Bela Lugosi!! Happy Birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BELA!!! 💓💓💓💓💓💓💓

(one day late) 

He was born Béla Blaskó in Lugos, Hungary on October 20, 1882 (or possibly 1884). 

in 1900

 His parents sent young Bela to the Budapest Academy of Fine Arts where he developed his dramatic talent.  In a few years he caught the eye of theater producers  and starred in many productions at the Royal National Theater in Budapest, among them Romeo and Juliet- appearing as Romeo. 

in the 1920's

onstage circa 1915, as Jesus Christ

Inevitably, film work followed and Bela appeared in his first film in 1910.  He was by that time known professionally as Bela Lugosi, his last name a tribute to the town of his birth.   

in a 1917 Hungarian film

Film actors at the time were often unbilled or were credited under assumed names.  Bela was credited in many of his early films as  "Arisztid Olt".  

At the start of WWI Bela enlisted in the Hungarian army.  He quickly advanced to the rank of officer and showed great courage under fire.  He served for two years on the Serbian front and later in Russia.  Bela was wounded three times and eventually was discharged at the rank of captain with honors for bravery and "action above and beyond the call of duty" winning the Hungarian equivalent of the Purple Heart.  

In 1917 Bela returned to the Budapest theater and also married his first wife, Ilona Szmik. 

In 1919 Bela supported the Communist Bela Kun who overthrew the current Hungarian government.  Unfortunately, the future of freedom and economic fortune promised by the new regime did not come to pass and the Kun government itself was overthrown.  Bela found himself on the wrong side of the political tracks and so he fled to Vienna and later to Germany.  His marriage ended in divorce.

Bela found some film work in Germany, including the role of the Native American Uncas in "The Last of the Mohicans".  F. W. Murnau cast him in a 1920 adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde entitled "Der Januskopf".  That film starred Conrad Veidt and saw Bela in a small part of the butler.  (As with Murnau's film "Nosferatu" which ran into legal problems due to the neglect of his company to secure the rights to the novel Dracula, Murnau also changed the plot of Jekyll enough to avoid royalty issues with the estate of author Robert Louis Stevenson.)

Lugosi in Der Januskopf

When work dried up in Germany Bela earned passage to America by working as an assistant engineer on a freighter.  Landing in New Orleans, Bela identified himself as a political refugee and soon made his way to New York and the Hungarian community there.  He established himself as an actor and founded a small theater company of other Hungarian émigrés.  The company toured the U.S. playing for Hungarian communities (Bela still could not speak English).  During this time Bela married again, to Ilona Montagh de Nagybanyhegyes.  

In 1922 he was noticed by producers and was offered a part in The Red Poppy in New York.  The legend is that in the early days Bela learned his parts in English phonetically.  At any rate, he achieved good notices for his work and made his first American film in 1923.  After many other theater and film roles his was cast in the 1927 stage version of...Dracula.  

Dracula opened in New York in late 1927 receiving critical disdain but huge public success.  Bela continued with the role in New York and later on tour.  In 1928 he met and married his third wife, Beatrice Woodruff.  

onstage as...well...you know

In spite of the unique stamp he put on the role, Universal Studios did not consider Lugosi when they were casting their film version of the story.  Bela campaigned hard for the role, even going so far as contacting Bram Stoker's widow Florence in an attempt to lower her asking price for the rights.  The studio did not show its gratitude for Lugosi's work, and after considering almost every actor in Hollywood with the possible exceptions of  Laurel and Hardy and Rex the Wonder Horse, they finally offered the role of Dracula to Lugosi for the ridiculous sum of $500 per week.  David Manners who played the very small role of Jonathan Harker, received $2,000 per week.  

"Dracula" and Bela Lugosi were a smash and saved Universal's bacon in 1931.

with Helen Chandler as Mina

with Dwight Frye as Renfield

Bela received thousands of fan letters, mostly from women.  Can you blame them?

at home

Bela Lugosi became a star, but his star never shone as brightly again.  He was Dracula in the minds of the public (and casting directors) for the rest of his career.  

as Dr. Verdegast in "The Black Cat" ,  with Boris Karloff

To keep the marriage board up to date:  He was divorced from Beatrice in 1929.  Married Lilian Arch in 1933, divorced in 1953.  They had a son, Bela Jr., born in 1938.   Married to Hope Lininger in 1955 and remained so until his death in 1956.  

Among his many other film roles:

as Dr. Mirakle in "Murders in the Rue Morgue".  The lady he is tormenting is Arlene Francis.  "That's two down and eight to go.  Over to you Bennet Cerf."  Oh god, I'm so old.

as Dr. Dearborn in "The Human Monster"

as Murder Legendre in "White Zombie"

as Dr. Vollin in "The Raven".  with Boris Karloff

as Dr. Benet in "The Invisible Ray"

the Sayer of the Law in "The Island of Lost Souls"

as Tarneverro in "The Black Camel"  with Warner Oland

He was considered for the role of the Creature in Universal's 1931 production of "Frankenstein" but either turned down the role (because it was a badly written non-speaking part under heavy make-up) or was not cast by Universal (because the film test was not very good) - take your pick.  Either way, if Bela had taken the part he might just possibly have remained the top horror star at Universal and his future may have been very different.

Lugosi was a much more talented actor with a wider range than he is remembered for today.  A man of great personal charisma, charm and integrity.  

I love you, Bela.  Rest in peace.

relaxing on "Dracula" set

in 1956

Happy Birthday - Frank Langella!

Gorgeousity.  Is that a word?  Who cares?  It fits.  

Of course he is here on this blog because he played Dracula, both on Broadway and on film.  

Playbill from 1978 New York production.

The film was released in 1979...

...and I haven't been the same since.  The most compelling, charismatic and irresistible Dracula ever.  (ok, maybe neck and neck with Lugosi.)

Sometimes it's just a swirl of a cape, or a kiss on the hand.

Speaking of his vampire role he said,

No kidding.

Frank Langella was a bouncing New Year's baby on January 1, 1938 in Bayonne, New Jersey.  Just as successful on film as on stage, he is one of America's most talented and versatile actors.  And did I mention that he's gorgeous?  

He has played cads, e.g. in 1970's "Diary of a Mad Housewife" with Carrie Snodgress.  The film captured his first movie role as well as the feminist-consciousness-raising 1960's-1970's zeitgeist.  

He played a cad-turned-sort-of-good-guy in his next film, Mel Brooks' overlooked "The Twelve Chairs". 

"Out goes the bad air, in goes the good air...."

He's played heroes...Zorro, Sherlock Holmes...he's played Scrooge, he's played Sir Thomas More...heck he's even played Skeletor and Richard Nixon.

Great success which continues to this day, many awards, and did I mention he's fabulously gorgeous?

Happy Birthday, babe!!!!  

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Happy Birthday - Bram Stoker!

Happy 167th!!

He was born Abraham Stoker on November 8, 1847 in the Dublin suburb Clontarf, Ireland.  A minor civil servant who started out life as an invalid and did not walk at all until the age of seven. However, his early physical incapacity vanished and he excelled athletically at Trinity College in Dublin.  Stoker also became interested in literature and harbored ambitions as a writer; his first published work (1879) was entitled, The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland.

His interest in theater led him to write theater reviews for The Dublin Mail.  Well known actor Henry Irving appreciated Stoker's editorial praise so much he sought out an introduction.  This led to a life-long friendship and to Stoker becoming the manager of Irving's Lyceum Theater in London.  

Before Dracula, Stoker published a novel The Snake's Pass in 1890 and in 1882 a bizarre collection of children's stories titled Under the Sunset.  This book foreshadows Dracula in its morbid fairy tales about plague and death.

One of his most eccentrically aberrant yet comical short stories was "The Dualists; or, the Death Doom of the Double Born" which was published in 1887.  The protagonists are two little boys, Tommy and Harry.  They share a fascination with torture and death, starting with the dolls of the local little girls...

"It was a thing of daily occurrence for the little girls to state that when going to bed at night they had laid their dear dollies in their beds with tender care, but...when again seeking them in the period of recess they had found them with all their beauty gone, with arms and legs amputated and faces beaten from all semblance of human form." *

  *Bram Stoker.  "The Dualists; or, the Death Doom of the D0uble Born."  The Theatre Annual.  London.  Carson and Comerford.  1887.  pgs. 23-24.

...onto neighborhood pets and other small animals - they use one dead creature to beat the life out of another.  Eventually they enlarge their scope and kidnap twin babies, Zachariah and Zerubbabel Bubb.  The boys stand on a rooftop and murder the infants by beating one with the other while the horrified parents on the ground beg for mercy.  Not receiving any, they fire at the murderers but instead shoot off the heads of the babies which the two naughty boys then use in a game of catch.  When they toss the bloody bodies down to the ground they land on the parents, killing them.  The boys testify that the parents themselves were responsible for all the carnage and Tommy and Harry are knighted for bravery.  Oy.  Makes Dracula seem pretty tame, doesn't it?

Stoker's interest in the unusual and his wild imagination led to writing what eventually became Dracula, pubished in 1897.  

You can see in the above excerpt from his notes that he started with many more characters than appeared in the finished novel.  Many of the names were changed, yet some remain familiar, e.g. "Lucy", "Jonathan Harker" and "Seward".   He played with several different names for the main character; in the middle of the notes you see crossed out, "The Count -- Count Wampyr"  and then, "Dracula".  

 cover of 1897 first edition

In spite of the facts that on its initial printing, Dracula was moderately successful, and has never been out of print (it was one of two books found most often in homes - the other being The Bible), has achieved immortality many times over on the stage and on film, Stoker made very little money from the book.  

Bram Stoker died in 1912.

Stoker's widow, Florence, spent the rest of her life involved in one litigation or difficult negotiation after another over rights to the book.  All prints of the 1922 German film, "Nosferatu" were ordered destroyed by courts due to F.W. Murnau's company neglecting to even attempt to secure production rights.  Fortunately for posterity a few prints were saved.  Werner Herzog considers it the greatest of German silent films.  Who are we to disagree? 

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Happy Birthday - Edward Van Sloan!

Born November 1, 1882 in Chaska, Minnesota, Edward Paul Van Sloan (family name was Van Sloun) is a familiar face to horror fans.  He was the vampire expert Van Helsing in "Dracula", occult authority Dr. Muller in "The Mummy", Professor Waldman in "Frankenstein" and was Van Helsing (although misspelled as Von Helsing) once again in "Dracula's Daughter".  

as Van Helsing in "Dracula" explaining vampire lore to Dr. Seward (Herbert  Bunston)

Van Sloan originated the role of Van Helsing on stage for the American version of the play.  He appeared on Broadway and on tour with Lugosi and was the natural choice when the play was filmed by Universal in 1931. 

His accent and demeanor were well suited to these roles, although he was adept at comedy as well as drama.  

Van Sloan died in 1964.  

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Happy Birthday, John L. Balderston!

Journalist, playwright, screenwriter, script doctor John L. Balderston was born on October 22, 1889 in Philadelphia.  

He is, or should be at least, remembered by horror fans for his work on the films:  "Dracula", "Frankenstein", "The Mummy", "Bride of Frankenstein" and "Dracula's Daughter".  

He was a war correspondent in WWI and a journalist for several publications including The New York World, for which he covered the discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1922.  

He was already a successful playwright (Berkeley Square) when producer Horace Liveright hired him in 1927 to revise Hamilton Deane's play version of the novel Dracula.  Deane's work had already been enormously successful in England, but Liveright felt it needed an overhaul for New York.  Balderston completed the job, the play opened in October of 1927 starring a little known Hungarian actor named Bela Lugosi.  The rest is horror history.

Have a comment about this post?  Please, be my guest.  Indulge yourself.  I would love to hear from you.  Click on “Comments” below.  Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Bela Lugosi!

He was born Béla Blaskó in Lugos, Hungary on October 20, 1882 (or possibly 1884). 

in 1900

 His parents sent young Bela to the Budapest Academy of Fine Arts where he developed his dramatic talent.  In a few years he caught the eye of theater producers  and starred in many productions at the Royal National Theater in Budapest, among them Romeo and Juliet- appearing as Romeo. 

in the 1920's

onstage circa 1915, as Jesus Christ

Inevitably, film work followed and Bela appeared in his first film in 1910.  He was by that time known professionally as Bela Lugosi, his last name a tribute to the town of his birth.   

in a 1917 Hungarian film

Film actors at the time were often unbilled or were credited under assumed names.  Bela was credited in many of his early films as  "Arisztid Olt".  

At the start of WWI Bela enlisted in the Hungarian army.  He quickly advanced to the rank of officer and showed great courage under fire.  He served for two years on the Serbian front and later in Russia.  Bela was wounded three times and eventually was discharged at the rank of captain with honors for bravery and "action above and beyond the call of duty" winning the Hungarian equivalent of the Purple Heart.  

In 1917 Bela returned to the Budapest theater and also married his first wife, Ilona Szmik. 

In 1919 Bela supported the Communist Bela Kun who overthrew the current Hungarian government.  Unfortunately, the future of freedom and economic fortune promised by the new regime did not come to pass and the Kun government itself was overthrown.  Bela found himself on the wrong side of the political tracks and so he fled to Vienna and later to Germany.  His marriage ended in divorce.

Bela found some film work in Germany, including the role of the Native American Uncas in "The Last of the Mohicans".  F. W. Murnau cast him in a 1920 adaptation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde entitled "Der Januskopf".  That film starred Conrad Veidt and saw Bela in a small part of the butler.  (As with Murnau's film "Nosferatu" which ran into legal problems due to the neglect of his company to secure the rights to the novel Dracula, Murnau also changed the plot of Jekyll enough to avoid royalty issues with the estate of author Robert Louis Stevenson.)

Lugosi in Der Januskopf

When work dried up in Germany Bela earned passage to America by working as an assistant engineer on a freighter.  Landing in New Orleans, Bela identified himself as a political refugee and soon made his way to New York and the Hungarian community there.  He established himself as an actor and founded a small theater company of other Hungarian émigrés.  The company toured the U.S. playing for Hungarian communities (Bela still could not speak English).  During this time Bela married again, to Ilona Montagh de Nagybanyhegyes.  

In 1922 he was noticed by producers and was offered a part in The Red Poppy in New York.  The legend is that in the early days Bela learned his parts in English phonetically.  At any rate, he achieved good notices for his work and made his first American film in 1923.  After many other theater and film roles his was cast in the 1927 stage version of...Dracula.  

Dracula opened in New York in late 1927 receiving critical disdain but huge public success.  Bela continued with the role in New York and later on tour.  In 1928 he met and married his third wife, Beatrice Woodruff.  

onstage as...well...you know

In spite of the unique stamp he put on the role, Universal Studios did not consider Lugosi when they were casting their film version of the story.  Bela campaigned hard for the role, even going so far as contacting Bram Stoker's widow Florence in an attempt to lower her asking price for the rights.  The studio did not show its gratitude for Lugosi's work, and after considering almost every actor in Hollywood with the possible exceptions of  Laurel and Hardy and Rex the Wonder Horse, they finally offered the role of Dracula to Lugosi for the ridiculous sum of $500 per week.  David Manners who played the very small role of Jonathan Harker, received $2,000 per week.  

"Dracula" and Bela Lugosi were a smash and saved Universal's bacon in 1931.

with Helen Chandler as Mina

with Dwight Frye as Renfield

Bela received thousands of fan letters, mostly from women.  Can you blame them?

at home

Bela Lugosi became a star, but his star never shone as brightly again.  He was Dracula in the minds of the public (and casting directors) for the rest of his career.  

as Dr. Verdegast in "The Black Cat" ,  with Boris Karloff

To keep the marriage board up to date:  He was divorced from Beatrice in 1929.  Married Lilian Arch in 1933, divorced in 1953.  They had a son, Bela Jr., born in 1938.   Married to Hope Lininger in 1955 and remained so until his death in 1956.  

Among his many other film roles:

as Dr. Mirakle in "Murders in the Rue Morgue".  The lady he is tormenting is Arlene Francis.  "That's two down and eight to go.  Over to you Bennet Cerf."  Oh god, I'm so old.

as Dr. Dearborn in "The Human Monster"

as Murder Legendre in "White Zombie"

as Dr. Vollin in "The Raven".  with Boris Karloff

as Dr. Benet in "The Invisible Ray"

the Sayer of the Law in "The Island of Lost Souls"

as Tarneverro in "The Black Camel"  with Warner Oland

He was considered for the role of the Creature in Universal's 1931 production of "Frankenstein" but either turned down the role (because it was a badly written non-speaking part under heavy make-up) or was not cast by Universal (because the film test was not very good) - take your pick.  Either way, if Bela had taken the part he might just possibly have remained the top horror star at Universal and his future may have been very different.

Lugosi was a much more talented actor with a wider range than he is remembered for today.  A man of great personal charisma, charm and integrity.  

I love you, Bela.  Rest in peace.

relaxing on "Dracula" set

in 1956

Have a comment about this post?  Please, be my guest.  Indulge yourself.  I would love to hear from you.  Click on “Comments” below.  Thanks!