Icons of Hollywood - Bela Lugosi

A young Bela, sporting look he would be remembered for.

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó was born in modern day Romania on 20 October 1882, then part of the Kingdom of Hungary, in a small place call Lugos (now Lugoj). His early life wasn't easy. He left school and home at 12 years old to find work. He was able to break into theatre at 20 in the local theatre circuits. He took the stage name "Lugosi" as an honorable nod to his hometown. After having a series of roles with the Hungarian National Theatre and a stint in the First World War, he would discover Hungary's film industry in 1917. He was 34.

A shot from an undetermined Hungarian film - supposedly Caravan of Death (1920) from his German career.

In his Hungarian film career, which was short-lived, he starred in 10 films. His took the name Arisztid Olt for at least eight of these. After he fled Hungary in 1919 for political reasons (a regime change that put socialists at risk), Lugosi moved to Germany. Here, Bela Lugosi started to make a few waves. He worked alongside silent film luminary F. W. Murnau in Der Januskopf in 1920, two years before Murnau came to international fame for Nosferatu. Lugosi made at least 12 films in 1920, and 15 in total in Germany before travelling to the U.S. in 1923. He soon got work in The Silent Command (1923), his first American film.

In his early American career, Lugosi starred in Silent comedies, and then dramas as the sound era came in. Crime, mystery, war and romantic dramas were where his roles predominantly lay, with the odd musical appearance. It was around this time that he married Beatrice Weeks. Their marriage in 1929 lasted three days - yes, three (3) days - and their divorce proceedings went on for about four months. Their divorce was covered in the national press in America as it was cited that his affair with Clara Bow, one of the silent movie era phenoms and early sex symbols of Cinema, was the cause for the divorce.

The famous shot of Lugosi as Dracula, with the light across his eyes.

It wasn't until the famously glorious Dracula in 1931 did his horror route start. This was also the year he became a naturalised American citizen. By this point, Lugosi was 48. His other four films in 1931 were all comedies, but his major horror roles came flooding in from the following year. 1932 saw four horrors, including Murders in the Rue Morgue, and from there until the end of the 1940's Lugosi stuck to thrillers and horror almost exclusively. In a 20 year period, between 1928 and 1948, Lugosi made approximately 70 films, all usually horror or thrillers. 1948 saw him return as Dracula in Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein. Lugosi only played Dracula twice, but it was his role.

The 1950's only saw seven films for Lugosi before his death. Unfortunately, by this point, he was an alcoholic and drug addict, although he made serious and semi-successful attempts to beat his addictions. This was when he met Edward D. Wood Jr. - the infamous Ed Wood - and sparked an association which gave us horrendous films such as Glen or Glenda (1953), Bride of Frankenstein (1955) and the legendary cult film, released after his death, Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957). Plan 9 and Lock Up Your Daughters (1959), a film where Lugosi narrated over a series of stock footage of other horror films, were release posthumously, the latter on released in the UK.

In 1994, Martin Landau would portray Lugosi in Ed Wood, alongside Johnny Depp as the titular character. It is a little off historically, with Lugosi's family stating that many of the portrayed character traits in the film were not true.

Ed Wood (left) and Lugosi

There are many myths and legends surrounding his death in August of 1956. He had slipped into poverty and was taking every opportunity he could get, and carried his Dracula role with him everywhere he went. Rumours persisted for years that he was holding a script of an Ed Wood project titled "The Final Curtain", which wasn't true. It is also believed that he requested to be buried in his Dracula costume. Whilst it has been said to not be a true request of his own, his son and last wife believed it would have been something he would have wanted, so was buried in a Dracula cape. How much extra he had with him, I could only find speculative suggestions.

Centre, as the Butler in 1939's The Gorilla. Lugosi often expressed interest in moving away from supernatural roles.

Bela Lugosi's legacy goes far beyond Dracula. He will forever be the figure used in all modern Dracula performances, with the posture and stereotypical voice and even the hairstyle, but Lugosi did more than just that. His passionate socialist ideas led him to be one of the founding members of the Screen Actors Guild (member 28). It was also through him that you now cannot just make or use any portrayal of someone without their estate's consent or consideration. Thanks to Lugosi's son, Bela G. Lugosi Jr. (an American lawyer), who lost a case in 1979 when it was "personality rights" were considered not to pass on to an estate as copyrights do, laws were soon put in place after to protect this - the California Celebrities Rights Act. Since an amendment in 1999, the rights to someone's personality, voice, traits, image etc. are protected for 70 years after death. Bela Lugosi's passed out of protection in August of this year.

Bela Lugosi's grave is marked by a simple plaque that says "Bela Lugosi. Beloved Father. 1882 - 1956", with a cross surrounded by a simple rose engraved next to his name.

Every actor's greatest ambition is to create his own, definite and original role, a character with which he will always be identified. In my case, that role was Dracula. - Bela Lugosi

Credits and Disclaimer -

This is a summary of Bela Lugosi's life. I am not an expert, nor claim to be one. All information and images gathered from freely available sources on the internet. These include generic Google searches, Wikipedia, IMDB, Britannica, The Sunday Post and Ripley's.