Bela Lugosi
From Oneiropedia
Revision as of 01:28, 12 December 2007
Bela Lugosi was a 20th century Hungarian film actor, best known for his portrayal of Dracula in the 1931 film of the same name.
Biography
Lugosi was born in Hungary, where he acted in stage in 1910s before joining the Austro-Hungarian army in WWI. After the war, he acted in a number of Shakespeare plays, sometimes under the name Aristzid Olt. In the 1920s, he emigrated to the United States, notably playing a policeman in Tod Browning's 1929 film The Thirteenth Chair. He played Dracula on Broadway before finally becoming a star in Browning's film version. He was offered the role of Frankenstein's monster the same year, but refused because his face would be hidden under layers of make-up; instead, the role went to his long-time rival, Boris Karloff. Over time, the quality of Lugosi's roles diminished, and he was reduced to acting for Poverty Row studios in the 1940s and '50s. He fell into a quagmire of depression and morphine addiction
In the '50s, he was re-discovered by Z-grade director Ed Wood, who cast him in the epics of badness Glen or Glenda, Bride of the Monster, and Lugosi's final film, Plan 9 from Outer Space. Lugosi's role in Plan 9 consisted of some leftover footage of him walking out of a house. He was buried in his black Dracula cape; his old friend Peter Lorre said at his funeral, "Don't you think we should drive a stake through his heart just to make sure?"
Filmography
- The Thirteenth Chair (1929)
- Dracula (1931)
- White Zombie (1932)
- Mark of the Vampire (1935)
- The Phantom Creeps
- The Corpse Vanishes
- The Big Lugosi
- Glen or Glenda
- Bride of the Monster
- Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)
