Whale was hunted by American Indians off the Northwest coast, especially by the Makah, and used for their meat and oil.

It is often now called the Whale, though it is most strongly associated with Cetus the sea-monster, who was slain by Perseus as he saved the princess Andromeda from Poseidon's wrath.

Frankenstein was the first in a series which lasted for many years, although Karloff only featured as the monster in Bride of Frankenstein ( 1935 ), again directed by Whale, and Son of Frankenstein ( 1939 ).

James Whale ( 22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957 ) was an English film director, theatre director and actor.

A string of commercial failures followed and, while Whale would make one final short film in 1950, by 1941 his film directing career was over.

Whale was openly gay throughout his career, something that was very unusual in the 1920s and 1930s.

Whale was born in Dudley, England, the sixth of the seven children of William, a blast furnaceman, and Sarah, a nurse.

Although Whale had little interest in the politics behind the war, he realized that conscription was inevitable so he enlisted in the Army.

Considered because of his age a good candidate for officer training, Whale joined the Inns of Court Officer Training Corps in October 1915 and was stationed in Bristol.

In 1928 Whale was offered the opportunity to direct two private performances of R. C. Sherriff's then-unknown play Journey's End for the Incorporated Stage Society, a theatre society that mounted private Sunday performances of plays.

Whale completed work on the film in 15 days and his contract was allowed to expire.

It was at around this time that Whale met David Lewis.

On both sides of the Atlantic the film was a tremendous critical and commercial success and placed Whale at the top of the British film industry.

Universal Studios signed Whale to a five-year contract in 1931 and his first project was Waterloo Bridge.

Also in 1933 Whale directed the romantic comedy By Candlelight which got good reviews and was a modest box office hit.

With the success of Bride Laemmle was eager to put Whale to work on Dracula's Daughter, the sequel to Universal's first big horror hit.

Whale gathered as many of those as he could who had been involved in one production or another of the musical, including Helen Morgan, Paul Robeson, Charles Winninger, and, as Magnolia, Irene Dunne, who believed that Whale was the wrong director for the piece.

Lewis, meanwhile, was busier than ever with his production duties and often worked late hours, leaving Whale lonely and bored.

The 62-year-old Whale was smitten with the younger man and hired him as his chauffeur.

Whale was cremated per his request and his ashes were interred in the Columbarium of Memory at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale.

James Whale lived as an openly homosexual man throughout his career in the British theatre and in Hollywood, something that was virtually unheard of in the 1920s and 1930s.

Whale directed over a dozen films in other genres, including what is considered the definitive film version of the musical Show Boat ( 1936 ).

The success of the various productions of Journey's End brought Whale to the attention of film producers.

Whale next went to work for independent film producer and aviation pioneer Howard Hughes, who planned to turn the previously silent Hughes production Hell's Angels ( 1930 ) into a talkie.

Whale directed the iconic horror film Frankenstein ( 1931 film ) | Frankenstein ( 1931 )

Whale only made one additional successful feature film, The Man in the Iron Mask ( 1939 ), before retiring from the film industry in 1941.

With his film career behind him, Whale found himself at loose ends.

With the outbreak of World War II, Whale volunteered his services to make a training film for the United States Army.

Whale shot the film, called Personnel Placement in the Army, in February 1942.

Whale directed his final film in 1950, a short subject based on the William Saroyan one-act play Hello Out There.

Influential film critic Andrew Sarris, in his 1968 ranking of directors, lists Whale as " lightly likable ".

Father of Frankenstein served as the basis of the 1998 film Gods and Monsters with Ian McKellen as Whale and Brendan Fraser as Boone.

* May 29 – James Whale, English film director ( b. 1889 )

His novel Benighted ( 1927 ) was adapted into the James Whale film The Old Dark House ( 1932 ); the novel has been published under the film's name in the United States.

* The Whale Rider — a book ( by Witi Ihimaera ) and film inspired in part by the story of Paikea and Ruatapu.

Massey and Karloff had appeared together in the 1932 James Whale suspense film The Old Dark House.

Owen also appeared in the 2005 film, The Squid and the Whale.

* Gray Whale ( increased from 13, 095 to 26, 635 whales between 1968 and 1998 ); removed from list ( Debated because whaling was banned before the ESA was set in place and that the ESA had nothing to do with the natural population increase since the cease of massive whaling Native American tribal whaling )

During his imprisonment, Whale conceived an abiding hatred of Germany.

Whale oil was then the most important raw material for the production of margarine and soap in Germany and the country was the second largest purchaser of Norwegian whale oil, importing some 200, 000 metric tonnes annually.

The closest they ever came to typical rock star misbehavior was a backstage food fight in Aalborg with Inside the Whale, and thrashing a disappointing hotel room in Germany at a time they felt depressed and homesick.