Nerds of Everything: ICON of HORROR: October 3rd

The Icon of Horror for October 3rd is..........................Bela Lugosi.

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó (20 October 1882 – 16 August 1956), commonly known as Béla Lugosi, was a Hungarian actor of stage and screen. He was best known for having played Count Dracula in the Broadway play and subsequent film version, as well as having starred in several of Ed Wood's low budget films in the last years of his career.

Lugosi, the youngest of four children, was born as Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in Lugos (at the time part of Austria–Hungary, now Lugoj in Romania (Ironic wouldn't you say)), to Paula de Vojnich and István Blasko, a banker. He later based his last name on his hometown. At the age of 12, Lugosi dropped out of school to pursue acting and became independent. He worked in a mine and as a machinist while trying to find stage work.

Young Bela Lugosi

Due to his activism in the actors union in Hungary during the time of the Hungarian Revolution of 1919, he was forced to flee his homeland. He first went to Vienna, Austria, and then settled in Germany where he acted in his first film which was an early adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Lugosi left Germany in October 1920, intending to immigrate to the United States, and entered the country at New Orleans in December 1920. He made his way to New York and was legally inspected for immigration at Ellis Island in March 1921.

Lugosi was approached in the summer of 1927 to star in a Broadway production of Dracula adapted by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston from Bram Stoker's novel. He initially turned the role down but was asked to reconsider when the actor from the English production also turned it down, he accepted. The Horace Liveright production was successful, running 261 performances before touring. He was soon called to Hollywood for character parts in early talkies. Despite his critically acclaimed performance on stage, Lugosi was not Universal Pictures’ first choice for the role of Dracula when the company optioned the rights to the Deane play and began production in 1930. Director Tod Browning originally wanted Lon Chaney for the role, but Chaney died of throat cancer before any deal was made. Lugosi was still not the front runner for the role after Chaney's death, but knew he was destined for the part. So he proceeded to lobby for the role by barraging Universal's president with letters and telegrams, until he finally got the part.

When Lugosi first arrived in America he didn't speak English so when he took English speaking roles he would memorize his line phonetically, one syllable at a time. By the time Dracula came around he only spoke broken English and only learned to speak fluently about 2 years after Dracula.

After the success of Dracula, Universal went into production on Frankenstein and offered Lugosi the part. He would end up turning the role down to the fact that he was not happy with the idea of playing a part with no lines and covering his face with pounds of make-up. The role would end up going to Boris Karloff. This choice would send Lugosi career into a downward spiral as he was not giving a studio contract and was not considered big anymore. So Lugosi, afraid of repeating his Frankenstein mistake, took almost every role he was offered.

Late in his life, Bela Lugosi again received star billing in movies when filmmaker Ed Wood, 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 drug addiction, and the premiere of the film was said to be intended to help pay for his hospital expenses. According to Kitty Kelley's biography of Frank Sinatra, when the entertainer heard of Lugosi's problems, he helped with expenses and visited at the hospital. Lugosi would recall his amazement, since he didn't even know Sinatra.

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 Cape costumes in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.

Notable Roles: