Remembering Bela Lugosi
Monday, October 20 would have been Bela Lugosi's 143rd birthday.
As many fans know, he was born Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó, better known by the stage name Bela Lugosi, in Lugos, Hungary.
Lugosi began acting on the Hungarian stage in 1902, appearing in more than 170 productions. Beginning in 1917, he performed in Hungarian silent films. He acted in several films in Weimar Germany, before arriving in New Orleans, on October 27,1920 then making his way north to New York City and Ellis Island where he underwent his primary alien inspection on March 23, 1921
I won't go in detail about his lengthy film career, or his work on radio, and on the stage, as many of you are already familiar and for those who are not, there are multitudes of sources to introduce you to him.
What I will say is that he became a naturalized US citizen on June 26, 1931.
He was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild. He was active in Red Cross blood drives and US Bond sales in support of the war effort.
Bela Lugosi developed severe, chronic sciatica after sustaining injuries while serving in the military during World War I. His condition became particularly pronounced by the mid-to-late 1930s.
Lugosi had been receiving regular medication for sciatic neuritis, and he became addicted to doctor-prescribed morphine and methadone.
The addiction became so bad that in April '55 he made the decision to have himself committed to a hospital for morphine drug addiction treatment. He was 72 at the time. He was released in August.
He was one of the first celebrities to publicly admit to a drug addiction problem and speak openly about his experience in the hospital.
Bela Lugosi voluntarily testified before a Senate subcommittee on narcotics traffic. Testifying in Los Angeles, the 73-year-old actor appeared before Senator Price Daniel (D-Tex) to share his personal experience as a drug addict. Lugosi was not a suspect, and simply appeared as a witness to speak out about the dangers of drug abuse to the youth of America.
The one comment I will say about his film career, is that he always gave 100% to every role he played, in spite of the quality of the material, and we all know that besides those many wonderful portrayals as Dracula, 'Murder' Legendre, Dr. Mirakle, Roxor, Vitus Werdegast, Ygor, and many others, there were also some very poor low budget films that he appeared in, but still rose above the material. The perfect example is his "I have no home...." monologue in Bride of the Monster, which he did in a single take. It's pure Lugosi and it's heartbreaking when you consider the point in his life and that a short time later, he would die.
Bela Lugosi's legacy?
It's Halloween season....so go ask anyone to provide you with their best Dracula impersonation. 99% of the time, you will hear their best attempt to duplicate the tones of the great Hungarian actor, Bela Lugosi.
That, dear friends, is a legacy.
As many fans know, he was born Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó, better known by the stage name Bela Lugosi, in Lugos, Hungary.
Lugosi began acting on the Hungarian stage in 1902, appearing in more than 170 productions. Beginning in 1917, he performed in Hungarian silent films. He acted in several films in Weimar Germany, before arriving in New Orleans, on October 27,1920 then making his way north to New York City and Ellis Island where he underwent his primary alien inspection on March 23, 1921
I won't go in detail about his lengthy film career, or his work on radio, and on the stage, as many of you are already familiar and for those who are not, there are multitudes of sources to introduce you to him.
What I will say is that he became a naturalized US citizen on June 26, 1931.
He was a charter member of the Screen Actors Guild. He was active in Red Cross blood drives and US Bond sales in support of the war effort.
Bela Lugosi developed severe, chronic sciatica after sustaining injuries while serving in the military during World War I. His condition became particularly pronounced by the mid-to-late 1930s.
Lugosi had been receiving regular medication for sciatic neuritis, and he became addicted to doctor-prescribed morphine and methadone.
The addiction became so bad that in April '55 he made the decision to have himself committed to a hospital for morphine drug addiction treatment. He was 72 at the time. He was released in August.
He was one of the first celebrities to publicly admit to a drug addiction problem and speak openly about his experience in the hospital.
Bela Lugosi voluntarily testified before a Senate subcommittee on narcotics traffic. Testifying in Los Angeles, the 73-year-old actor appeared before Senator Price Daniel (D-Tex) to share his personal experience as a drug addict. Lugosi was not a suspect, and simply appeared as a witness to speak out about the dangers of drug abuse to the youth of America.
The one comment I will say about his film career, is that he always gave 100% to every role he played, in spite of the quality of the material, and we all know that besides those many wonderful portrayals as Dracula, 'Murder' Legendre, Dr. Mirakle, Roxor, Vitus Werdegast, Ygor, and many others, there were also some very poor low budget films that he appeared in, but still rose above the material. The perfect example is his "I have no home...." monologue in Bride of the Monster, which he did in a single take. It's pure Lugosi and it's heartbreaking when you consider the point in his life and that a short time later, he would die.
Bela Lugosi's legacy?
It's Halloween season....so go ask anyone to provide you with their best Dracula impersonation. 99% of the time, you will hear their best attempt to duplicate the tones of the great Hungarian actor, Bela Lugosi.
That, dear friends, is a legacy.
