Béla Ferenc DezsÅ' Blaskó (Hungarian: [ˈbeË lÉ' ˈfÉ›rÉ›ntÍ¡s
ˈdÉ›Ê'Ã¸Ë ËˆblÉ'ʃkoË ]; 20 October 1882 â€" 16 August 1956), known
professionally as Bela Lugosi (/ləˈɡoʊsi/; Hungarian:
[ˈluɡoʃi]), was a Hungarian-American actor best remembered for
portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 film and for his roles in other
horror films.After playing small parts on the stage in his native
Hungary, Lugosi gained his first role in a film in 1917. He had to
leave the country after the failed Hungarian Communist Revolution of
1919 because of his socialist activism. He acted in several films in
Weimar Germany before arriving in the United States as a seaman on a
merchant ship.In 1927, he appeared as Count Dracula in a Broadway
adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. He later appeared in the 1931 film
Dracula directed by Tod Browning and produced by Universal Pictures.
Through the 1930s, he occupied an important niche in horror films,
with their East European setting, but his Hungarian accent limited his
potential casting, and he unsuccessfully tried to avoid
typecasting.Meanwhile, he was often paired with Boris Karloff, who was
able to demand top billing. To his frustration, Lugosi, a charter
member of the American Screen Actors Guild, was increasingly
restricted to minor parts, kept employed by the studio principally so
that they could put his name on the posters. Among his pairings with
Karloff, he performed major roles only in The Black Cat (1934), The
Raven (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939); even in The Raven,
Karloff received top billing despite Lugosi performing the lead role.
By this time, Lugosi had been receiving regular medication for sciatic
neuritis, and he became addicted to morphine and methadone. This drug
dependence was known to producers, and the offers eventually dwindled
to a few parts in Ed Wood's low-budget filmsâ€"including a brief
appearance in Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959). Lugosi was married five
times and had one son, Bela George.
ˈdÉ›Ê'Ã¸Ë ËˆblÉ'ʃkoË ]; 20 October 1882 â€" 16 August 1956), known
professionally as Bela Lugosi (/ləˈɡoʊsi/; Hungarian:
[ˈluɡoʃi]), was a Hungarian-American actor best remembered for
portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 film and for his roles in other
horror films.After playing small parts on the stage in his native
Hungary, Lugosi gained his first role in a film in 1917. He had to
leave the country after the failed Hungarian Communist Revolution of
1919 because of his socialist activism. He acted in several films in
Weimar Germany before arriving in the United States as a seaman on a
merchant ship.In 1927, he appeared as Count Dracula in a Broadway
adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel. He later appeared in the 1931 film
Dracula directed by Tod Browning and produced by Universal Pictures.
Through the 1930s, he occupied an important niche in horror films,
with their East European setting, but his Hungarian accent limited his
potential casting, and he unsuccessfully tried to avoid
typecasting.Meanwhile, he was often paired with Boris Karloff, who was
able to demand top billing. To his frustration, Lugosi, a charter
member of the American Screen Actors Guild, was increasingly
restricted to minor parts, kept employed by the studio principally so
that they could put his name on the posters. Among his pairings with
Karloff, he performed major roles only in The Black Cat (1934), The
Raven (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939); even in The Raven,
Karloff received top billing despite Lugosi performing the lead role.
By this time, Lugosi had been receiving regular medication for sciatic
neuritis, and he became addicted to morphine and methadone. This drug
dependence was known to producers, and the offers eventually dwindled
to a few parts in Ed Wood's low-budget filmsâ€"including a brief
appearance in Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959). Lugosi was married five
times and had one son, Bela George.
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