Bela Lugosi began acting not
in films but on stage, in
Shakespearean roles, when
he was a young man in Hungary
(where he was born, in all
places, Transylvania).
Though he was born Béla
Ferenc Dezs? Blaskó
(in October of 1882), he took
a stage name for his work
in Cinema of Hungary--Arisztid
Olt—before becoming
the Bela Lugosi we know.
His struggles and challenges
include his being included
in post-collapsed Hungarian
Soviet Republic persecutions
of left-wingers and trade
unionists; getting addicted
to morphine (which was originally
prescribed for the intense
back pain he suffered); having
difficulties finding work
(in the 30’s and 40’s),
worrying him about supporting
his family; divorce from a
wife who announced she had
divorced him by telegram;
and his marrying five times
throughout his life.
Lugosi’s Count Dracula
debuted on stage, running
for 33 weeks in 1929, two
years before the movie version
(which slated Lon Chaney for
the part originally, only
casting Lugosi after Chaney
died and after heavy negotiations
and pleading).
Bela Lugosi was paid much
less than the star with second-billing,
David Manners. He was paid
$3500 for his role in Dracula.
Lugosi died at the age of
seventy-three, of a heart
attack which was reportedly
drug-related. When he died,
he was sitting in a chair
holding a script by Ed Wood,
the quirky but clever director
who had sought out Lugosi
and resuscitated his acting
career.
He was buried in one of the
Dracula capes he had worn
in the stage productions of
Horace Liveright and John
Balderston’s Dracula,
adapted from Bram Stoker’s
novel of the same name.
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