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Count Pauper - Bela Lugosi |
An infantry lieutenant in WWI, distinguished stage actor,
Screen Actor's Guild organizer, and star of the silver screen in
such famous classics as Dracula, White Zombie, The Raven, The Body
Snatcher, Ninotchka, and infamous classics like Glen or Glenda?,
Bride of the Monster, and Plan 9 From Outer Space, Bela Lugosi's
career reached both the pinnacle and the bottomless pit of the
Hollywood star system.
"I am Count Dracula!" So said the man who's name and image has
become synonymous with the legendary character. Born Be'la Ferenc
Dezso Blasko on October 20, 1882 in a small Hungarian town called
Lugos, Bela Lugosi, as he eventually came to be known, desired to
become an actor at a very early age. Inspired by the performances
of a touring repertory company, young Bela ran away from home at
the age of 12 to find employment in his chosen profession. All he
found were coal mines and railroad yards. Of this period he
commented, "There, in the dark bowels of the earth, I did
sometimes think I might go mad… there we were sub-human men, there
I learned my horror, now of the darkness…" Later, he would draw
from these experiences to create some of the greatest horror
performances ever captured on film.
Though most people think of the famous celluloid vampire when they
hear the name Bela Lugosi, what they might not realize was that he
was a very accomplished and versatile stage actor as well. In his
native Hungary(now Romania), Bela played a variety of roles,
including Romeo and Jesus Christ. After volunteering to serve in
WWI, where he was wounded three times, Bela made a number of
silent films before seeking his fame and fortune in the New World.
He landed in New York City in December of 1921 and quickly
established a Hungarian-language theatre troupe. Eventually, he
landed the plum role of "The Count" in the Broadway adaptation of
Bram Stoker's Dracula. For two years he toured with the play,
which brought him to the attention of the major studios. When the
film adaptation came up, Bela was offered the role after the
studio's first choice, Lon Chaney, suddenly passed away. As fate
would have it, Bela Lugosi was given a chance to immortalize his
character for generations to come.
His success was short-lived though. Partly due to typecasting, and
partly due to bad choices, Bela soon found himself in a string of
bad movie roles produced by the notorious Poverty Row
schlockmeisters of the day. By the end of WWII, Bela was more or
less playing only parodies of his famous alter-ego. A drug
addiction to morphine, and a friendship with Ed Wood, the
so-called "worst director of all time", signaled the bottom of
this extraordinary man's descent. Even though he finally beat his
addiction, his career never rebounded, and he died a year later,
penniless and mostly forgotten. Throughout his life, he suffered
through five failed marriages and two bankruptcies. A posthumous
resurgence in his popularity forced the heirs of his estate to sue
Universal Pictures over the profits made by licensing and
marketing his likeness in the role of Count Dracula. They
eventually won and now share in the lucrative industry that has
grown up around the classics of the horror genre. And like a true
vampire, Bela Lugosi has risen from the dead. It's too bad, that
in life, he wasn't able to reap the same rewards.
For more information of the life and times of Bela Lugosi, check
these out:
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