When a person becomes too involved in the role they must play, it can soon become more than a
role. Basil Karlo had trained for years in the theatrical art of Melodrama. His talent
for capturing the emotions and intensity of the characters he played was unrivaled in Gotham City.
Basil became popular in 1884, starring in such works as The String of Pearls
and The Ticket of Leave Man at Monarch Theatre. This quickly earned him a reputationfor playing
murderous and horrific characters, and he reveled in his newfound fame. Basil Karlo
became a name locals were eager to see each time a new stage play came to the public’s attention.
Basil was also born with a rare condition known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome which gave him unusually
elastic skin and joints. This did not hinder his acting ability as long as he was careful,
and his condition would not be diagnosed until 1909.
Basil was an avid customer of the Sionis Cosmetics division of the Sionis industrial empire.
He became even more obsessed with using their products once his ego got the better of him.
Karlo became obsessed with his roles, with acting becoming his life.
Soon, a new stage play began to be advertised in Gotham. It was custom-tailored by the Monarch
Theatre to Karlo’s talents. Basil was elated to star in this play, titled The Terror, which
would feature aspects of melodrama and horror in a unique capacity. He was to play the main villain,
The Clay-Faced Man. Basil took this role the most seriously, but this time, he took it too far.
He began to act on and offstage, terrifying his co-stars.
He would send them death threats in character, stalk them around the theatre, and claim it was
for the role when confronted about it. The owners of Monarch Theatre were just waiting for an excuse
to be rid of him after these confrontations, but it came more tragically than any of them expected.
Unbeknownst to Basil Karlo and numerous other customers, Sionis Cosmetics had been using white
phosphorus as an ingredient in their products. This dangerous element, used in everyday products,
caused numerous people to contract a condition known as “Phossy jaw,”
which caused horrible disfigurement to the individual affected by it. Basil Karlo was
one such unfortunate individual, and his face was twisted and contorted into a horrible arrangement.
He was hardly recognizable as the famous actor anymore,
and the owners of Monarch Theatre saw the opportunity to gently let Basil go.
Basil had enjoyed his fame for five years, until a new star came on the scene in Gotham.
In 1890, Matthew Hagen, one of Basil’s co-stars, began to draw attention.
His talent rivaled that of Karlo’s and Basil had begun to grow jealous of him;
worried that his career would be stolen from him. In light of the recent tragedy,
the theatre owners gave the title role in The Terror to Matthew Hagen. Basil’s sudden
disfigurement and his replacement in the play sent the former actor into a downward spiral. Karlo had
reached rock bottom and lost all hope of attaining the fame and leading-man status he had hoped for.
Angry at everyone but himself, he was filled with rage and hatred towards Hagen, the theatre owners,
and his plight. He broke into the theatre, stole the costume for The Clay-Faced Man, and hid within
the theatre’s storage rooms. He lived there for months as the production for The Terror continued.
No one was aware of his presence there, but he intended to make his presence known. At first
Karlo’s actions were small and written off as accidents. He would cause a small fire here,
a loose hanging prop there. Once, he even caused the curtain to fall prematurely on
one of the actors during rehearsal, injuring the actor. His anger increased as his attempts
to sabotage the production failed, and Karlo escalated his meddling and became murderous.
The first incident was when a stagehand was found hanging from the rafters by a noose.
Next, a prop dagger was replaced by a real one, causing Hagen to accidentally stab another actor.
These incidents became deadlier and deadlier, until the police became more involved.
All the while, Basil Karlo watched from hidden places in the theatre,
relishing the pain he was causing. He thought of it as a way to inflict his pain on those who had
so readily turned their backs on him. Police were unsure who could be behind the incidents, and were
somewhat skeptical that someone was trying to sabotage the production. They thought it seemed
more likely that the death had been a suicide, and that the other incidents had been just accidental.
Unsure of how to proceed, the owners of Monarch Theatre continued preparation for The Terror.
Basil Karlo was now fully engrossed in his Clayface persona.
Furious that the production was continuing, he began to openly attack the actors and stagehands
involved, waiting until they were secluded and then striking. Some were seriously injured, some
were killed. The police became involved again, but were unsure how the attacker was gaining access to
the building. They continued investigations, but had only eyewitness accounts as evidence.
No suspects had been identified, and no murder weapons had been found.
It was at this point, in 1891, that sightings of the mysterious Bat-Man began. It didn’t take long
before Monarch Theatre gained the attention of the Bat. Performing his own investigation, the
Bat-Man witnessed Clayface using hidden passages and storage rooms to traverse the theatre grounds.
The Bat-Man was not yet in the public eye, and no one was the wiser to his presence in Gotham.
The vigilante soon discovered a journal that belonged to Karlo, detailing his activities
and criminal intent. Utilizing this, the Bat-Man confronted Clayface. Karlo pulled out a knife,
and the two battled all across the theatre and even onto the stage, dodging around props.
The fight did not end until Clayface fell off of the tower constructed onstage.
This account comes from the journals kept by Bruce Wayne during his vigilante career.
The fall, while not fatal, incapacitated him long enough for the Bat-Man to tie him
up and leave him for the authorities. When the police took him into custody, Clayface’s former
colleagues identified him as Basil Karlo. The Bat-Man had also left Karlo’s journal for them.
Basil was incarcerated in Blackgate Prison with numerous other criminals.
No one was certain who had defeated Clayface, but many of his former colleagues were horrified
to discover that he had been hiding in the very walls of Monarch Theatre.
This case was one of the first cases solved by the Bat-Man
upon his arrival in Gotham, though virtually no one knew of his existence at first.
Basil Karlo, consumed by anger at his failure, became lost even deeper in the role of Clayface.
He eventually had to be moved to Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane due to his volatile
tendencies. The production of The Terror continued, and it was a smash hit amongst the
citizens of Gotham. It solidified Matthew Hagen’s standing as the new best actor in town, with his
performance receiving rave reviews. Clayface, in his own way, would gain popularity years later.
His tale of lurking in the theatre and stalking his former colleagues spread worldwide,
inspiring such works as The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, published serially in 1909.
Years later, William Henry Pratt would take the stage name Boris Karloff
after Basil Karlo’s own name. Boris Karloff wanted to solidify himself as a horror actor,
and the tragedy of Clayface served as a perfect way to do so. Clayface, consigned to Arkham,
stayed there until the riot of 1892, when a large number of inmates would escape.
The Reign of the Ripper in Gotham would cause much chaos in Gotham, and Clayface would strike again.