[42] Mason was noticeably taller and thinner than Lugosi, and had the lower half of his face covered with his cape in every shot, as Lugosi sometimes did in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. No Traveler Returns: The Lost Years of Bela Lugosi by Bill Kaffenberger and Gary D. Rhodes (2012). . She had been a fan, writing letters to him when he was in the hospital recovering from his drug addiction. Sheffield said years later "Lugosi had probably spent it all on alcohol." Different prominent actors were considered before Browning cast Lugosi for the role, but the film was a hit. 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". Karloff himself in interviews suggested that Lugosi was initially mistrustful of him when they acted together, believing that the Englishman would attempt to upstage him. ISBN 0977379817 (hardcover). Bela Lugosi: Dreams and Nightmares by Gary D. Rhodes, with Richard Sheffield, (2007) Collectables/Alpha Video Publishers. 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. In 1996, he had a supporting role in Roland Emmerich's Independence Day. He eventually became a U.S. citizen in 1931, soon after the release of his film version of Dracula.[12][4]. . 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. In September 1949, Milton Berle invited Lugosi to appear in a sketch on Texaco Star Theatre. When and how did Bela Lugosi His relationship with the movie was fraught: it made him famous and, for a time, quite rich. 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". Bela Lugosi Net Worth - Valued Plan Due to his activism in the actors' union in Hungary during the revolution of 1919, he was forced to flee his homeland. Four other silent roles followed, villains and continental types, all in productions made in the New York area. Blask (20 October 1882 16 August 1956), better known as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian-American actor, famous for portraying Count Dracula in the original 1931 film and for his roles in various other horror films. To Lugosi's disappointment, however, his role in this film was that of a mute butler with no dialogue. Read on for more on this caped legend of stage and screen. Focusing on Lugosi and his well-documented struggle to escape from the role that had typecast him, the play went on to receive the Hamilton Deane Award for best dramatic presentation from the Dracula Society in 2002. Hal B. Wallis, Martin and Lewis's producer, unsuccessfully sued Broder. To Lugosi's disappointment, however, his role in this film was that of a mute, with no dialogue. [26] Lugosi had played the role on Broadway,[27] and was considered before director Tod Browning cast him in the role. They had a child, Bela G. Lugosi, in 1938. Lugosi acted in several Hungarian language plays before starring in his first English Broadway play, The Red Poppy in 1922. Though at first he was treated with benign pain remedies such as asparagus juice, doctors increased the medication to opiates. )[55], Lugosi married Hope Lininger, his fifth wife, in 1955; she was 37 years his junior. With fellow expatriate Hungarian actors he formed a small stock company that toured Eastern cities, playing for immigrant audiences. His accent, while a part of his image, limited the type of role he could play. 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. 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. He went first to Vienna before settling in Berlin (in the Langestrasse), where he continued acting. Hungarian actor who was immortalized as Dracula in 1931. After playing in 172 different productions in his native Hungary, Lugosi moved on to appearing in Hungarian silent films in 1917. - ? [72] In the Hungarian production, directed by Istvn Szab, Lugosi was played by Ivan Darvas. 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. 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. Many believed, thanks to the 1994 filmEd Wood,that Lugosi went so far as to sleep in a coffin. Lugosi went to 20th Century-Fox for The Gorilla (1939), which had him playing straight man (a butler) to Patsy Kelly and the Ritz Brothers. She would sign her letters "A dash of Hope". pg. 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. Bela Lugosi, Romania Actor. In 1927, he got his big break. Net Worth 2020, Salary. He spent a great deal of money. Today is the 134thbirthday of NAME: Bela Lugosi OCCUPATION: Actor BIRTH DATE: October 20, 1882 DEATH DATE: August 16, 1956 EDUCATION: Budapest Academy of Theatrical Arts PLACE OF BIRTH: Lugos, Hun, Bela Lugosi: Happy 132nd birthday - Blog - Spokane7. Following the collapse of Bla Kun's Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, leftists and trade unionists became vulnerable, some being imprisoned or executed in public. Afterward, Lugosi was interviewed by a female reporter who botched the interview by asking the prearranged questions out of order, thoroughly confusing the aging star. Exiled in Weimar-era Germany, he co-starred in at least 14 German silent films in 1920, among them Hypnose: Sklaven fremden Willens (1920), Der Januskopf (1920) and an adaptation of the Karl May novel Caravan of Death (1920). Actually, Bela's widow Hope and ex-wife Lillian paid it; Sinatra's only connection to the aging actor was sending him a $1000 check . The young Bela was born just the year before. So, how much was Bela Lugosi networth at the age of years old? 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]. Lugosi was proscribed from acting due to his participation in the formation of an actors' union. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Following his treatment, Lugosi made one final film, in late 1955, The Black Sleep, for Bel-Air Pictures, which was released in the summer of 1956 through United Artists with a promotional campaign that included several personal appearances by Lugosi and his co-stars, as well as Maila Nurmi (TV's horror host "Vampira"). So it should come as no surprise, perhaps, that he was married not once, not twice or even three or four times, but five. Born: October 20, 1882 in Lugos, Hungary. His immortal role as the count led him to play roles in 1934s The Black Cat and 1935s The Raven. He was 73. At that time, in 1938, the new father was so strapped for cash he had to borrow from a Hollywood relief fund to pay the hospital bills. Frank Sinatra, fresh off the success of his album, In the Wee Small Hours, was quietly contributing to Lugosi's mental health fund. He was eventually invited to join the National Theater of Budapest. Exiled in Weimar-era Germany, he began appearing in a small number of well-received films, among them adaptations of the Karl May novels On the Brink of Paradise (Auf den Trmmern des Paradieses, 1920) and Caravan of Death (Die Todeskarawane, also 1920) with Dora Gerson (Gerson, who was Jewish, died in Auschwitz). The song was a part of the Light Leaks record. Bela Lugosi Net Worth - How Much Is Bela Lugosi Worth? It's Dracula's curse.". 5 Million. "I owe it all to that little man at the Regina Theatre," said Lugosi of exhibitor Umann. 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. This footage ended up in Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), which was mostly filmed after Lugosi died. Wood plays Glen/Glenda. He even took top billing on films in which Lugosi was the star. Universal took notice of the tremendous business and launched its own national re-release of the same two horror favorites. He was born in Lugos, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary in 1882 and died in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1956. Play episode. 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 Net Worth 2022: Money, Salary, Bio - CelebsMoney He also continued to lobby for his prized role in the film version of Dracula. Monday, Actor: Dracula. Throughout the 1930s, Lugosi, experiencing a severe career decline despite popularity with audiences (Universal executives always preferred his rival Karloff), accepted many leading roles from independent producers like Nat Levine, Sol Lesser, and Sam Katzman. 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. It was both the fulfillment of a dream for Lugosi and, as this look at his career in Naked History suggests, the beginning of a nightmare. At Universal, he often received star billing for what amounted to a supporting part. Producer Alex Gordon, knowing Lugosi was in dire need of cash, arranged for the actor to stand outside the theater wearing a cape and dark glasses, holding a man costumed as a gorilla on a leash. Lugosi had also expressed interest in playing Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey to help himself professionally. 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. Bela Lugosi was born in Lugoj, Romania on Friday, October 20, 1882 (G.I. For all time, at the moment, 2023 year, Bela Lugosi earned $96 Million. 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. It appeared on their 1972 album Everybody's in Show-Biz. [21] A rumor has circulated for decades among film historians that Lugosi played an uncredited bit part as a clown in the 1924 Lon Chaney Hollywood film He Who Gets Slapped, but this has been heavily disputed. Online estimates of Bela Lugosis net worth vary. He is 140 years old and is a Libra. [76][77], The Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York City features a live 30-minute play that focuses on Lugosi's illegal entry into the country via New Orleans and his arrival at Ellis Island months later to enter the country legally. 134th birthday - 59. His immortal role as the count led him to play roles in 1934's The Black Cat and 1935's The Raven. He made his way to New York and was inspected by immigration officers at Ellis Island in March 1921. Scared to Death is a 1947 thriller Gothic film directed by Christy Cabanne and starring Bela Lugosi. His only television dramatic role was on the anthology series Suspense on October 11, 1949, in an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado. Bela Lugosi Net Worth is $200,000 Bela Lugosi Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018. . Bela Lugosi Net Worth. 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. When Lugosi playfully attempted to bite the "nurse" in attendance, she overreacted and spilled a glass of milk all over his shirt and cape. In Tim Burton's Ed Wood, Bela Lugosi is portrayed by Martin Landau, who received the 1994 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the performance. Bela Lugosi Wiki, Biography, Age, Career, Relationship, Net Worth . [80], In 2020, Legendary Comics published an adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 Dracula novel, which used the likeness of Lugosi. 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). He was kept employed by the studios principally so that they could put his name on the posters. Bela Lugosi Net Worth. Lugosi made 12 films in Hungary between 1917 and 1918 before leaving for Germany. Lugosi's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is mentioned in "Celluloid Heroes", a song performed by The Kinks and written by their lead vocalist and principal songwriter, Ray Davies.