This was one of several projects proposed by Wood, including The Phantom Ghoul and Dr. Acula. Lugosi remained in California where he resumed his film work under contract with Fox, appearing in early talkies often as a heavy or an "exotic sheik". He was born in Hungary and died in Los Angeles, California, in 1956. Prior to his death, Lugosi shot test footage of him wearing one of his Dracula capes in a graveyard. Below we countdown to Bela Lugosi upcoming birthday. Age (2022) Update Soon. [14], He later moved to California in 1928 to tour in the Dracula stage play, and his Hollywood film career took off. He never got to see the finished film. He had to suddenly emigrate to Germany after the failed Hungarian Communist Revolution of 1919 because of his former socialist activities (organizing a stage actors' union), leaving his first wife in the process. According to Kitty Kelley's biography of Frank Sinatra, when the entertainer heard of Lugosi's problems, he visited Lugosi at the hospital and gave him a $1,000 check. Hungarian actor who was immortalized as Dracula in 1931. Bela Lugosi was born in Lugoj, Romania on Friday, October 20, 1882 (G.I. In addition to his nine Monogram features, he worked in three features for RKO and one for Columbia (Return of the Vampire, 1943). pg. On his arrival in America, the 6-foot-1-inch (1.85 m), 180-pound (82 kg) Lugosi worked for some time as a laborer, and then entered the theater in New York City's Hungarian immigrant colony. In September 1949, Milton Berle invited Lugosi to appear in a sketch on Texaco Star Theatre. It's Dracula's curse.". Bela Lugosi Net Worth - How Much Is Bela Lugosi Worth? Bela Lugosi: Dreams and Nightmares by Gary D. Rhodes, with Richard Sheffield, (2007) Collectables/Alpha Video Publishers. [39], Late in his life, Bela Lugosi again received star billing in films when the ambitious but financially limited filmmaker Ed Wood, a fan of Lugosi, found him living in obscurity and near-poverty and offered him roles in his films, such as an anonymous narrator in Glen or Glenda (1953) and a mad scientist in Bride of the Monster (1955). 5 Million. In 1966, Bela Jr. and Lillian sued Universal Studios for using Lugosi's personality rights without his heirs' permission. In 1921, he met and married his second wife, Ilona von Montagh, a young Hungarian emigree and stage actress whom he had worked with years before in Europe. When this proved not to be the case, according to Karloff, Lugosi settled down and they worked together amicably (though some have further commented that the English Karloff's on-set demand to break from filming for mid-afternoon tea annoyed Lugosi). The cape Lugosi wore in Dracula (1931) was in the possession of his family until it was put up for auction in 2011. According to this look at Lugosi's itinerant LA lifestyle, he had to borrow money from the Motion Picture Relief Fund to cover the medical costs. - ? Bela Lugosi is a member of Movie Actor. The iconic portrayal of Count Dracula marked Lugosi's career and gave him widespread recognition. It was a wrenching move for the rising star, who, 16 years earlier, had changed his surname from Blask to Lugosi in homage to Lugos, the city of his birth. pg. Wounded twice in the fighting, Lugosi received a medal for his faithful service. The rivalry all started, according to this piece on Bloody Disgusting, when Lugosi turned down the chance to play Frankenstein's monster in the 1931 film version of Mary Shelley's groundbreaking novel. Or Heath Ledger as the Joker. No Traveler Returns: The Lost Years of Bela Lugosi by Bill Kaffenberger and Gary D. Rhodes (2012). His accent, while a part of his image, limited the type of role he could play. Following a successful run as Count Dracula in the stage version of Bram Stoker's bloody tale, Lugosi was cast as the lead in the film adaptation. After Dracula, the bulk of Lugosi's roles were in monster movies of varying degrees of ridiculousness. So, how much was Bela Lugosi networth at the age of years old? During post-production of the latter, Lugosi decided to seek treatment for his drug addiction, and the film's premiere was arranged to raise money for Lugosi's hospital expenses (resulting in a paltry amount of money). The right of publicity in some states endures for 50, 70, 75 or 100 years past the death of the celebrity. In 1928, Lugosi decided to stay in California when the play ended its first West Coast run. Born: October 20, 1882 in Lugos, Hungary. He went on to perform in Shakespeare's plays. Universal took notice of the tremendous business and launched its own national re-release of the same two horror favorites. [3], Lugosi, the youngest of four children,[4] was born Bla Ferenc Dezs Blask in 1882 in Lugos, Kingdom of Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania) to Hungarian father Istvn Blask, a baker who later became a banker,[5] and Serbian-born mother Paula de Vojnich. [78], In 2013 the Hungarian electronic music band agar recorded a song entitled "Mr. Lugosi", which contains a recording of the voice of Bela Lugosi. Bela Lugosi became known as an actor the studios could get on the cheap. [2] He later starred in the 1931 film version of Dracula directed by Tod Browning and produced by Universal Pictures. Not true, but so is the power of suggestion. Then Cheney died, and Lugosi replaced him on the bill. pg. ", "Bela Lugosi is Dracula Again in New Comic Arriving This October", https://www.retroagogo.com/categories/collections/bela-lugosi/, Saturn Award for Best DVD or Blu-ray Collection, Star Trek: Original Motion Picture Collection, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bela_Lugosi&oldid=1152475029, Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I, Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, Naturalized citizens of the United States, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2015, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from October 2022, Articles needing additional references from August 2020, All articles needing additional references, Articles containing Hungarian-language text, Articles with Hungarian-language sources (hu), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 30 April 2023, at 13:16. His first American film role was in the melodrama The Silent Command (1923). . BearManor Media, ISBN 1593932855, Arthur Lennig, The Immortal Count, University Press of Kentucky, 2003, the failed Hungarian Communist Revolution of 1919, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "From the Archives: Actor Bela Lugosi, Dracula of Screen, Succumbs After Heart Attack at 73", https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCJB-Z61, "15 Intriguing Halloween-Related Factoids! $4.5 Million. In 1996, he had a supporting role in Roland Emmerich's Independence Day. Lugosi acted in several Hungarian plays before breaking out into his first English Broadway play, The Red Poppy, in 1922. [24], In 1929, with no other film roles in sight, he returned to the stage as Dracula for a short West Coast tour of the play. The Tragic Real-Life Story Of Bela Lugosi, The Immortal Count: The Life and Films of Bela Lugosi. Add to that illustrious list Bela Lugosi and the British-born Boris Karloff. Nearly 20 years later, Lugosi found himself the beneficiary of an unlikely guardian angel. Bela Lugosi (Actor) - Overview, Biography - Celeb Networth Post If Lugosi hoped that the success of Dracula would allow him to emerge from the gentleman vampire's ahem shadow, he was sorely mistaken. [61], In 1979, the Lugosi v. Universal Pictures decision by the California Supreme Court held that Lugosi's personality rights could not pass to his heirs, as a copyright would have. It also guaranteed that he would never work as a serious actor again. Andy Warhol's 1963 silkscreen The Kiss depicts Lugosi from Dracula about to bite into the neck of co-star Helen Chandler, who played Mina Harker. The funeral was held on Saturday, August 18 at the Utter-McKinley funeral home in Hollywood. Life of Bela Lugosi: Hollywood's Most Famous Dracula - LiveAbout Bela Lugosi was born Bla Ferenc Dezs Blask on October 20, 1882, Lugos, Hungary, Austria-Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania), to Paula de Vojnich and Istvn Blask, a banker. To his frustration, Lugosi, a charter member of the American Screen Actors Guild, was increasingly restricted to mad scientist roles because of his inability to speak English more clearly. Since the studio executives refused to give him his due in life, Lugosi's family namely his son, Bela LugosiJr., and his fourth wife, Lillian were determined that Universal Studio would not be able to profit off his likeness in death. Lugosi was third-billed with his name above the title alongside Basil Rathbone as Dr. Frankenstein's son and Boris Karloff reprising his role as Frankenstein's monster. The court ruled that under California law any rights of publicity, including the right to his image, terminated with Lugosi's death. Bela Lugosi Net Worth, Biography, Age, Weight, Height 2022. The film would be Bela Lugosi's last "A" movie. She had been a fan, writing letters to him when he was in the hospital, recovering from addiction to Demerol. [35] Lugosi memorized the script for the skit, but became confused on the air when Berle began to ad lib. ? When Lugosi's Black Friday premiered in 1940 on a double bill with the Vincent Price film The House of the Seven Gables, Lugosi and Price both appeared in person at the Chicago theatre where it opened on Feb. 29, 1940 and remained for four performances. The role went to Karloff instead, and soon the hollow-cheeked leading man began beating Lugosi out for roles. pg. Wood added what footage he had of the star and used and (unconvincing) body double. (Weeks died 17 months later (at age 34) from alcoholism in Panama, Lugosi never receiving a penny from her fortune. [4] Returning to civilian life, Lugosi became an actor in Hungarian silent films, appearing in many of them under the stage name "Arisztid Olt". The judge sent Lugosi to a nearby hospital, where he plotted a comeback that would never materialize. It appeared on their 1972 album Everybody's in Show-Biz. Full Real Name. He descended into drug use and despair. His professional status made him exempt from the draft, but he signed up anyway and was made a lieutenant in the 43rd Royal Hungarian Infantry. He was buried in a Dracula costume, including a cape, but not the ones used in the 1931 film, contrary to popular--but unfounded--rumors. He was kept employed by the studios principally so that they could put his name on the posters. We hope you enjoy it! Continue reading to discover who . Pg. 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. He also appeared in the film Prisoners (also 1929), believed lost, which was released in both a silent and partial talkie version. Lugosi addressed his plea to be cast in non-horror roles directly to casting directors through his listing in the 1937 Players Directory, published by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in which he (or his agent) calls the idea that he is only fit for horror films "an error."[31]. [59][60] Hope died in Hawaii in 1997, at age 78, having never remarried. The combination was so successful that Umann scheduled extra shows to accommodate the capacity crowds, and invited Lugosi to appear in person, which thrilled new audiences that had never seen Lugosi's classic performance. These low-budget thrillers indicate that Lugosi was much less discriminating than Karloff in selecting screen vehicles, but the exposure helped Lugosi financially if not artistically. The problem first manifested itself in 1937, when Lugosi was forced to withdraw from a leading role in a serial production, The Secret of Treasure Island, due to constant back pain.

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