TRIVIA

Born in Lugos, Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania), from which he derived his eventual professional surname.

His son, Bela Lugosi Jr., practices law in Los Angeles, California (1995).

Following his death, he was interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Were it not for his death, Lon Chaney, rather than Lugosi, would have been the director Tod Browning's choice for the starring role in Dracula (1931).

On the set, he camouflaged his drug addiction by sipping burgundy.

Contrary to popular belief, he and Boris Karloff did not hate each other, as the famous scene from Ed Wood (1994) would lead one to believe. Both men's children have said that the only rivalry that existed between them is when they were both up for the same roles, and in reality, Lugosi and Karloff had almost no relationship off-set. However, near the sad end of his life, Lugosi allegedly had at least one methadone-addled fantasy that Karloff was a bogeyman out to get him.

He was one of the charter members of the Screen Actors Guild.

In 1929 he married a wealthy San Francisco widow named Beatrice Weeks, a union which lasted all of three days; their divorce named Clara Bow as the "other woman"--it was a media sensation and launched him into national notoriety. Pictured on one of a set of five 32¢ US commemorative postage stamps, issued 30 September 1997, celebrating "Famous Movie Monsters". He is shown as the title character in Dracula (1931). Other actors honored in this set of stamps, and the classic monsters they portray, are Lon Chaney as The Phantom of the Opera (1925); Lon Chaney Jr. as The Wolf Man (1941); and Boris Karloff on two stamps as The Mummy (1932) and the monster in Frankenstein (1931). Had a long extensive classical career in Hungary including roles in "Hamlet", "Macbeth", "King Lear", "Taming of the Shrew" and "Richard III".

His first stage role in the United States was "The Red Poppy". Unable to speak English, he was forced to learn the role by rote. He was rewarded with excellent reviews and earned his first American film role, a villainous role in The Silent Command (1923) as a result.

At the time of his death, Lugosi was in such poor financial straits that Frank Sinatra was rumored to have paid for his funeral. Actually, Bela's widow Hope and ex-wife Lillian paid it; Sinatra's only connection to the aging actor was sending him a $1000 check during his drug rehabilitation. The rumor that Boris Karloff attended the funeral was also an urban myth, as he wasn't in California at the time.

He performed in live-action reference footage for the "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence of Walt Disney's Fantasia (1940). He was, of course, the terrifying demon Chernabog.

His Los Angeles home was purchased by Johnny Depp, the actor who portrayed his friend Edward D. Wood Jr. in the film Ed Wood (1994).

Further immortalized in the song "Bela Lugosi's Dead" by Bauhaus, which was featured in The Hunger (1983) and went on to become a dance mainstay at goth dance clubs in the 1980s. The lyrics of the song described him in his Dracula costume, along with "Undead! Undead! Undead!" being chanted during the song's chorus.

His performance in Tod Browning's Dracula (1931) created such a sensation that he reportedly received more fan mail from females than even Clark Gable.

His name had become such as asset that studios would give him prominent billing even when he was playing such supporting roles as butlers, as he did in Columbia's Night of Terror (1933), Fox's The Gorilla (1939), Universal's Night Monster (1942) and Paramount's One Body Too Many (1944).

In his collaborations with Boris Karloff at Universal, it was Karloff who always got top billing. When these same films were released as part of a DVD box set in 2005, Universal chose to market them as "The Bela Lugosi Collection".

He still spoke very little English by the time he shot Dracula (1931), He had made the role famous on Broadway, but most of his lines he had learned phonetically (which gave his readings an oily, seductive quality), and used the same technique for the film version. It was another two years after he shot Dracula (1931) before he became fluent in English, although he had made several films after that one.

He received only $500 per week for the seven-week engagement on Dracula (1931) a total of $3500. However, in 2007 purchasing power, that would be equal to $47,319. In comparison, Universal paid $2000 per week for the use of leading man David Manners, but Manners was a contract player at First National Pictures. The payment went to that studio, not to Manners, who was paid only his usual weekly rate from First National.

Served in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I as an infantry captain. He later recounted in stories on film sets about his experiences, which included acting as a hangman. He also said that at one point he hid in a mass grave of corpses to escape death. After being wounded three times, he was discharged while apparently feigning concussion-caused insanity.

Lugosi himself perpetrated the myth that he had quit the role of the monster in Frankenstein (1931), which is untrue. Originally, director Robert Florey wanted him to play Dr. Frankenstein, but producer Carl Laemmle Jr. did not want Lugosi in that role and relegated him to the monster role. Lugosi was unhappy with playing the plodding, mute monster under heavy make-up and complained. He had filmed some screen tests with Florey, but Laemmle did not like what he saw and fired both Florey and Lugosi.

Lugosi was contracted to appear in Dracula's Daughter (1936) at a salary of $4,000, but the original script in which the character appeared was rejected by Universal. The final script did not involve Dracula, except for an insert shot of him in his coffin, but Lugosi was paid off, earning $500 more for not appearing in Dracula's Daughter (1936) than he earned for starring in Dracula (1931).

According to biographer Robert Cremer, Lugosi was not only the finest party host among Hungarian members of the Hollywood community but also an inveterate practical joker. When other expatriates such as Joe Pasternak, Ilona Massey, Michael Curtiz and Willy Pogany were guests, he would hire comic actor Vince Barnett to play the role of a clumsy waiter spilling drinks and dropping plates of hors d'oeuvres, resulting in near misses for the guests to Lugosi's delight.

His wife and son had him buried in his cape from his role as the title character of Dracula (1931).

He did not wear fangs when playing the title character in Dracula (1931). The same was true of Frank Langella in Dracula (1979).

He has two roles in common with Christopher Lee: (1) Lugosi played Count Dracula in Dracula (1931) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) while Lee played him in ten films from Horror of Dracula (1958) to Dracula and Son (1976) and (2) Lugosi played Frankenstein's Monster in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) while Lee played him in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957).

He has two roles in common with Lon Chaney Jr.: (1) Lugosi played Count Dracula in Dracula (1931) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) while Chaney played him in Son of Dracula (1943) and (2) Chaney played Frankenstein's Monster in The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), in which Lugosi also appeared, while Lugosi played him in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), in which Chaney also appeared.

He appeared with Boris Karloff in seven films: The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936), Son of Frankenstein (1939), You'll Find Out (1940), Black Friday (1940) and The Body Snatcher (1945).

He appeared with Lon Chaney Jr. in five films: The Wolf Man (1941), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943), Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) and The Black Sleep (1956).

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6430 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960.

Bela Lugosi passed away on August 16, 1956, two months away from what would have been his 74th birthday on October 20.

Is referenced in The Kinks 1972 song "Celluloid Heroes", with the lines "Avoid stepping on Bela Lugosi, because he's liable to turn and bite.".

Contrary to popular belief, Lugosi only played Count Dracula in two films: Dracula (1931) and Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948). He played vampires in many other films, but none of them--besides the aforementioned two--were Count Dracula.

Bela's personal cane featured in his infamous scene in "Plan 9 From Outer Space" sold at Bonhams and Butterfields for $10,000. This cane is considered one of the only remaining props from the film. [November 2015].

Bela Lugosi ventured the jump across the pond to the USA. There he first had to content himself with smaller roles, first at the theater and from 1923 in movies too.

Private Bela Lugosi had to struggle with his alcohol and drug addiction.

Because Bela Lugosi was also active political the situation in Hungary became precarious and finally he and his wife decided to leave Hungary. They came via Vienna to Berlin where he was able to continue his film career.

With "Glen or Glenda" (1953) he also appeared in a movie directed by Ed Wood jr. who sometimes is referred as the worst director ever. But because of this fact those movies became a kind of cult and Bela Lugosi became an icon for enthusiasts of such trash movies.

He already impersonated the figure of "Dracula" on Broadway from 1927 and when the director Tod Browning planned to make a movie of it the chance of Lugosi's life came - also because of the unexpected death of the actor Lon Chaney who was originally planned for the title role.

Because his parents were against his plans to become an actor he left the family and went to the theater where he made his first experiences as an actor. Finally he joined the film business in 1917 where he first used the pseudonym Arisztid Olt.

At the end of the Sledge Hammer episode "Sledge Hammer" (1986) Last of the Red Hot Vampires (#2.9) there is a dedication "In Memory of Mr. Blasko," Lugosi's birth name.