Bela Lugosi: biography

Bela Lugosi's career spanned two continents and fifty years. But becoming an iconic figure in the horror genre was not always an easy journey.

Beginnings

Origins Bela Lugosi was born Béla Ferenc Dezs Blaskó in Lugos (now Romania), in 1882. His upbringing in this small Austria-Hungarian town gave no clue to his future as the face of Count Dracula.The young Bela was educated in a Catholic school, but dropped out at the age of 12 to begin acting. Lugosi played small parts in local theatres before moving to Budapest in 1911where he joined the National Theatre of Hungary. The Soldier At the outbreak of the First World War Lugosi enlisted as a Lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army. He served until 1916 when he was wounded in Russia. At the end of the war he returned to acting, this time in film, acting in many silent movies. His early work was in Hungary, but he was exiled to Germany due to his work for the actors’ trade union. Here he continued his work, until making the decision to emigrate to the United States in 1921.

Career

Work in the USA He made his way to New York, forming an acting group with other immigrant Hungarians. By 1922 he was acting on Broadway and had a run of successes though to 1926. Dracula In 1927 he was approached to play the part of Dracula on the Broadway stage. It was a great success and ran for over 250 performances before Bela moved to Hollywood to take up the invitation of film work. In 1930 he began to work on his most famous role. He was a big man and, apart from the Dracula cape, the Dracula Bela Lugosi played was done with almost no makeup or props. Typecasting After this huge success, Lugosi played in a number of other horror films and even featured in a comedy with Abbot and Costello. During these years he spent much of his time trying to persuade producers and directors to cast him in other, more serious parts, but with little success. Eventually, by the early 50s, he had faded from the spotlight.

Achievements

Death of an Icon Lugosi married his fourth wife, Lilian Arch, in 1933 and they had a son, Bela Lugosi Jr., soon afterwards. Bela Lugosi died in Los Angeles in 1956. To this day he remains the image that captures the story of the Transylvanian Count. Indeed, the band Bauhaus recorded 'Bela Lugosi's Dead' in 1979, often referred to as the first gothic rock song. And the officially licensed image of the Lugosi Dracula adorns tee shirts the world over.