Born Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó on October 20, 1882,


 it was as Béla Lugosi that the Hungarian actor achieved lasting fame for his depiction, at the age of 39, of the titular character in Tod Browning’s version of Dracula in 1931.


Married five times with one son, Bela’s career went downhill after the late-in-life success of Dracula – at one point he confessed to the press of his morphine and methadone addiction – but he continued to work, becoming somewhat typecast in the horror genre.


Many have played the Count through the years but it’s Lugosi’s take: dinner suit; cape; pallid complexion; widow’s peak and bloody fangs that has served as a template and shorthand for a vampire every Halloween since.


He died of a heart attack at the age of 73 on August 16, 1956, and was buried in the cape he wore for his most famous role... Continue reading 

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