief
. With nothing left to live for, Frankenstein dedicates his life to hunting his creation down and destroying him. The search ends in the Arctic Circle
when Frankenstein loses control of his dogsled and falls into ice-cold water, contracting severe pneumonia
. He is rescued by a ship exploring the region and relates the entire story to its captain, Robert Walton, before succumbing to his illness and dying. The creature later boards the ship, intent on taking his final revenge, but is overcome with grief upon finding Frankenstein dead, having lost the only family he has ever known. He pledges to travel to "the Northernmost extremity of the globe" and there burn his body to ashes, so that no man can ever create another like him. He leaps from the boat and is never seen again.
.jpg)
Shelley described Frankenstein's monster as an 8 feet (2.4 m), hideously ugly creation, with translucent yellowish skin pulled so taut over the body that it "barely disguised the workings of the vessels and muscles underneath"; watery, glowing eyes, flowing black hair, black lips, and prominent white teeth. The monster attempts to integrate himself into human social patterns, but is shunned by all that see him. This feeling of abandonment compels him to seek revenge against his creator. A picture of the creature appeared in the 1831 edition.
By the time the 1831 edition came out, however, several stage renditions of the story had popularized the monster. Early stage portrayals dressed him in a toga, shaded, along with the monster's skin, a pale blue. Throughout the 19th century, the monster's image remained variable according to the artist.
The most well-known image of Frankenstein's monster in popular culture
derives from Boris Karloff
's portrayal in the 1931 movie Frankenstein
, with makeup created by Jack Pierce from possibly crucial sketched suggestions by director James Whale
(credit for Karloff's look remains controversial). Karloff played the monster in two more Universal films, Bride of Frankenstein
and Son of Frankenstein
. Lon Chaney, Jr.
took over the part from Karloff in The Ghost of Frankenstein
, Bela Lugosi
portrayed the role in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
, and Glenn Strange
played the monster in the last three Universal Studios
films to feature the character (House of Frankenstein
, House of Dracula
, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
); but their makeup replicated the iconic look first worn by Karloff. To this day, the image of Karloff's face is owned by his daughter's company, Karloff Enterprises, which is the reason Universal replaced Karloff's features with Glenn Strange's in most of their marketing.
Since Karloff's portrayal, the creature almost always appears as a towering, gruesome figure, often with a flat square-shaped head and bolts to serve as electrical connectors or grotesque electrodes on his neck. He wears a dark suit having shortened coat sleeves and thick, heavy boots, causing him to walk with an awkward, stiff-legged, crude gait (as opposed to the novel, in which he is described as very flexible and much faster than a mortal). This image has been used as the basis for several other fictional characters.
In the 2004 film Van Helsing
, the monster is shown in a rather somewhat modernized version of the Karloff design. He is 8 to- tall, has square bald head, gruesome scars, and pale blue skin. The electricity is emphasised with one electrified crystal in the back of his head and another over his heart.
, Plutarch's Lives, and The Sorrows of Young Werther
. He is driven by despair and loneliness to acts of cruelty and murder.
From the beginning the monster is rejected by everyone he meets. He realizes from the moment of his "birth" that even his own creator could not be around him; this is obvious when Frankenstein says "…one hand was stretched out, seeming to detain me, but I escaped…" Upon seeing his own reflection, he realizes that he too cannot stand to see himself.
Yet, in the 1931 film adaptation
, the creature is depicted as mute
and bestial, unlike Shelly's original character which is very intelligent. In the subsequent sequel, Bride of Frankenstein
, the creature learns to speak and discover his feelings, although his intelligence and capacity of speech remains limited. In the second sequel, Son of Frankenstein
, the creature is again rendered inarticulate. Following a brain transplant in the third sequel The Ghost of Frankenstein
, the Monster speaks with the voice and personality of the brain donor. This was continued after a fashion in the scripting for the fourth sequel Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man
, but the dialogue was excised before release. The monster was effectively mute in later sequels, though he is heard to refer to Count Dracula
as his 'Master' in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
.
In Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
he is first depicted as mute, clumsy, childish, and nothing more than a servant of the 'evil' Dr. Frankenstein until he befriends the Chipmunks. They teach him how to be a friend and how to be kind to people. At the end of the film, Alvin mentions that they taught him how to talk, and after almost being run over by a tourist bus, Simon says "Too bad you also taught him how to drive."
The creature has always been seen to be a pyrophobic (the fear of fire).
.
A joke about the name became the subject of a sketch on Conan. On his various shows over the years, Conan O'Brien has featured a character named "Frankenstein", played by Brian Stack
, who is a genial version of the classic Universal appearance of the character. In the March 23, 2011, of O'Brien's TBS show, a viewer criticized O'Brien for calling the character "Frankenstein", when in the original book the creature had no name and Frankenstein was the name of the creator. In response, O'Brien showed a clip of the monster coming to America through Ellis Island in the 1920s. An immigration official reviewing the creature's paperwork tells him that "Frankenstein's Monster" is too cumbersome a name, so he shortens it to Frankenstein. Thus, Conan declares that referring to the monster simply as "Frankenstein" is correct.
In Dean Koontz
's Frankenstein series, the monster goes by the name "Deucalion", which he presumably chose sometime in his 200 year existence. The name is a reference to the son of Prometheus in Greek mythology, as his "father", Victor Frankenstein, is presumably the being whom the novel referred to as "The Modern Prometheus".
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley was a British novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus . She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley...
's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name. He does call himself, when speaking to his creator, Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein was born in Napoli, is a Swiss fictional character and the protagonist of the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Shelley...
, the "Adam of your labours". He is also variously referred to as a "creature", "fiend", "the demon", "wretch", "devil", "thing", "being" and "ogre" in the novel.
The monster's namelessness became part of the stage tradition as Mary Shelley's story was adapted into serious and comic plays in London and Paris during the decades after the novel's first appearance. Mary Shelley herself attended a performance of Presumption, the first successful stage adaptation of her novel. "The play bill amused me extremely, for in the list of dramatic personae came _________, by Mr T. Cooke,” she wrote to her friend Leigh Hunt. "This nameless mode of naming the unnameable is rather good."
The name of the creator—Frankenstein—soon came to be used to name the creation. That happened within the first decade after the novel was published, but it became cast in concrete after the story was popularized in the famous 1930s Universal
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
film series starring Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
. The film was based largely on a play by Peggy Webling
Peggy Webling
Peggy Webling was a British playwright, novelist and poet. Her 1927 play version of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is notable for naming the creature "Frankenstein" after its creator, and for being the inspiration of the classic 1931 film directed by James Whale.Webling wrote her adaptation of...
, performed in London in 1927. Webling's Frankenstein actually does give his creature his name. The Universal film treated the Monster's identity in a manner that reflects its resemblance to Mary Shelley's novel: the name of the actor, not the character, is hidden by a question mark. Nevertheless, the creature soon enough became best known in the popular imagination as "Frankenstein".
In Shelley's novel
Victor FrankensteinVictor Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein was born in Napoli, is a Swiss fictional character and the protagonist of the 1818 novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, written by Mary Shelley...
, eldest son of Alphonse and Caroline Beaufort Frankenstein, builds the creature in his laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
through methods of science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
(he was a chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
student at University of Ingolstadt
University of Ingolstadt
The University of Ingolstadt was founded in 1472 by Louis the Rich, the Duke of Bavaria at the time, and its first Chancellor was the Bishop of Eichstätt. It consisted of five faculties: humanities, sciences, theology, law and medicine, all of which were contained in the Hoheschule...
) and alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
(largely based on the writings of Paracelsus
Paracelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
, Albertus Magnus
Albertus Magnus
Albertus Magnus, O.P. , also known as Albert the Great and Albert of Cologne, is a Catholic saint. He was a German Dominican friar and a bishop, who achieved fame for his comprehensive knowledge of and advocacy for the peaceful coexistence of science and religion. Those such as James A. Weisheipl...
, and Cornelius Agrippa) which are not clearly described. Immediately upon bringing the creature to life, Frankenstein flees from it in horror and disavows his experiment. Abandoned, frightened, and completely unaware of his own identity, the monster wanders through the wilderness searching for someone who would understand and shelter him.
He finds brief solace by hiding out in the woodshed of a remote cottage inhabited by the DeLaceys, a family of peasant
Peasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
s. While they are unaware of his existence, he learns every part of their lives by eavesdropping on their conversations and comes to think of them as his own family, calling them his 'protectors'. He develops the power of speech from listening to the family teach their language (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
) to an Arabian
Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a land mass situated north-east of Africa. Also known as Arabia or the Arabian subcontinent, it is the world's largest peninsula and covers 3,237,500 km2...
daughter-in-law, and very quickly becomes eloquent, educated, and well-mannered.
One day, the creature musters the courage to finally make his presence known. He introduces himself to the family's patriarch, their blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
father, and experiences kindness and acceptance for the first (and last) time. The blind man can not see his "accursed ugliness" and so treats him as a friend. When the rest of the family returns, they are terrified of the creature and drive him away. Bewildered but still hopeful, he rescues a peasant girl from a river, but shot in the shoulder by a man who claims her. Heartbroken, the creature renounces all of humankind and swears revenge on his creator, Frankenstein, for bringing him into the world.
The monster searches for Frankenstein relentlessly, guided by some papers which were in the pocket of the clothing he took from his creator's rooms. From these he discovers Frankenstein's whereabouts, but also discovers the horrific details of his own birth. Upon arriving near Frankenstein's village, he meets and tries to befriend a small boy, William, hoping that the innocent youth will not be prejudice
Prejudice
Prejudice is making a judgment or assumption about someone or something before having enough knowledge to be able to do so with guaranteed accuracy, or "judging a book by its cover"...
d against him. The boy is instantly frightened and threatens to call for his father, Monsieur Frankenstein, revealing to the creature that the boy is related to his enemy. The creature kills him, and, in a further gesture of hatred against humanity, frames for the murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
a girl named Justine Mouritz, who is the Frankensteins' maid servant. Justine Moritz is sent to the gallows
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
because Frankenstein decides it would be futile to confess his experiment, as no one would believe him.
Full of grief and despair, Frankenstein retreats to the mountains to find peace within himself. The monster approaches Frankenstein on top of the mountain and insists that Frankenstein hear his plight. Here, the monster tells Frankenstein his story and pleads with him to create a female equivalent to himself so that he can hide from human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
ity with one of his own kind. Frankenstein agrees, but relents just before finishing the mate, aghast at the possibility of creating a race of monsters. Enraged, the creature threatens to destroy everything Frankenstein holds dear. Before fleeing into the night, the creature swears to Frankenstein that "I will be with you on your wedding night!"
He later makes good on his threat by killing Frankenstein's best friend, Henry Clerval, and his bride, Elizabeth Lavenza. Victor Frankenstein's father, Alphonse, then dies of grief
Grief
Grief is a multi-faceted response to loss, particularly to the loss of someone or something to which a bond was formed. Although conventionally focused on the emotional response to loss, it also has physical, cognitive, behavioral, social, and philosophical dimensions...
. With nothing left to live for, Frankenstein dedicates his life to hunting his creation down and destroying him. The search ends in the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
when Frankenstein loses control of his dogsled and falls into ice-cold water, contracting severe pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. He is rescued by a ship exploring the region and relates the entire story to its captain, Robert Walton, before succumbing to his illness and dying. The creature later boards the ship, intent on taking his final revenge, but is overcome with grief upon finding Frankenstein dead, having lost the only family he has ever known. He pledges to travel to "the Northernmost extremity of the globe" and there burn his body to ashes, so that no man can ever create another like him. He leaps from the boat and is never seen again.
Appearance
By the time the 1831 edition came out, however, several stage renditions of the story had popularized the monster. Early stage portrayals dressed him in a toga, shaded, along with the monster's skin, a pale blue. Throughout the 19th century, the monster's image remained variable according to the artist.
The most well-known image of Frankenstein's monster in popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
derives from Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
's portrayal in the 1931 movie Frankenstein
Frankenstein (1931 film)
Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
, with makeup created by Jack Pierce from possibly crucial sketched suggestions by director James Whale
James Whale
James Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed such classics as Frankenstein , The Old Dark House , The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein...
(credit for Karloff's look remains controversial). Karloff played the monster in two more Universal films, Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American horror film, the first sequel to Frankenstein...
and Son of Frankenstein
Son of Frankenstein
Son of Frankenstein is the third film in Universal Studios' Frankenstein series and the last to feature Boris Karloff as the Monster as well as the first to feature Béla Lugosi as Ygor. It is a sequel to Bride of Frankenstein....
. Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr.
Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney...
took over the part from Karloff in The Ghost of Frankenstein
The Ghost of Frankenstein
The Ghost of Frankenstein, is an American monster horror film released in 1942. The movie is the fourth in a series of films produced by Universal Studios based upon characters in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and features Lon Chaney, Jr...
, Bela Lugosi
Béla Lugosi
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his...
portrayed the role in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, released in 1943, is an American monster horror film produced by Universal Studios starring Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. This was the first of a series of "ensemble" monster films combining characters from several film...
, and Glenn Strange
Glenn Strange
Glenn Strange was an American actor who appeared mostly in Western films. He is best known for playing the Frankenstein Monster in three Universal films during the 1940s and for his role as Sam Noonan, the bartender on CBS's Gunsmoke television series...
played the monster in the last three Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
films to feature the character (House of Frankenstein
House of Frankenstein
House of Frankenstein may refer to:*House of Frankenstein , a 1944 horror film produced by Universal Studios*House of Frankenstein 1997, a 1997 television mini-series featuring characters from the Universal Studios horror films...
, House of Dracula
House of Dracula
House of Dracula was an American horror film released by Universal Pictures Company in 1945. It was a direct sequel to House of Frankenstein and continued the theme of combining Universal's three most popular monsters: Frankenstein's monster, Count Dracula and The Wolf Man...
, and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable...
); but their makeup replicated the iconic look first worn by Karloff. To this day, the image of Karloff's face is owned by his daughter's company, Karloff Enterprises, which is the reason Universal replaced Karloff's features with Glenn Strange's in most of their marketing.
Since Karloff's portrayal, the creature almost always appears as a towering, gruesome figure, often with a flat square-shaped head and bolts to serve as electrical connectors or grotesque electrodes on his neck. He wears a dark suit having shortened coat sleeves and thick, heavy boots, causing him to walk with an awkward, stiff-legged, crude gait (as opposed to the novel, in which he is described as very flexible and much faster than a mortal). This image has been used as the basis for several other fictional characters.
In the 2004 film Van Helsing
Van Helsing (film)
Van Helsing is a 2004 American action horror film directed by Stephen Sommers. It stars Hugh Jackman as vigilante monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing, and Kate Beckinsale...
, the monster is shown in a rather somewhat modernized version of the Karloff design. He is 8 to- tall, has square bald head, gruesome scars, and pale blue skin. The electricity is emphasised with one electrified crystal in the back of his head and another over his heart.
Personality
As depicted by Shelley, the creature is a sensitive, emotional creature whose only aim is to share his life with another sentient being like himself. The novel portrays him as intelligent and literate, having read Paradise LostParadise Lost
Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...
, Plutarch's Lives, and The Sorrows of Young Werther
The Sorrows of Young Werther
The Sorrows of Young Werther is an epistolary and loosely autobiographical novel by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, first published in 1774; a revised edition of the novel was published in 1787...
. He is driven by despair and loneliness to acts of cruelty and murder.
From the beginning the monster is rejected by everyone he meets. He realizes from the moment of his "birth" that even his own creator could not be around him; this is obvious when Frankenstein says "…one hand was stretched out, seeming to detain me, but I escaped…" Upon seeing his own reflection, he realizes that he too cannot stand to see himself.
Yet, in the 1931 film adaptation
Frankenstein (1931 film)
Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features...
, the creature is depicted as mute
Mute
Mute may refer to:* Muteness, a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak* Mute, a silent letter in phonology* Mute , an upcoming sequel to the movie Moon...
and bestial, unlike Shelly's original character which is very intelligent. In the subsequent sequel, Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American horror film, the first sequel to Frankenstein...
, the creature learns to speak and discover his feelings, although his intelligence and capacity of speech remains limited. In the second sequel, Son of Frankenstein
Son of Frankenstein
Son of Frankenstein is the third film in Universal Studios' Frankenstein series and the last to feature Boris Karloff as the Monster as well as the first to feature Béla Lugosi as Ygor. It is a sequel to Bride of Frankenstein....
, the creature is again rendered inarticulate. Following a brain transplant in the third sequel The Ghost of Frankenstein
The Ghost of Frankenstein
The Ghost of Frankenstein, is an American monster horror film released in 1942. The movie is the fourth in a series of films produced by Universal Studios based upon characters in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and features Lon Chaney, Jr...
, the Monster speaks with the voice and personality of the brain donor. This was continued after a fashion in the scripting for the fourth sequel Frankenstein Meets The Wolf Man
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, released in 1943, is an American monster horror film produced by Universal Studios starring Lon Chaney, Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. This was the first of a series of "ensemble" monster films combining characters from several film...
, but the dialogue was excised before release. The monster was effectively mute in later sequels, though he is heard to refer to Count Dracula
Count Dracula
Count Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula and archetypal vampire. Some aspects of his character have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian general and Wallachian Prince Vlad III the Impaler...
as his 'Master' in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable...
.
In Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein
Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein is a 1999 animated horror-themed direct-to-video film, produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Universal Animation Studios, distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks...
he is first depicted as mute, clumsy, childish, and nothing more than a servant of the 'evil' Dr. Frankenstein until he befriends the Chipmunks. They teach him how to be a friend and how to be kind to people. At the end of the film, Alvin mentions that they taught him how to talk, and after almost being run over by a tourist bus, Simon says "Too bad you also taught him how to drive."
The creature has always been seen to be a pyrophobic (the fear of fire).
The creature's name
Mary Shelley's original novel never ascribed an actual name to the monster; although he does call himself, when speaking to his creator, Victor Frankenstein, the "Adam of your labours". It has become common vernacular to refer to the creature by the actual name "Frankenstein", though this actually happens only rarely on screen. One example in which the monster is actually referred to by the name Frankenstein is the 2004 film Van HelsingVan Helsing (film)
Van Helsing is a 2004 American action horror film directed by Stephen Sommers. It stars Hugh Jackman as vigilante monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing, and Kate Beckinsale...
.
A joke about the name became the subject of a sketch on Conan. On his various shows over the years, Conan O'Brien has featured a character named "Frankenstein", played by Brian Stack
Brian Stack
Brian Stack is an American actor, writer and comedian best known for his sketch comedy work on all three Conan O'Brien late-night talk shows, previously working on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, and currently on O'Brien's newest show, Conan on TBS.-Early...
, who is a genial version of the classic Universal appearance of the character. In the March 23, 2011, of O'Brien's TBS show, a viewer criticized O'Brien for calling the character "Frankenstein", when in the original book the creature had no name and Frankenstein was the name of the creator. In response, O'Brien showed a clip of the monster coming to America through Ellis Island in the 1920s. An immigration official reviewing the creature's paperwork tells him that "Frankenstein's Monster" is too cumbersome a name, so he shortens it to Frankenstein. Thus, Conan declares that referring to the monster simply as "Frankenstein" is correct.
In Dean Koontz
Dean Koontz
Dean Ray Koontz is a prolific American author best known for his novels which could be described broadly as suspense thrillers. He also frequently incorporates elements of horror, science fiction, mystery, and satire. A number of his books have appeared on the New York Times Bestseller List, with...
's Frankenstein series, the monster goes by the name "Deucalion", which he presumably chose sometime in his 200 year existence. The name is a reference to the son of Prometheus in Greek mythology, as his "father", Victor Frankenstein, is presumably the being whom the novel referred to as "The Modern Prometheus".
Portrayals
| Person | Year | Production | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Stanton Ogle Charles Stanton Ogle Charles Stanton Ogle was an American silent film actor.-Biography:Born in Steubenville, Ohio, Ogle first performed in live theatre, making his first appearance on Broadway in 1905. He embarked on a career in film with Edison Studios in The Bronx, New York in 1908, appearing in The Boston Tea Party... |
1910 | Frankenstein Frankenstein (1910 film) Frankenstein is a 1910 film made by Edison Studios that was written and directed by J. Searle Dawley.It was the first motion picture adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The unbilled cast included Augustus Phillips as Dr... |
|
| Percy Standing Percy Standing Percy Standing was an English film actor of the silent era. He appeared in 42 films between 1913 and 1934. He was the son of Herbert Standing... |
1915 | Life Without Soul Life Without Soul Life Without Soul is a horror film, directed by Joseph W. Smiley and written by Jesse J. Goldburg. This film is an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Gothic novel Frankenstein. The film is about a doctor who creates a soulless man... |
|
| Boris Karloff Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein... |
1931 | Frankenstein Frankenstein (1931 film) Frankenstein is a 1931 Pre-Code Horror Monster film from Universal Pictures directed by James Whale and adapted from the play by Peggy Webling which in turn is based on the novel of the same name by Mary Shelley. The film stars Colin Clive, Mae Clarke, John Boles and Boris Karloff, and features... |
|
| Boris Karloff Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein... |
1935 | Bride of Frankenstein Bride of Frankenstein Bride of Frankenstein is a 1935 American horror film, the first sequel to Frankenstein... |
|
| Boris Karloff Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein... |
1939 | Son of Frankenstein Son of Frankenstein Son of Frankenstein is the third film in Universal Studios' Frankenstein series and the last to feature Boris Karloff as the Monster as well as the first to feature Béla Lugosi as Ygor. It is a sequel to Bride of Frankenstein.... |
|
| Lon Chaney, Jr. Lon Chaney, Jr. Lon Chaney, Jr. , born Creighton Tull Chaney, was an American character actor. He was best known for his roles in monster movies and as the son of famous silent film actor, Lon Chaney... |
1942 | The Ghost of Frankenstein The Ghost of Frankenstein The Ghost of Frankenstein, is an American monster horror film released in 1942. The movie is the fourth in a series of films produced by Universal Studios based upon characters in Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein and features Lon Chaney, Jr... |
|
| Bela Lugosi Béla Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó , commonly known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his... |
1943 | Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman | |
| Glenn Strange Glenn Strange Glenn Strange was an American actor who appeared mostly in Western films. He is best known for playing the Frankenstein Monster in three Universal films during the 1940s and for his role as Sam Noonan, the bartender on CBS's Gunsmoke television series... |
1944 | House of Frankenstein House of Frankenstein (1944 film) House of Frankenstein is an American monster horror film produced in 1944 by Universal Studios as a sequel to Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man the previous year. This monster rally approach would continue in the following film, House of Dracula, as well as the 1948 comedy Abbott and Costello Meet... |
|
| Glenn Strange Glenn Strange Glenn Strange was an American actor who appeared mostly in Western films. He is best known for playing the Frankenstein Monster in three Universal films during the 1940s and for his role as Sam Noonan, the bartender on CBS's Gunsmoke television series... |
1945 | House of Dracula House of Dracula House of Dracula was an American horror film released by Universal Pictures Company in 1945. It was a direct sequel to House of Frankenstein and continued the theme of combining Universal's three most popular monsters: Frankenstein's monster, Count Dracula and The Wolf Man... |
|
| Glenn Strange Glenn Strange Glenn Strange was an American actor who appeared mostly in Western films. He is best known for playing the Frankenstein Monster in three Universal films during the 1940s and for his role as Sam Noonan, the bartender on CBS's Gunsmoke television series... |
1948 | Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein is a 1948 American comedy horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable... |
|
| Gary Conway Gary Conway Gary Conway is an American actor and screenwriter.Conway was born Gareth Monello Carmody in Boston, Massachusetts. His most notable credits include a co-starring role with Gene Barry in the detective series Burke's Law from 1963-1965... |
1957 | I Was a Teenage Frankenstein I Was a Teenage Frankenstein I Was a Teenage Frankenstein is a film starring Whit Bissell, Phyllis Coates and Gary Conway released by American International Pictures in November 1957. It is the follow-up to AIP's box-office hit I Was a Teenage Werewolf released less than five months earlier... |
|
| Christopher Lee Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films... |
1957 | The Curse of Frankenstein | |
| Gary Conway Gary Conway Gary Conway is an American actor and screenwriter.Conway was born Gareth Monello Carmody in Boston, Massachusetts. His most notable credits include a co-starring role with Gene Barry in the detective series Burke's Law from 1963-1965... |
1958 | How to Make a Monster How to Make a Monster (1958 film) How to Make a Monster is a 1958 American horror film released by American International Pictures. The film is a follow-up to both I Was a Teenage Werewolf and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein. Like Teenage Frankenstein, a black & white film that switched to color for the final moments, How to Make a... |
|
| Michael Gwynn Michael Gwynn Michael Gwynn was an English actor. He attended Mayfield College near Mayfield, East Sussex. During the Second World War he served in East Africa as a major and was adjutant to the 2nd Battalion of the King's African Rifles.He is perhaps best remembered in contemporary culture as the shyster Lord... |
1958 | The Revenge of Frankenstein The Revenge of Frankenstein The Revenge of Frankenstein is a 1958 British horror film made by Hammer Film Productions. Directed by Terence Fisher, the film stars Peter Cushing, Francis Matthews, Michael Gwynn and Eunice Gayson.... |
|
| Mike Lane Mike Lane Mike Lane born Michael Lane January 6 1933 in Washington DC is an American professional wrestler and actor.-Biography:Lane's formidable height of 6'8"/ 2.03200 meters and 275lbs/125kg led him to work in the King Bros. Circus boxing tent and wrestling tent where he would take on all comers... |
1958 | Frankenstein 1970 Frankenstein 1970 Frankenstein 1970 is a 1958 science fiction horror film, starring Boris Karloff and Don 'Red' Barry. This independent film was directed by Howard W. Koch, and its alternative titles were Frankenstein 1960 and Frankenstein 1975. Released on a low budget, the film was originally intended to be... |
|
| Harry Wilson Harry Wilson Harry Wilson may refer to:* Harry Wilson , American character actor born in London* Harry Wilson , American football coach... |
1958 | Frankenstein's Daughter Frankenstein's Daughter Frankenstein's Daughter was the third of four drive-in films crafted by producer Marc Frederic and director Richard E. Cunha in the late 1950s. In it, Victor Frankenstein's grandson repeats his grandfather's grisly experiments.-Plot:... |
|
| Kiwi Kingston Kiwi Kingston Ernie "Kiwi" Kingston was a wrestler and film actor from New Zealand, relatively unknown, but still remembered for his role as the Karloff-like Frankenstein Monster in Hammer's The Evil of Frankenstein . He also appeared in the film Hysteria .-External links:*... |
1963 | The Evil of Frankenstein The Evil of Frankenstein The Evil of Frankenstein is a 1964 British horror film made by Hammer Studio. Directed by Freddie Francis, the film stars Peter Cushing and New Zealand wrestler Kiwi Kingston.... |
|
| Koji Furuhata | 1965 | Frankenstein Conquers the World Frankenstein Conquers the World Frankenstein Conquers the World, released in Japan as , with Toho's official English title being Frankenstein vs. Baragon, is a kaiju film produced in 1965 by Toho Company Ltd... |
|
| Susan Denberg Susan Denberg Susan Denberg is the stage name of an Austrian model and actress, born Dietlinde Zechner... |
1967 | Frankenstein Created Woman Frankenstein Created Woman Frankenstein Created Woman is a 1967 British Hammer Horror film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Peter Cushing as Baron Frankenstein and Susan Denberg as his new creation... |
|
| Robert Rodan Robert Rodan Robert Rodan is an American actor who played Adam on the TV soap opera Dark Shadows. In 2007, he guest starred in the Dark Shadows audio drama, The Rage Beneath.-External links:... |
1967 | Dark Shadows Dark Shadows Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements... |
|
| Freddie Jones Freddie Jones Frederick Charles "Freddie" Jones is an English character actor.Jones was born in the town of Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, the son of Ida Elizabeth and Charles Edward Jones. He became an actor after ten years of working as a laboratory assistant with a firm making ceramic products,... |
1969 | Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed is a British horror film directed by Terence Fisher for Hammer Film Productions from 1969. The cast includes Peter Cushing, Freddie Jones, Veronica Carlson and Simon Ward. The film is the fifth in a series of Hammer films centering on Dr... |
|
| David Prowse David Prowse David Prowse, MBE is an English former bodybuilder, weightlifter and actor, most widely known for playing the role of Darth Vader in physical form. In Britain, he is also remembered as having played the Green Cross Code man... |
1970 | The Horror of Frankenstein The Horror of Frankenstein The Horror of Frankenstein is a 1970 British horror film by Hammer Film Productions that is both a semi-parody and remake of the 1957 film The Curse of Frankenstein. It was produced and directed by Jimmy Sangster, starring Ralph Bates, Kate O'Mara, Veronica Carlson and David Prowse as the monster... |
|
| John Bloom John Bloom John Bloom , is an English entrepreneur, known for his success and failure at the Rolls Razor company in selling washing machines in the early 1960s.-Biography:... |
1971 | Dracula vs. Frankenstein Dracula vs. Frankenstein Dracula vs. Frankenstein is a 1971 horror film directed by Al Adamson.-Plot:A mad descendent of the original Dr. Frankenstein takes to murdering young women for experimentation in hopes to revive his ancestor's creation , with help from his mute assistant... |
|
| Joe De Sue | 1973 | Blackenstein Blackenstein Blackenstein, also known as Black Frankenstein, is a 1973 blaxploitation horror film loosely based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. It was made in an attempt to cash in on the success of Blacula, released the previous year by American International Pictures... |
|
| Michael Sarrazin Michael Sarrazin Michael Sarrazin was a Canadian film and television actor who found fame opposite Jane Fonda in the drama film They Shoot Horses, Don't They? .- Early life :... |
1973 | Frankenstein: The True Story Frankenstein: The True Story Frankenstein: The True Story is a 1973 American made-for-television horror film loosely based on the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It was directed by Jack Smight, and the screenplay was co-written by novelist Christopher Isherwood.... |
|
| David Prowse David Prowse David Prowse, MBE is an English former bodybuilder, weightlifter and actor, most widely known for playing the role of Darth Vader in physical form. In Britain, he is also remembered as having played the Green Cross Code man... |
1974 | Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell Frankenstein and the Monster From Hell is a 1974 British horror film from Hammer Film Productions. It was directed by Terence Fisher and starred Peter Cushing, Shane Briant, and David Prowse... |
|
| Peter Boyle Peter Boyle Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein .... |
1974 | Young Frankenstein Young Frankenstein Young Frankenstein is a 1974 American comedy film directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder as the title character, a descendant of the infamous Dr. Victor Frankenstein. The supporting cast includes Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars, Richard... |
|
| Clancy Brown Clancy Brown Clarence J. "Clancy" Brown III is an American actor and voice actor. He is known for his roles in live action as The Kurgan in the cult classic film Highlander, Byron Hadley in the award-winning The Shawshank Redemption, Brother Justin Crowe in HBO's critically acclaimed Carnivàle, and Career... |
1985 | The Bride The Bride (film) The Bride is an adaptation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, released in 1985 and directed by Franc Roddam. The film stars Sting as Baron Charles Frankenstein and Jennifer Beals as Eva, a woman he creates in the same fashion as his infamous monster.... |
|
| Tom Noonan Tom Noonan Tom Noonan is an American actor and film writer-director.-Early life:Noonan was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the son of Rosaleen and Tom Noonan, who worked as a dentist and jazz musician respectively... |
1987 | The Monster Squad The Monster Squad The Monster Squad is a comedy/horror film written by Shane Black and Fred Dekker and directed by Fred Dekker . It was released by Tri-Star Pictures on August 14, 1987. The film features the classic monsters , led by Count Dracula... |
|
| Nick Brimble Nick Brimble Nick Brimble , is an English actor known for his performance as Little John in the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and his appearances on various television shows.... |
1990 | Frankenstein Unbound Frankenstein Unbound Frankenstein Unbound is a 1990 horror movie based on Brian Aldiss' novel of the same name. This film was directed by Roger Corman, returning to the director's chair after a hiatus of almost twenty years.- Cast :... |
|
| Randy Quaid Randy Quaid Randall Rudy "Randy" Quaid is an American actor perhaps best known for his role as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, as well as his numerous supporting roles in films, including his Oscar nominated performance in The Last Detail, Independence Day, Kingpin and Brokeback Mountain... |
1992 | Frankenstein Frankenstein Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first... |
|
| Robert De Niro Robert De Niro Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973... |
1994 | Mary Shelley's Frankenstein | |
| Peter Crombie Peter Crombie -Life and career:He appeared in such films as Born on the Fourth of July, Natural Born Killers, Se7en, My Dog Skip and The Doors. His best-known television role was as the recurring minor character "Crazy" Joe Davola on Seinfeld... |
1997 | House of Frankenstein 1997 House of Frankenstein 1997 House of Frankenstein 1997 is a television mini-series that revives Universal's classic threesome, the vampire , Frankenstein's monster and the werewolf... |
|
| Frank Welker Frank Welker Franklin Wendell "Frank" Welker is an American actor who specializes in voice acting and has contributed character voices and other vocal effects to American television and motion pictures.-Acting career:... |
1999 | Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein Alvin and the Chipmunks Meet Frankenstein is a 1999 animated horror-themed direct-to-video film, produced by Bagdasarian Productions and Universal Animation Studios, distributed by Universal Studios Home Entertainment, and based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks... |
|
| Shuler Hensley Shuler Hensley -Early life:Hensley was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The youngest of three children, Hensley grew up in Marietta, Georgia. His father, Sam P. Hensley, Jr., is a former Georgia Tech football star, retired civil engineer and former state senator. His mother, Iris Antley Hensley, was a ballerina and the... |
2004 | Van Helsing Van Helsing (film) Van Helsing is a 2004 American action horror film directed by Stephen Sommers. It stars Hugh Jackman as vigilante monster hunter Gabriel Van Helsing, and Kate Beckinsale... |
|
| Luke Goss Luke Goss Luke Damon Goss is an English singer and actor. Since 1994, he has been married to backing singer Shirley Lewis, , and has one stepdaughter, Carli. In January 2007, he and wife Shirley moved permanently to Los Angeles, but still maintain a residence in London... |
2004 | Frankenstein Frankenstein (US TV miniseries) Frankenstein is a 2004 U.S. television miniseries based on the book Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It follows the original book more closely than other adaptions.The miniseries was edited into a film.-DVD:... |
|
| Vincent Perez Vincent Pérez Vincent Pérez is a Swiss-born French speaking actor and director. He is best known internationally for playing the title character Ashe Corven in The Crow: City of Angels, and for starring in Queen of the Damned, playing Marius de Romanus... |
2004 | Frankenstein Frankenstein (2004 film) Frankenstein is a 2004 made-for-television USA Network production starring Thomas Kretschmann as Victor Helios and Vincent Pérez as his creature. It was produced by Martin Scorsese and based on Dean Koontz's version of Frankenstein... |
|
| Julian Bleach Julian Bleach Julian Bleach is an English actor who is best known as co-creator and "M. C." of Shockheaded Peter, a musical entertainment based on the works of Heinrich Hoffmann, which won the 2002 Olivier Award for Best Entertainment.Bleach trained at LAMDA... |
2007 | Frankenstein Frankenstein (2007 film) Frankenstein is a 2007 British television film produced by Impossible Pictures for ITV. It was written and directed by Jed Mercurio, adapted from Mary Shelley's original novel to a present-day setting. Dr... |
|
| Shuler Hensley Shuler Hensley -Early life:Hensley was born in Atlanta, Georgia. The youngest of three children, Hensley grew up in Marietta, Georgia. His father, Sam P. Hensley, Jr., is a former Georgia Tech football star, retired civil engineer and former state senator. His mother, Iris Antley Hensley, was a ballerina and the... |
2007 | Young Frankenstein Young Frankenstein (musical) Young Frankenstein, officially known as The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, is a musical with a book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan and music and lyrics by Brooks. It is based on the 1974 comedy film of the same name written by Brooks and Gene Wilder and directed by Brooks, who has... |
|
| David Harewood David Harewood David Harewood is a British actor.-Biography:David Harewood was born and grew up in the Small Heath area of Birmingham, England, where he attended St. Benedict's Junior School and Washwood Heath Comprehensive School. As a schoolboy, he excelled at all sports—from sprinting to basketball to rugby... |
2011 | Frankenstein's Wedding Frankenstein's Wedding Frankenstein's Wedding is a live musical drama based on Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein. The show was broadcast live on BBC Three on the 19 March 2011 from Kirkstall Abbey. -Summary:... |
External links
- Frankensteinfilms.com - Comprehensive site on Frankenstein movies, comic books, theatre plays and the original novel
- A Monster's Notes - A modern interpretation of Frankenstein's monster
- 13 Ways of Looking at Frankenstein - slideshow by Life magazine
- Literary discussion of the argument of Frankenstein