Life in Hollywood for the undead, no matter how famous, can be harsh.
Consider the career of one of the world's most famous vampires, Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó. Born October 20, 1882, Blasko was a matinee idol and Shakespearean star in his native Hungary.
When came to New York seeking fame and fortune, however, he could find work only in the Hungarian-language theatre. He got his break when he was cast in the title role of the stage adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula. When Hollywood bought the play, Blasko went with it, under his more familiar stage name, Bela Lugosi.
The film was a sensation. Lugosi's portrayal was as strong as his accent, and as a result he was typecast in horror pictures and B-movies forever more.
Although he never stopped working (appearing in more than 100 pictures), he never scaled the heights that his longtime rival Boris "Frankenstein" Karloff reached.
In 1994, Martin Landau
was awarded an Oscar for his portrayal of Lugosi, an honor
the real man, Hollywood's original vampire, never achieved.
Suggested Sites...
- Bela Lugosi.com - Lugosi's official site, with photos and information about the actor.
- Wikipedia: Bela Lugosi - extensive biography with information about Lugosi's life and career in Hungary, New York, and Hollywood.
- Internet Archive: White Zombie - watch Lugosi in the 1932 horror classic, thought lost for some 30 years.
- Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula - documentary about the life and times of Bela Lugosi. Hear the actor read Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart."
- Lugosiphilia - dedicated to the exchange of information about Bela Lugosi, the man who was Dracula.
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