Dear Ms. Karloff,
My name is Don Ammer, and I just wanted to send an email to thank you so much, in honor of your father, for fostering my huge love of both film and … cinema “monsters” with real heart and soul, I guess you could say. To this day, his work as Frankenstein’s monster is breathtaking – the humanity he gave to the creature one of the truly great performances in film. I will never forget it.
Oddly enough, though, the monster wasn’t my first intro to your father; I was already dearly in love with the man thanks to his voice-over work in what remains my favorite children’s film to this time: Mad Monster Party (I will even admit, I have the DVD and watch it to this day). I was maybe six years old when I saw it, and really loved the old Baron – wanted NONE of the greedy monsters or Francesca to take control over Felix! – and within the next few years after that discovered Frankenstein and The Grinch and even got into trouble staying up too late watching reruns of “Thriller.” Your father was a gifted, generally under-rated actor – and I couldn’t be happier to know that, from all I have heard, he also seemed like a warm and generous human being, as well. I wrote to him a couple of times as a kid, asking for an autograph and telling him I was a fan, but I’m sure he never even received the letters – so for that reason as well, it’s a real honor to be writing to his daughter, expressing my gratitude for a true icon of American cinema and his work..
I hope you won’t mind, but would it be possible to ask for an autographed photo of YOU? If you could tell a fan how to best get one? I hope you won’t mind my asking.
But either way, again thank you for taking the time to read my email, and on behalf of your father (who, to this day, I think remains one of the most under-rated actors this country’s ever had), for the thrills, chills and laughs he’s given me for over three decades. Will ALWAYS be a fan of you both.
Sincerely,
Don Ammer
Austin, TX 78756