Born: October 20, 1882 in Lugoji, Romania
Died: August 16, 1956 in Los Angeles, California at age 73
 |
| Bela Lugosi, 1912 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi |
Introduction
Born in 1882 in Romania as Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko, Bela Lugosi was destined to be a household name and a horrror icon in his future. He fled from Romania in 1919 to Germany, due to his left winged views. During his time in Germany, Lugosi organized an actor's union. He had been acting for about 17 (known) years and felt a need to organize fellow actors to aid in progress. A year later (1920), he found his way to the United States, acting in what he could to earn a living before found his debut performance as Count Dracuala at age 64.
Stage and Film
Bela Lugosi is best known for the 1931 film adaptation of Bram Stroker's Dracula, but he got the taste for acting as early as age 19. His earliest known acting performance was in 1902 in Hatseg, Hungary in a live version of Ocskay Brigaderos. Through the years, he built a strong acting reputation and performed in many countries, even continents. On July 1, 1947, Lugosi performed in Arsenic and Old Lace in New Hope, Pennsylvania (about 2 hours from Bloomsburg University). As of now, there are over 200 documented stage performances that Bela Lugosi had performed in, possibly more due to poor documentation. In 1927, Bela Lugosi was cast as Count Dracula on Broadway. Eventually the performances became to be filmed by Tod Browning in 1931 for movie production. But that was not the first time Lugosi had been on film, he has appeared in films from 1917 to 1959. Even after his death in 1956, due to the movie not being finished prior to his death was released to theaters. His first known film was a 1917 Hungarian film entitled, Leoni Leo, but performed under the pseudonym, just as many of his early works were. The last film he performed in and was released after his death was Lock Up Your Daughters in 1959.
 |
| https://youtu.be/Bzb3rASU-pM |
Bela Lugosi died in his Los Angeles, California home on August 16, 1956 due to a drug related heart attack. Unfortunately, his family had become too poor to hold a proper funeral for the late, great actor, but luckily Frank Sinatra covered all funeral costs. Lugosi was also buried in one of his many cape for Dracula. His burial site has become a great tourist spot for lovers of horror. Bela Lugosi was laid to rest at the Holy Cross Cemetery, Lot: Grotto L120, 1.
 |
| https://images.findagrave.com/photos/2017/278/652_1507329389.jpg |
Works Cited
Brooke, Michael. “Bela Lugosi.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/name/nm0000509/bio?
ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm.
“The Official Site.” Bela Lugosi, 2017, belalugosi.com/.
“Bela Lugosi (1882-1956) - Find A Grave Memorial.” Find a Grave,
www.findagrave.com/memorial/652/bela-lugosi.
I find it amazing that he was in over 200 performances and more due to the poor documentation. I think it's cool that he knew what he wanted so early on in his life and was able to pursue it rather directly. It's great that they were able to release a film even after his death to honor him. This was nicely written and provided great detail about his life.
ReplyDeleteGreat work!
I didn't know anything about Bela Lugosi before reading your post, and I appreciate the overview you've given in this post. It's crazy to me that an actor with such a prior career (which we would assume was performed with the same level of talent) was 64 before people really started to pay attention to him! It is also interesting that he gained enough of a reputation in just 9 years from that point for someone like Frank Sinatra to cover his funeral costs. While you've given a good overview of his life, you also make it clear in your writing that there's a much bigger story to be told for a later day. Thanks for posting!
ReplyDeleteI heard about Bela Lugosi a little bit when researching my own topic but did not know all of this information! I find it really cool that he performed in New Hope, so close to where our school is. It's crazy that at 64, probably when he thought is acting career was over, was just the start of people starting to know his name, all thanks to 'Dracula'! I remember reading that Lugosi was the first Dracula to wear an ornamental medal on his chest that he supplied himself! As for his death I find it awesome that Frank Sinatra provided financial support so Lugosi could have a proper funeral!
ReplyDeleteHi Lex! Upon writing my own blog post, when searching for images of Dracula, one of the most common ones that I found happened to be of Bella Lugosi in the 1931 adaptation of Dracula. It's interesting to hear that he was from Romania, which is definitely fitting for a man who ends up being Dracula in both on stage, and film productions. The end of his life was very unfortunate, however it it a neat fact that Frank Sinatra covered all of the funeral costs. Great read!
ReplyDelete