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Few actors have ever personified one of their famous characters more than Bela Lugosi. 25 years after playing the embodiment of evil in Dracula, Lugosi was put to rest in full Count Dracula costume, including the cape. His life and his death will forever be under the shadow of the lurid Count.
"Every actor is somewhat mad, or else he'd be a plumber or a bookkeeper or a salesman." - Bela Lugosi
Born in October of 1882, Be'la Ferenc Dezso Blasko was youngest of four in a family settled in the village of Lugos, Hungary. Be'la's young life collided with World War I. He volunteered for the military and was eventually commissioned as a lieutenant. Upon his release from service he began appearing on stage and quickly became a distinguished actor in his native Hungary.
Away from the limelight, Lugosi was responsible for organizing an actors' union in his home land before being forced to leave the country in response to his political activity. He eventually helped to unionize American actors and was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild.
It was in 1920 that the newly titled Bela Lugosi immigrated to the United States. Unable to speak English, he learned his lines phonetically and earned excellent reviews in several Broadway plays, as well as earning him his first film role in 1923's The Silent Command.
Lugosi balanced stage and film work up before focusing solely on what became a three year Broadway run of Dracula, a move that altered Lugosi's life forever.
During the stage run of Dracula, Lugosi married a rich Californian widow. Only three days later divorce papers were issued citing another woman in Lugosi's life. The media attention and notoriety followed him into the filming of the Dracula movie, arguably his shining moment on screen and undeniably his transformation into iconic horror legend.
"Every producer in Hollywood had set me down as type. I was both amused and disappointed." - Bela Lugosi
Despite Lugosi's dramatic range, demonstrated with roles in classic Shakespeare productions, he was quickly written down to type. Lugosi accepted any work thrown his way, quipping "I'll be truthful. The weekly paycheck is the most important thing to me." The bargain basement roles quickly deteriorated the image and reputation of this larger than life figure.
"This is the most uncomfortable coffin I've ever been in." - Bela Lugosi to Ed Wood.
His final movies were done with the notoriously bad filmmaker Ed Wood. The campy schlockfests are admired today but lambasted at the time. This was a far cry from his heyday when movie studios would give him top-billing, even when he had a very small supporting role.
"Death, the final, triumphant lover." - Bela Lugosi
Legends have risen in the wake of Lugosi's death in 1956. Drug abuse and poverty had claimed Bela Lugosi as another Hollywood victim. Stories circulated that Frank Sinatra stepped in to quietly pay for Lugosi's funeral services. A rivalry between Lugosi and Boris Karloff was created when Lugosi turned down the role as Frankenstein's monster, but was never actually an issue. This led to reports that in Lugosi's final days, morphine hallucinations made him believe Karloff was a real monster coming after Lugosi.
Despite his humble beginning and tragic ending, Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula will continue to be the benchmark for vampire performance and ensure his ongoing status as a Hollywood horror legend. In Hollywood, every legend is undead.
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