In 1931, Boris Karloff filed a complaint to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences after the makeup procedures he endured while filming Frankenstein. Jack Pierce had him in the makeup chair for four hours in the morning and two at the end of the day applying then taking off both the green greasepaint as well as the prosthetics. Not only was the makeup process long and arduous, Karloff also had to wear a 48 pound costume and 11 pound shoes to achieve the large and bulking look.
The whole experience was enough to file the complaint and when the complaint wasn't taken in account, Karloff joined 8 other actors including C. Aubrey Smith, Leon Ames, Ralph Morgan, and James Gleason who would become the board of directors for what would be the birth the Screen Actors Guild in 1933. Karloff was the union's 9th member and when it was discovered that Universal had his home phone tapped, would keep a roll of dimes in his pocket in order to conduct business. His daughter, Sara, called the Screen Actors Guild "my father's proudest work."
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