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Béla Lugosi was the stage name of actor Béla
Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (October 20,
1882–August 16, 1956).  He was born in
Lugos, Transylvania, Austria-Hungary (now Lugoj,
Romania), the youngest of four children of a
banker.

Lugosi started his acting career on the stage in
Hungary in several William
Shakespeare|Shakespearean plays and other major
roles; and also appeared in several silent films
of the Cinema of Hungary under the stage name
"Arisztid Olt". However, he became most notably
known for his portrayal of Dracula in the American
stage production, and subsequent film, of Bram
Stoker's classic vampire story. 

During World War I he served as an infantry
lieutenant in the Austrian-Hungarian army.

He left from his native Hungary for Germany in
1919 after persecution following his complicity in
the forming of an actor's labor union|union, and
emigrated to the United States in 1921. On June
26, 1931, he became a naturalized citizen of the
United States. 

He worked for some time as a laborer, then became
re-involved in the theater within the
Hungarian-American community.  He was spotted
there and approached to star in a play adapted by
John Balderston from Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. 
After the death of silent movie legend Lon Chaney,
Sr., Lugosi's stage success led to his being
selected to replace Chaney in Tod Browning's movie
version of Dracula (1931 movie)|Dracula (1931) by
Universal Pictures.  The film was also a success
and Lugosi received a studio contract with
Universal, but, through his association with
Dracula (in which he appeared with minimal makeup,
using his natural and heavily-accented voice), he
found himself typecast as a horror film|horror
villain with such movies as "Murders in the Rue
Morgue (1932 film)|Murders in the Rue Morgue" and
"The Raven (1936 film)|The Raven" and "Son of
Frankenstein" for Universal, and the independent
"White Zombie (movie)|White Zombie".  He declined
an offer to appear as The Monster in Frankenstein
(1931 film)|Frankenstein because the role didn't
involve dialogue, a role which was taken by the
man who became his principal contemporary in
horror films, Boris Karloff.  Attempts were made
to give him more protagonistic roles, as in The
Black Cat (1934 film)|The Black Cat and The
Invisible Ray and a small role in the comedy
classic Ninotchka opposite Greta Garbo, but did
not help him break out of "type".  Additionally,
after Universal changed management in 1936, he
found himself being consigned, along with their
entire approach to horror films, to Universal's
B-movie|b-film unit, at times in small roles where
he was obviously used for "name value" only.  In
the early 1940s, Universal did not renew its
contract with Lugosi, and he ended up having to
contract with the poverty row company, Monogram
Pictures, where he received star billing in a
succession of horror, psycho and mystery b-films
produced by Sam Katzman.

Several films at Universal, such as The Black Cat,
"The Raven" and Son of Frankenstein paired Lugosi
with Karloff. Regardless of the relative size of
their roles, Lugosi inevitably got second billing,
below Karloff.  Lugosi's attitude towards Karloff
is the subject of contradictory reports, some
claiming he was openly resentful of Karloff's
long-term success and ability to get good roles
beyond the horror arena, while others suggested
the two actors were - for a time at least - good
friends.

Later on, the acting jobs dried up and he had
become addicted to morphine, originally prescribed
him for severe back pain in the early 1940s,
though he did get to recreate the role of Dracula
one last time for the film Abbott and Costello
Meet Frankenstein|Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet
Frankenstein in 1948.



Late in his life, he again received star billing
in movies when Ed Wood, Jr.|Ed Wood, a would-be
filmmaker and fan of Lugosi's, found him living in
obscurity and near-poverty and offered him roles
in his films, such as Glen or Glenda (where his
role made no more sense than the rest of the
movie) and as a mad scientist in Bride of the
Monster.  During post-production of the latter,
Lugosi entered treatment for his morphine
addiction, and the premier of the film was
ostensibly intended to help pay for his treatment
expenses.  The pseudo-biographical film Ed Wood
(movie)|Ed Wood, by Tim Burton, depicted Wood's
relationship with Lugosi inaccurately. Lugosi was
played by Martin Landau in a good-natured and
sometimes moving interpretation for which Landau
received an Academy Award for best supporting
actor.

The "extras" for the DVD release of Plan 9 from
Outer Space includes an impromptu interview with
Lugosi upon his exit from the treatment center,
which provides some rare personal insights into
the man.

Following his treatment, he was to make one final
film, in late 1955, The Black Sleep, for Bel-Air
Pictures, which was released in the summer of 1956
through United Artists Corp. with an a-film
campaign that included several personal
appearances.  To his disappointment, however, his
role in this film was of a mute - no dialogue.  

He died of a heart attack, aged 73, in August of
1956, in his Los Angeles, California home, while
sitting in a chair.  The script for Final Curtain,
written by Ed Wood, was in his lap.  (The role was
later given to Kenne Duncan, and the shots of that
production made their way into Wood's Night of the
Ghouls, a sequel of sorts to "Bride of the
Monster".)

One of Lugosi's most infamous roles was in a movie
that was released after he was dead.  Ed Wood's
Plan 9 from Outer Space featured footage of Lugosi
interspersed with a double who looked nothing like
him.  Wood had taken a few minutes of silent
footage of Lugosi, in his Dracula cape, for a
planned vampire picture but was unable to find
financing for the project.  When he later
conceived of "Plan 9", he wrote the script to
incorporate the Lugosi footage and hired his
wife's chiropractor to double for Lugosi in
additional shots.  The "double" is easily spotted
by the fact that
# He looks nothing like Lugosi
# He covers his face with his cape in every shot.
Contrary to Burton's Ed Wood (movie)|Ed Wood,
Lugosi did not receive top billing for Plan 9. 
Instead he was listed as a guest-star, below Tor
Johnson, Vampira and Kenne Duncan.

In the postmodern period, Lugosi became the
subject of a song by gothic rock band Bauhaus
(band)|Bauhaus entitled "Bela Lugosi's Dead", and
a couple of his worst films turned up for mocking
on the televison program Mystery Science Theater
3000.

Truth being stranger than fiction sometimes, Bela
Lugosi was buried in his full Dracula costume, as
per the request in his will (law)|will, in the
Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

==See==
*List of Films of Bela Lugosi|Index of Films of
Bela Lugosi


==External link==
*imdb name|id=0000509|name=Béla Lugosi
*http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=B436
90 Bela Lugosi at the All Movie Guide