Buy
Bela Lugosi Books
| Who
Was Bela Lugosi?
Béla Lugosi (pronounced Bay'la Loo'-go-shee)
was born with the name Béla Ferenc Dezso Blaskó on October 20, 1882
in Lugos, Hungary (now part of Romania).
He was a natural for the part of Dracula, having grown up not
far from where the legendary Vlad
the Impaler lived. Strangely, he is one of Hungary's most-famous exports,
but only because of the many horror movies he made. From the defining "Dracula"
to some awful B-movies made by Ed Wood, Lugosi is part of that strange, campy,
American pop-culture, right there with Marilyn
Monroe, Joe
DiMaggio, Michael
Jackson, Michael
Jordan and Elvis.
His life started with great success, but quickly he became labeled and
stereotyped, and later shunned as a suspected Communist (read about Hollywood
blacklists). His home life was a tragedy, filled with divorce and unhappiness.
Facts -
Béla was youngest of four children.
- During
WWI, volunteered and was commissioned as an infantry lieutenant.
- Married
Ilona Szmik (1917-1920)
- His
first picture was A Leopárd.
- Arrived
in New
York City in December, 1921.
- Married
Ilona von Montágh
- Married
Beatrice Woodruff Weeks (1927-1929) (divorced)
- Married
Lilian Arch (1931-1951) (divorced); one child: Béla Lugosi, Jr., January
5th, 1938
- Married
Hope Lininger (1955)
- Paid
just $3,500 for the lead in "Dracula". $5,000 for "Mother Riley
Meets the Vampire" (1952). $800 for "White Zombie" (1932).
- Became
an American citizen 1931
- Father
of Bela Lugosi Jr. (b. 1938), a lawyer in California
- Helped
found the Screen
Actors Guild in the 1930s
- Died
of a heart attack August 16, 1956.
- Buried
in his full Dracula costume, including a cape. Interred at Holy Cross Cemetery,
Culver City, California (travel CA: California
(Eyewitness Travel Guides)
 ,
USA. Specific Interment Location: Grotto, L120, 1. |
