Bela Lugosi

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Biography

Recent Role:
Voice from David's TV on Hunter
Gender:
Male
Died:
8-16-1956 (in Los Angeles, California, USA from a heart attack)
Birthplace:
Lugos, Austria-Hungary [now Romania]
Birth Name:
Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó
AKA:
Olt Arisztid, Béla Lugosi, Arisztid Olt
The man known to the world as Bela Lugosi was born Béla Blaskó, October 20, 1882, in a small town in southern Hungary called Lugos. Later, he would adopt the stage name Bela Lugosi, which means "Bela from Lugos." Bela was the 4th child of Istan and Paula Blasko. He had three siblings--Laszlo was born 1859, Lajos in 1863, and Vilma in 1878. Bela's father was a banker.







At age 10 Bela enrolled in the Gymnasium (pronounced: geem-NAH-zee-oom; a combination junior high/high school). Bela got the acting bug, and at age 12 left home; he went (mostly







… More on foot) to the town of Resita, 300 miles away, looking for work as an actor. Bela moved to various towns, and worked in mines and factories. Bela continued acting in small roles with minor theatre troupes, through his teen years. In his 20s, Bela acted with repertory companies, and gained some recognition in the theater community.







In 1913, at the age of 31, Bela became a member of the National Theatre of Budapest; a government subsidized theatre program. Bela's acting career was interrupted when he joined up to fight in World War I. During a battle, Bela once rushed to give first-aid to a fellow soldier; that act saved his own life, because the spot where Bela had been standing a moment before was then blasted by artillery fire. Following the war Bela married his first wife, Ilona Szmik, and returned to acting at the National Theatre.







Even though the war was over, Hungary was still in political turmoil. Bela, along with the entire acting community, supported the Kuhn regime, which was favorable to theatrical intellectuals. However, invading Romanian forces put Miklos Horthy's counterrevolution forces into power. Sympathizers to the Kuhn regime were imprisoned, even executed. Bela Lugosi's name was on Horthy's "wanted list!" In 1919, Bela took his wife, and fled for his life, heading to Vienna. Ilona eventually returned home, and divorced Bela. [ note: 36 years later, while filming Bride of the Monster (1955), Ed Wood wrote these lines for Bela's character: "Home? I have no home. Hunted, despised, living like an animal." Bela remembered what it was like to flee his home country, for fear of being thrown into a gulag. ]







Bela went to Berlin, Germany, and appeared in a number of silent films. After a few years, hearing of the opportunities for actors in America, Bela got on a freighter to the U.S. Bela asked for, and got, political asylum in New York City. Some fellow Hungarians helped Bela during this time; throughout his life, Bela would return the favor, by helping other Hungarian immigrants who came to America.







In the 1920s, Bela appeared in 9 movies, and acted on stage, doing Off-Broadway work. He also married and divorced wife number 2, Ilona von Montagh, and wife number 3, Beatrice Weeks -- that marriage lasted only 3 days. Bela had played "Dracula" over 1,000 times on stage, mainly in a road version, when Universal Studios announced they were going to do a film version. Screen legend Lon Chaney had been the first choice, but when he died in August 1930, the role went to Bela.







The movie Dracula made millions for Universal, but very little for Bela. It seems he had a string of bad agents all his life. Even with the phenomenal publicity Bela got because of Dracula, when he starred in White Zombie (another box office hit) the following year, he only got $800. Throughout his entire career, over 100 movies, Bela almost never made more than $3,000 to $5,000 for a movie.







Bela married his 4th wife, Lillian Arch, in 1933. They had one son, Bela Lugosi Jr., born in 1938. Bela and Lillian would stay married until 1953. Bela continued to act for big-budget studios like Universal, and low-budget studios like PRC (Producers Releasing Corporation).







In 1943, Bela played the "Monster" in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, the sequel to The Ghost of Frankenstein where Bela had played "Ygor." The script called for the doctor to put Ygor's brain into the Monster's body; but since the body rejected it, he went blind. The director told Bela to stumble around like he was blind; but later, in the cutting-room, producer George Waggner removed all scenes from the movie that referred to the Monster's blindness. Later, critics unfairly panned Bela's performance. It would be 5 years before Bela acted for Universal Studios again in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948).







Bela went to Columbia studios, and even Monogram Studios, to appear with The East Side Kids (soon to become The Bowery Boys) in a couple of low-budget films. By 1953, it seems mainstream Hollywood had turned its back on Bela, and the only one hiring him was Ed Wood. Bela's final movies were for Ed Wood.







In 1955 Bela married for the 5th time. He and Hope Lininger stayed married until his death on August 16, 1956. If Bela had lived a few years longer, perhaps he, like Boris Karloff, might have been given some parts to play in the horror movies that the new studio, AIP (American International Pictures), was turning out by the late 1950s. Bela's friend, Ed Wood, had written a script called How to Make a Monster with Bela in mind for the leading role, but the movie wasn't made until 1958.







Bela appeared in over 100 movies; his legacy will live forever. Bela Lugosi-- one of the greats.







By: kdh

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    7.8 Good
    The best of the best! hide show

    Let me introduce you to the man who's role in Dracula made the mold for future Dracula actors. This man was one of the greats for his time, and would still be if he was still alive today. The man was very dedicated, heck he was buried in the outfit of one of his more famous roles, Count Dracula himself.

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    Azachu Added Nov 3, 2005 All my reviews
 
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