Bela Lugosi

From Lugos, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary [now Lugoj, Timis County, Romania] • 1882 - 1956

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), better known by his stage name Bela Lugosi was a Hungarian–American actor. He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic Dracula (1931), Ygor in both Son of Frankenstein (1939) and Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) and his roles in many other horror films from 1931 through 1956. Lugosi began acting on the Hungarian stage in 1902, appearing in more than 170 productions. Beginning in 1917, he performed in Hungarian silent films. During World War I, he served as an infantry officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914 to 1916. After the failed Hungarian Communist Revolution of 1919, Lugosi was forced to immigrate to Germany due to his Socialist party activities. He acted in several films in Weimar Germany, before arriving in New Orleans as a seaman on a merchant ship, then making his way north to New York City and Ellis Island. In 1927, he starred as Dracula in a Broadway adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, moving with the play to the West Coast in 1928 and settling down in Hollywood. He later starred in the 1931 film version of Dracula directed by Tod Browning and produced by Universal Pictures. Through the 1930s, he occupied an important niche in horror films, but his notoriety as Dracula and thick Hungarian accent greatly limited the roles offered to him, and he unsuccessfully tried for years to avoid typecasting. He co-starred in a number of films with fellow horror icon Boris Karloff, including The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939). By this time, Lugosi had been receiving regular medication for sciatic neuritis, and he became addicted to doctor-prescribed morphine and methadone. This drug dependence (and his gradually worsening alcoholism) was becoming apparent to producers, and after 1948's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, Lugosi experienced a career decline and mostly appeared in low-budget films, some of which were directed by Ed Wood. His collaborations with Wood include a brief appearance in Plan 9 from Outer Space, released posthumously in 1957. Lugosi married five times and had one son, Bela G. Lugosi (with his fourth wife, Lillian). Lugosi would eventually have four grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, although he did not live long enough to meet any of them. (Via Wikipedia)