Died: August 16, 1956 in Los Angeles, California, USA. April 30, 2023. 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! ), and Lillian Arch (1933 - 1951). List of Bela Lugosi . Lugosi kept busy during the 1940s as a screen menace. He took the name "Lugosi" in 1903 to honor his birthplace, and eventually travelled to New Orleans, Louisiana as a crewman aboard a merchant ship. 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. He was buried in a Dracula costume, including a cape, but not the ones used in the 1931 film . Following the blockbuster release of Dracula in 1931, the striving and serious actor from Transylvania would find himself typecast again and again by Hollywood, passed over for more meaty roles and given, almost without fail, the part of the cheesy villain. [15] Lugosi made at least 10 films in Hungary between 1917 and 1918 before leaving for Germany. Lillian would produce Lugosi's only son, Bella Jr., five years later. [4] Returning to civilian life, Lugosi became an actor in Hungarian silent films, appearing in many of them under the stage name "Arisztid Olt". He went first to Vienna before settling in Berlin (in the Langestrasse), where he continued acting. As far as we know, he has never risen from it. Attendees included Forrest J. Ackerman, Ed Wood (who was a pall bearer), Tor Johnson, Conrad Brooks, Richard Sheffield, both of the widows (Hope and Lillian), Bela Lugosi Jr., Norma McCarty, Loretta King, Paul Marco and actor George Becwar. Bela Lugosi - Turner Classic Movies Interestingly enough, Vlad the Impaler, Broker's inspiration for the count, was likewise a misunderstood man. Bela Lugosi was born on October 20, 1882 in Lugoj, Romania. He went on to perform in Shakespeare's plays. 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. 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. The Tragic Real-Life Story Of Bela Lugosi - Grunge Net Worth 2020, Salary. He began his stage acting career in 1902. During World War I, he served as an infantryman in the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914 to 1916, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. Whether or not the two men actually disliked each other is a matter of lively debate. The rumor that Lugosi was clutching the script for The Final Curtain, a planned Ed Wood project, at the time of his death is not true. He made his way to New York and was inspected by immigration officers at Ellis Island in March 1921. He was awarded the Wound Medal for wounds he sustained while serving on the Russian front. [3] (Szmik then married wealthy Hungarian architect Imre Francsek in December 1920, moved with him to Iran in 1930, had two children, and died in 1991.)[47]. The young Bela was born just the year before. Bela Lugosi was born in Lugoj, Romania on Friday, October 20, 1882 (G.I. He next played Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's Ed Wood (1994). Wood hired Tom Mason, his wife's chiropractor, to double for Lugosi in additional shots. According to the Imaginative Conservative, the erasure of Lugosi's actual history was just one unfortunate blow he had to survive, following his star turn as the count. The biggest break, really. Lillian and Bla divorced in 1953, at least partially because of Bla's jealousy over Lillian taking a full-time job as an assistant to Brian Donlevy on the sets and studios for Donlevy's radio and television series Dangerous Assignment Lillian eventually did marry Donlevy in 1966. Bela Lugosi Net Worth, Height, Age, and More - Popular Celebrity Biography And, indeed, it was made into a beloved film, Ed Wood, starring Johnny Depp as Wood and Martin Landau as Lugosi. Play episode. Although Lugosi would later claim that he "became the leading actor of Hungary's Royal National Theatre", many of his roles there were small or supporting parts, which led him to enter the Hungarian film industry.[10]. He was the youngest of four children. His net worth is estimated at about $5 million. [72] In the Hungarian production, directed by Istvn Szab, Lugosi was played by Ivan Darvas. 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. He was discovered in bed by his fifth wife, Hope, upon her return from work. [29][38], The Vincent Price film, House of Wax premiered in Los Angeles at the Paramount Theatre on April 16, 1953. Bela Lugosi Net Worth - How Much Is Bela Lugosi Worth? Lugosi later told reporters that he had no choice but to leave his home to find a job, walking 300 miles to an industrial center where he worked as a miner. Lugosi will probably forever be remembered for playing Count Dracula in Tod Browning's 1931 film version of Bram Stoker's spooky novel. Bla Ferenc Dezs Blask. Bela Lugosi made money by Actors niche. Despite the relative size of their roles, Lugosi inevitably received second billing, below Karloff. Hal B. Wallis, Martin and Lewis's producer, unsuccessfully sued Broder. Bela Lugosi Net Worth 2022: Money, Salary, Bio - CelebsMoney The case took 11 years to litigate and went all the way to the California Supreme Court, where, according to FindLaw, the justices ruled that dead people do not have any right to their own likeness and that their heirs are likewise without recourse. Lugosi was born Bla Ferenc Dezs Blask on October 20, 1882, in Lugos . In this article, we covered Bela Lugosi's net worth, wiki, bio, career, height, weight, pics, family, affairs, car, salary, age, facts, and other details in 2022. . Bela Lugosi Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family [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). Along the way he picked up a drug habit. Gone were Lugosi's middle class parents, his teenage struggles to make ends meet in the mines and rail yards of turn-of-the-century Hungary. In June 1917, Lugosi married 19-year-old Ilona Szmik (18981991) in Hungary. The divorce became official on December 9, 1929. Independent producer Jack Broder took Lugosi at his word, casting him in a jungle-themed comedy, Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952), starring nightclub comedians Duke Mitchell and Jerry Lewis look-alike Sammy Petrillo, whose act closely resembled that of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis (Martin and Lewis). 58. Lugosi did attempt to break type by auditioning for other roles. But at the last minute, Lugosi's heavily-accented dialogue was edited out after the film was completed, along with the idea of the Monster being blind, leaving his performance featuring groping, outstretched arms and moving lips seeming enigmatic (and funny) to audiences. Pg 61. Lugosi died of a heart attack on 16 August 1956, while lying on a bed in his Los Angeles apartment. He was, to moviegoers and followers of 1930s Hollywood, Dracula. The one that had been on the night before was Dracula [1931]. [73][74], In 2001, BBC Radio 4 broadcast There Are Such Things by Steven McNicoll and Mark McDonnell. 59. His immortal role as the count led him to play roles in 1934's The Black Cat and 1935's The Raven. He was 73. 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. Wood added what footage he had of the star and used and (unconvincing) body double. Not exactly a natural fit for a banker's boy. ISBN 0977379817 (hardcover). Lugosi's first film appearance was in the 1917 Hungarian silent film Leoni Leo. Everywhere Lugosi went, people saw a blood-sucking bad guy from Transylvania. For all time, at the moment, 2023 year, Bela Lugosi earned $96 Million. [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. Released in August 1979, it is often considered to be the first gothic rock record. He was kept employed by the studios principally so that they could put his name on the posters. p. 203. 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". The heat clearly worked. Bela Lugosi Net Worth. In 1955 Bela Lugosi was in a sad state. ", "Bla Lugosi: actor, union leader, anti-fascist", Bela Lugosi premieres in Buffalo, New York, "Why Bela Lugosi remains the ultimate Dracula", "Filmography Bela Lugosi the Official Site", "Friedemann O'Brien Goldberg & Zarian Names Bela G. Lugosi Of Counsel", "Beyond Quatermass Brian Donlevy, the Good Bad Guy: A Bio-Filmography by Derek Sculthorpe", "Lugosi v. Universal Pictures, 603 P.2d 425 (Cal. Birth Day: October 20, 1882: Birth Place: Lugoj, Romania: Bela Lugosi age: 137 YEARS OLD: Died On: Aug . [1] The rumor that Lugosi was clutching the script for The Final Curtain, a planned Ed Wood project, at the time of his death is not true. The feature is noteworthy as being Bela Lugosi's only color film. . Several more silent roles followed, villains and continental types, all in productions made in the New York area. Lillian's father was against her marriage to Lugosi at first as the actor was experiencing financial difficulties at the time, so Bela talked her into eloping with him to Las Vegas in January 1933. Lugosi played Dracula for a second and final time on film in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), which was his last "A" movie. 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. Many believed, thanks to the 1994 filmEd Wood,that Lugosi went so far as to sleep in a coffin. Historian John McElwee reports, in his 2013 book Showmen, Sell It Hot!, that Bela Lugosi's popularity received a much-needed boost in August 1938, when California theater owner Emil Umann revived Dracula and Frankenstein as a special double feature. Bela Lugosi Jr. Net Worth Bela Lugosi Net Worth, Age, Height, Weight, Wife, Wiki, Family 2022 He never got to see the finished film. The film played at midnight with a number of celebrities in the audience that night (Judy Garland, Ginger Rogers, Rock Hudson, Broderick Crawford, Gracie Allen, Eddie Cantor, Shelley Winters and others). During these moves, Ilona lost her unborn child,[13] after which she left Lugosi and returned home to her parents where she filed for divorce, and soon after remarried. The Hungarian actor Bla Ferenc Dezs Blask, better known as Bela Lugosi, became known to many as the face of Dracula after his iconic appearance as the famous vampire in the 1931 film adaptation of Bram Stoker's classic novel. 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. Insult to injury, Karloff was able to move on from his appearances in silly vampire and wolfman and monster flicks to more illustrious roles, whereas Lugosi was stuck in a hall of mirrors of sorts, every new part more ridiculous and broad than the last. It was not immediately successful, though. Bela Lugosis source of wealth comes from being a movie actor. The article quotes Lugosi as saying, "Never has a role so influenced and dominated an actor's life as has the role of Dracula. He lost even more. He dropped out of school when he was twelve years old, and began appearing in Shakespeare plays. No Traveler Returns: The Lost Years of Bela Lugosi by Bill Kaffenberger and Gary D. Rhodes (2012). In fact, he often told reporters that sex was the most important thing in the universe. The film was a major hit, but Lugosi was paid a salary of only $3,500, since he had too eagerly accepted the role.[12][28]. He didn't know a word of English at the time, but that didn't stop him from auditioning, and, two years after his arrival in the States, he was cast in the play, The Red Poppy. She filed for divorce four months later, citing actress Clara Bow as the "other woman". Through his association with Dracula (in which he appeared with minimal makeup, using his natural, heavily accented voice), Lugosi found himself typecast as a horror villain in films such as Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Black Cat (1934) and The Raven (1935) for Universal, and the independent White Zombie (1932). 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. [46] The couple divorced after Lugosi was forced to flee his homeland for political reasons (risking execution if he stayed) and Ilona did not wish to leave her parents. The funeral was held on Saturday, August 18 at the Utter-McKinley funeral home in Hollywood. The studio then rehired Lugosi to star in new films, fortunately just as Lugosi's fourth wife had given birth to a son. Bela Lugosi. Regardless of controversy, five films at Universal The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936), Son of Frankenstein (1939), Black Friday (1940), plus minor cameo performances in Gift of Gab (1934) and two at RKO Pictures, You'll Find Out (1940) and The Body Snatcher (1945) paired Lugosi with Boris Karloff. Weeks subsequently filed for divorce on November 4, 1929, accusing Lugosi of infidelity, citing actress Clara Bow as the "other woman", and claimed Lugosi tried to take her checkbook and the key to her safe deposit box away from her. The once-handsome, Hungarian-born star of Dracula had seen his career degenerate over the previous two decades until at last he was reduced to playing a cruel parody of himself in some of the tackiest B horror films ever made. Universal took notice of the tremendous business and launched its own national re-release of the same two horror favorites. It's Dracula's curse.". Bela's fifth wife was a fan who continuously wrote to him while he was recovering from drugs in a hospital. This was one of several projects proposed by Wood, including The Phantom Ghoul and Dr. Acula. Sadly, his reputation rapidly declined, mainly because he had been blacklisted by the main studios and had no choice but to accept any part (and script) handed to him, and ended up playing parodies of his greatest role, in low-grade poverty row films. Veteran Hungarian actor Bela Lugosi, 73, best known for his many Dracula screen roles, died late yesterday in his apartment at 5620 Harold Way, apparently the victim of a heart attack. Regarding Son of Frankenstein, the film's director Rowland V. Lee said his crew let Lugosi "work on the characterization; the interpretation he gave us was imaginative and totally unexpected when we finished shooting, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he stole the show. Want to more about Him? How much money is Bela Lugosi worth at the age of 140 and whats his real net worth now? Bela married 19-year-old Lillian Arch in 1933. Bela Lugosi - Age, Bio, Birthday, Family, Net Worth | National Today Prior to his death, Lugosi shot test footage of him wearing one of his Dracula capes in a graveyard. Thursday, In 1986, the court's decision was, in effect, overturned with the ruling in the California Celebrity Rights Act stipulating that children and spouses of celebrities have jurisdiction over the use of their loved one's likeness up to 70 years after the celebrity's death. Which makes it somewhat strange that his son, Bela Jr., and fourth wife,Lillian, made the decision to bury Lugosi in his Dracula cape. titled "Last of the Red Hot Vampires" was an homage to Bela Lugosi; at the end of the episode, it was dedicated to "Mr. Lugosi's jealousy put an end to his union with Arch, who was more than three decades his junior. 1941. Bela Lugosi's full name is Bla Ferenc Dezs Blask and his nickname is Bela Lugosi. Bela Lugosi Net Worth. [16] He only declared his intention to become a US citizen in 1928; on June 26, 1931, he was naturalized. After almost breaking up their marriage in 1944, Lillian and Bela finally divorced on July 17, 1953,[52] at least partially because of Bela's excessive drinking[2] and his jealousy over Lillian taking a full-time job as an assistant to actor Brian Donlevy on Donlevy's radio and television series Dangerous Assignment. What's clear, though, is that Lugosi was often on the losing end of Tinsel Town's notoriously flaky attention span. The court ruled that under California law any rights of publicity, including the right to his image, terminated with Lugosi's death. [2] He was 73 and weighed 140 pounds. [8] He took the last name "Lugosi" in 1903 to honor his birthplace,[4][9] and went on to perform in Shakespeare plays. In September 1949, Milton Berle invited Lugosi to appear in a sketch on Texaco Star Theatre. pg. When appearing in Hungarian silent films, he used the stage name Arisztid Olt. Bela Lugosi | Biography, Movies, Dracula, & Facts | Britannica [a] Different prominent actors, such as Paul Muni, Chester Morris, Ian Keith, John Wray, Joseph Schildkraut, Arthur Edmund Carewe, William Courtenay, John Carradine, and Conrad Veidt were considered. The story features Lugosi and John Carradine in a mad tale of love, suspicion, and rabies in the jungle. At the time of his death, Lugosi was in such poor financial straits that Frank Sinatra was rumored to have paid for his funeral. Financial difficulties forced him into taking roles that were beneath both his talent and pay grade. The couple divorced in 1920, reputedly over political differences with her parents. His legal actions in Lugosi v. Universal Pictures led to the creation of the California Celebrities Rights Act. [65] In 2019 it was announced that the cape would be on display the following year. Bela Lugosi Net Worth Net Worth List Not true, but so is the power of suggestion. Without his knowledge, a beloved singer, actor, and fan was helping pay his way through rehab. It was a long way to fall for the star of one of Hollywood's most successful talkies. ISBN 0977379817 (hardcover), Bela Lugosi: Dreams and Nightmares by Gary D. Rhodes, with Richard Sheffield, (2007) Collectables/Alpha Video Publishers. It was thought to be evidence that Lugosi appeared in the film, but historians all agree that is very unlikely, since Lugosi was in both Chicago (appearing in a play called The Werewolf) and New York at the time that film was being made in Hollywood. On 26 June 1931, Lugosi became a naturalized United States citizen. He was 48-years-old when he got the part in the iconic film, and he was already many years into his acting career. 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.". His first marriage, to Ilona Smzik, ended in divorce in 1920, reportedly because his lefty politics upset his Smzik's parents. Following his return to the United States, he was interviewed for television, and reflected wistfully on his typecasting in horror parts: "Now I am the boogie man". [7], At the age of 12, Lugosi dropped out of school and left home to work at a succession of manual labor jobs. Appeared with Lon Chaney Jr. in five films: The Wolf Man (1941), The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man . Landau won an Oscar for his turn as the Hungarian heartthrob who'd fallen on hard times. Also Ed Wood did not meet Lugosi in a funeral parlor, but rather through his roommate Alex Gordon. Bela Lugosi, born on October 20, 1882, began his acting career when he was a teenager in Hungary and went on to become one of the best-known actors in the world. 70. 2020. He eventually became a U.S. citizen in 1931, soon after the release of his film version of Dracula.[12][4]. Arthur Lennig, The Immortal Count, University Press of Kentucky, 2003, p. 21; Rhodes, Gary (1997). After living briefly in Germany, Lugosi left Europe by ship and arrived in New Orleans on October 27, 1920, and, after making his way north, underwent his primary alien inspection at Ellis Island, N.Y. on March 23, 1921. Bela Lugosi Net Worth, Biography, Age, Weight, Height Wounded twice in the fighting, Lugosi received a medal for his faithful service. His immortal role as the count led him to play roles in 1934's The Black Cat and 1935's The Raven. Despite playing one of the world's most blood-thirsty villains, Lugosi was a lover, not a fighter. Lugosi was quite effective in this small but prestigious character part and he even received top billing among the film's supporting cast, all of whom had significantly larger roles. Lugosi was proscribed from acting due to his participation in the formation of an actors' union. Bela Lugosi Jr. was boarded at the Elsinore Naval and Military School in Lake Elsinore, and also lived with Lillian's parents while she and Bela were touring. Think Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort, Dolph Lundgren as Ivan Drago, and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Itsvan died when Bela was just 12-years-old, throwing the family fortunes into turmoil. (Weeks died 17 months later (at age 34) from alcoholism in Panama, Lugosi never receiving a penny from her fortune.