Historical Figures Codexery

Bela Lugosi

The iconic Count Dracula of stage and screen.

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó, known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian-American actor born in 1882 in Lugos, Kingdom of Hungary.[1][2] Lugosi died of a heart attack on August 16, 1956, in Los Angeles at age 73.[3] The role that most defines his career is the lead in the 1931 film Count Dracula, which elevated him to international fame but also confined him to that character type.[3]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó
Born
20 October 1882
Birthplace
Lugos, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania)
Died
16 August 1956
Place of death
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place
Holy Cross Cemetery
Occupation
Actor
Years active
1902–1956

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Lugosi was the youngest of four children, raised in a Catholic family, and left school at age 12 to work manual labor jobs.[2][4][3] He began his stage acting career in 1902, performing in provincial theatres during the 1903–04 season.[5] Due to his activism in the actors' union during the 1919 revolution, he fled Hungary, eventually emigrating to the United States in December 1920.[6][7] In 1927, he starred as Dracula in a Broadway adaptation, which ran for 261 performances before touring.[8][3]

He developed chronic sciatica from his military service, leading to opiate addiction that reduced his film offers.[9][3] Late in life, filmmaker Ed Wood cast him in films such as Glen or Glenda (1953) and Bride of the Monster (1955).[10] In 1911, Lugosi relocated to Budapest, and from 1913 through 1919 he performed numerous roles at the National Theatre of Hungary.[11][3] After campaigning for the part, Lugosi appeared in the 1931 motion picture Dracula under Tod Browning's direction, agreeing to a $3,500 fee for seven weeks of work.[12][13]

What the cited sources add

A 2020 article notes that Lugosi's role as Dracula inadvertently restricted him from landing other jobs because he was so linked to the character.[3] The same source states that Lugosi left school at age 12 and began touring provincial theatres in the 1903–04 season.[3] A 2016 article reports that Lugosi was wounded on three occasions while serving in the Carpathian mountains.[7] A 2020 article adds that Lugosi's addiction to methadone led production companies to avoid offering him work.[3]

A 2016 article points out that when the studio was casting the film Dracula, Lugosi was not their initial pick, and director Tod Browning was reluctant to give him the part.[7] The same 2016 article mentions that Lugosi turned down the opportunity to play the monster in Frankenstein, believing the part was more appropriate for a "half-wit extra".[7]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Bela Lugosi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "From the Archives: Actor Bela Lugosi, Dracula of Screen, Succumbs After Heart Attack at 73", Los Angeles Times, August 17, 1956 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Bela Lugosi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Milano, Roy, "Monsters: A Celebration of the Classics from Universal Studios", Del Ray Books, imprint of Random House, Inc., 2006, p. 38; Rhodes, Gary (1997). Lugosi: His Life in Films, on Stage, and in the Hearts of Horror Lovers. .; "United States Census, 1930", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCJB-Z61 : accessed May 20, 2018), Bela Lugosi, Los An; Rhodes, "Lugosi: His Life in Films, on Stage, and in the Hearts of Horror Lovers", McFarland, 1997 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. "Why Bela Lugosi remains the ultimate Dracula", faroutmagazine.co.uk, 2020-10-20. facts only, no text reused. faroutmagazine.co.uk
  4. Wikipedia, "Bela Lugosi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Milano, Roy, "Monsters: A Celebration of the Classics from Universal Studios", Del Ray Books, imprint of Random House, Inc., 2006, p. 38 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Bela Lugosi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Milano, Roy, "Monsters: A Celebration of the Classics from Universal Studios", Del Ray Books, imprint of Random House, Inc., 2006, p. 38; "15 Intriguing Halloween-Related Factoids!", Huffington Post, November 3, 2011 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Bela Lugosi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kuhlenbeck, "Béla Lugosi: actor, union leader, anti-fascist", Workers World, March 5, 2019; Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape by Robert Cremer (1976) (hardcover); Milano, Roy, "Monsters: A Celebration of the Classics from Universal Studios", Del Ray Books, imprint of Random House, Inc., 2006, p. 38 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  7. "12 Surprising Facts About Bela Lugosi", August 16, 2016. facts only, no text reused. mentalfloss.com
  8. Wikipedia, "Bela Lugosi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rhodes, "Lugosi: his life in films, on stage, and in the hearts of horror lovers", McFarland, 1997, p. 169 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Bela Lugosi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hollywood Reporter, "[[Walter Miller (actor)|[Walter] Miller]] Goes In Lugosi Part In Columbia 'Island'", Jan. 29, 1938, p. 5. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Bela Lugosi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kelley, "His Way: The Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra", Bantam Books, 1987, p. 248 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Bela Lugosi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Arthur Lennig, The Immortal Count, University Press of Kentucky, 2003, pp. 25–26, 28–29; . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Bela Lugosi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bela Lugosi: Dreams and Nightmares by Gary D. Rhodes, with Richard Sheffield, (2007) Collectables/Alpha Video Publishers, (hardcover) (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Bela Lugosi" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape by Robert Cremer (1976) (hardcover); "12 Surprising Facts About Bela Lugosi", August 16, 2016 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Bela Lugosi (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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