Bela Lugosi
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Bela Lugosi was a 20th century Hungarian film actor, best known for his portrayal of Dracula in the 1931 film of the same name.
[edit] 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, because he died before main filming of the movie began. 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?"
[edit] 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)
