EARLY DAYS PRODUCTIONS
Lugosi, the youngest of four children, was born as Béla Ferenc Dezso Blaskó in Lugos, at the time part of Austria-Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania), to Paula de Vojnich and István Blasko, a banker. He and his sister Vilma were raised in a Roman Catholic family. Lugosi started his acting career on the stage in Hungary in several Shakespearean plays and in other major roles. He began appearing in Hungarian silent films under the stage name Arisztid Olt. Lugosi left Germany in October 1920, intending to emigrate to the United States, and illegally entered the country at New Orleans in December 1920. He was finally legally inspected at Ellis Island in March 1921. His first major American role came in the 1923 J. Gordon Edwards directed melodrama The Silent Command opposite actors Edmund Lowe and Carl Harbaugh.
1882 - 1956
Stats:
Birth Name:
Béla Ferenc Dezso Blaskó
Height: 6' 1"
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Nickname: Dracula
Quote: "Every actor's greatest ambition is to create his own, definite and original role, a character with which he will always be identified. In my case, that role was Dracula."
Birth Name:
Béla Ferenc Dezso Blaskó
Height: 6' 1"
Hair Color: Dark Brown
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Nickname: Dracula
Quote: "Every actor's greatest ambition is to create his own, definite and original role, a character with which he will always be identified. In my case, that role was Dracula."
A persistent rumor asserts that silent-film actor Lon Chaney was Universal's first choice for the role, and that Lugosi was chosen only due to Chaney's death shortly before production. Chaney had been under long-term contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer since 1925, and his home studio was hesitant to release him to Universal for this project. Chaney and Browning had worked together on several projects (including four of Chaney's final five releases), but Browning was only a last-minute choice to direct the movie version of Dracula after the untimely death of director Paul Leni, who was originally slated to direct. Following the success of Dracula (1931), Lugosi received a studio contract with Universal. On June 26, 1931, the actor became a naturalized citizen of the United States. In 1933 he married Lillian Arch, his third wife. They had a child, Bela G. Lugosi.
Through his association with Dracula (in which he appeared with minimal makeup, using his natural, heavily accented voice), Lugosi found himself typecast as a horror villain in such movies as Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Raven , and Son of Frankenstein for Universal, and the independent White Zombie. His accent, while a part of his image, limited the roles he could play.
For more information about Bela Lugosi please visit: Wikipedia
Bela Lugosi's Selected Filmography
1959 Plan 9 from Outer Space
1956 The Black Sleep
1955 Bride of the Monster
1953 Glen or Glenda
1952 Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
1952 Vampire Over London
1948 Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein
1947 Scared to Death
1946 Genius at Work
1945 The Body Snatcher
1945 Zombies on Broadway
1944 One Body Too Many
1944 Return of the Ape Man
1944 Voodoo Man
1944 The Return of the Vampire
1943 Ghosts on the Loose
1943 Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
1943 The Ape Man
1942 Bowery at Midnight
1942 Night Monster
1942 The Corpse Vanishes
1942 The Ghost of Frankenstein
1942 Black Dragons
1941 The Wolf Man
1941 Spooks Run Wild
1941 The Black Cat
1941 Invisible Ghost
1940 You'll Find Out
1940 The Devil Bat
1940 Black Friday
1940 The Saint's Double Trouble
1939 The Human Monster
1939 The Phantom Creeps
1939 Ninotchka
1939 The Gorilla
1939 Son of Frankenstein
1937 S.O.S. Coast Guard
1936 Shadow of Chinatown
1936 Postal Inspector
1936 The Invisible Ray
1935 Murder by Television
1935 The Raven
1935 Phantom Ship
1935 Mark of the Vampire
1935 The Best Man Wins
1935 Chandu on the Magic Island
1934 The Mysterious Mr. Wong
1934 The Return of Chandu
1934 Gift of Gab
1934 The Black Cat
1933 The Devil's in Love
1933 International House
1933 Night of Terror
1933 The Whispering Shadow
1932 Island of Lost Souls
1932 The Death Kiss
1932 Chandu the Magician
1932 White Zombie
1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue
1931 Broadminded
1931 The Black Camel
1931 Women of All Nations
1931 50 Million Frenchmen
1931 Dracula
1930 Oh, for a Man!
1930 Viennese Nights
1930 Renegades
1930 Wild Company
1930 King of Jazz
1930 Such Men Are Dangerous
1929 The Thirteenth Chair
1929/I Prisoners
1929 The Veiled Woman
1928 How to Handle Women
1927 The Last Performance
1926 Punchinello (short)
1925 Daughters Who Pay
1925 The Midnight Girl
1924 He Who Gets Slapped
1924 The Rejected Woman
1923 The Silent Command
1956 The Black Sleep
1955 Bride of the Monster
1953 Glen or Glenda
1952 Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla
1952 Vampire Over London
1948 Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein
1947 Scared to Death
1946 Genius at Work
1945 The Body Snatcher
1945 Zombies on Broadway
1944 One Body Too Many
1944 Return of the Ape Man
1944 Voodoo Man
1944 The Return of the Vampire
1943 Ghosts on the Loose
1943 Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
1943 The Ape Man
1942 Bowery at Midnight
1942 Night Monster
1942 The Corpse Vanishes
1942 The Ghost of Frankenstein
1942 Black Dragons
1941 The Wolf Man
1941 Spooks Run Wild
1941 The Black Cat
1941 Invisible Ghost
1940 You'll Find Out
1940 The Devil Bat
1940 Black Friday
1940 The Saint's Double Trouble
1939 The Human Monster
1939 The Phantom Creeps
1939 Ninotchka
1939 The Gorilla
1939 Son of Frankenstein
1937 S.O.S. Coast Guard
1936 Shadow of Chinatown
1936 Postal Inspector
1936 The Invisible Ray
1935 Murder by Television
1935 The Raven
1935 Phantom Ship
1935 Mark of the Vampire
1935 The Best Man Wins
1935 Chandu on the Magic Island
1934 The Mysterious Mr. Wong
1934 The Return of Chandu
1934 Gift of Gab
1934 The Black Cat
1933 The Devil's in Love
1933 International House
1933 Night of Terror
1933 The Whispering Shadow
1932 Island of Lost Souls
1932 The Death Kiss
1932 Chandu the Magician
1932 White Zombie
1932 Murders in the Rue Morgue
1931 Broadminded
1931 The Black Camel
1931 Women of All Nations
1931 50 Million Frenchmen
1931 Dracula
1930 Oh, for a Man!
1930 Viennese Nights
1930 Renegades
1930 Wild Company
1930 King of Jazz
1930 Such Men Are Dangerous
1929 The Thirteenth Chair
1929/I Prisoners
1929 The Veiled Woman
1928 How to Handle Women
1927 The Last Performance
1926 Punchinello (short)
1925 Daughters Who Pay
1925 The Midnight Girl
1924 He Who Gets Slapped
1924 The Rejected Woman
1923 The Silent Command
Early Days Productions: Bela Lugosi 03/09/2012
Full Movie: Son of Frankenstein (1939)
One of the son's of Frankenstein finds his father's monster in a comma and revives him, only to find out he is controlled by Ygor who is bent on revenge. - Edited from IMDB
A number of factors worked against Lugosi's career in the mid-1930s. Universal changed management in 1936, and per a British ban on horror films, dropped them from their production schedule; Lugosi found himself consigned to Universal's non-horror B-film unit, at times in small roles where he was obviously used for "name value" only. Throughout the 1930s Lugosi, experiencing a severe career decline despite popularity with audiences (Universal executives always preferred his rival Karloff), accepted many leading roles from independent producers like Nat Levine, Sol Lesser, and Sam Katzman. These low-budget thrillers indicate that Lugosi was less discriminating than Boris Karloff in selecting screen vehicles, but the exposure helped Lugosi financially if not artistically.
Late in his life, Bela Lugosi again received star billing in movies when filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr., a fan of Lugosi, found him living in obscurity and near-poverty and offered him roles in his films, such as Glen or Glenda and as a Dr. Frankenstein-like mad scientist in Bride of the Monster. During post-production of the latter, Lugosi decided to seek treatment for his addiction, and the premiere of the film was said to be intended to help pay for his hospital expenses. Lugosi died of a heart attack on August 16, 1956 while lying on a couch in his Los Angeles home. He was 73. Lugosi was buried wearing one of the Dracula stage play costumes, per the request of his son and fourth wife, in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California. Contrary to popular belief, Lugosi never requested to be buried in his cloak; Bela Lugosi, Jr. has confirmed on numerous occasions that he and his mother, Lillian, made the decision.
