Bela Lugosi Actor
- Gender: Male
- Citizenship: United States
- Born: Oct 20, 1882
- Died: Aug 16, 1956
Béla Ferenc DezsÅ‘ Blaskó, better known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian-American actor, famous for portraying Count Dracula in the original 1931 film and for his roles in various other horror films.
He had been playing small parts on the stage in his native Hungary before making his first film in 1917, but had to leave the country after the failed Hungarian Revolution. He had roles in several films in Weimar Germany before arriving in America as a seaman on a merchant ship.
In 1927, he appeared as Count Dracula in a Broadway adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, where he was talent-spotted as a character actor for the new Hollywood talkies. He would appear in the classic 1931 Dracula talkie by Universal Pictures.
Through the 1930s, he occupied an important niche in popular horror films, with their East European setting, but his Hungarian accent limited his repertoire, and he tried unsuccessfully to avoid typecasting. Meanwhile, he was often paired with Boris Karloff, who was able to demand top billing. To his frustration, Lugosi was increasingly restricted to minor parts, kept employed by the studio principally for the sake of his name on the posters.
I don't have a dime left. I am dependent on my friends for food and a small old-age pension.
food
The vampire was a complete change from the usual romantic characters I was playing, but it was a success.
romantic & success
Death, the final, triumphant lover.
death
If my accent betrayed my foreign birth, it also stamped me as an enemy, in the imagination of the producers.
imagination
Women have a predestination to suffering.
women
It is women who love horror. Gloat over it. Feed on it. Are nourished by it. Shudder and cling and cry out-and come back for more.
women