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Bela Lugosi ‘Never Took for Granted’ His ‘Dracula’ Fame but Had a Softer Side at Home With Family
On a transatlantic voyage, a reporter asked silver screen star Béla Lugosi if he was done with his most famous character, Count Dracula. “No. Dracula never ends,” the actor replied. “I don’t know whether I should call it a fortune or a curse, but it never ends.”
Irish novelist Bram Stoker created Count Dracula in 1897, but early depictions on stage and screen portrayed the vampire as a terrifying monster. Béla was the first actor to emphasize his glamour in 1931’s Dracula. “His portrayal of evil disguised as a seductive gentleman, his authentic and romantic accent, his style of dress and cape — they have become embedded in our consciousness,” Béla’s granddaughter, Lynne Lugosi Sparks, tells Closer. “He never took for granted the importance his portrayal as Dracula had on his career.”
An upcoming book, Béla Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape by Robert Cremer, shares the history of the classically trained Hungarian actor who moved to the United States in 1920 and unexpectedly found fame in Universal Studios’ horror movies. “My grandfather strongly wished that he would have been able to show his acting talent in more diverse screen roles,” admits Sparks. “He had risen through the ranks in the Hungarian theater and had played a variety of roles in many of the classic plays. He wanted to be able to showcase his talent in American films.”
Unable to fight movie typecasting, Béla turned to the American stage. His son, Bela Jr., remembered crossing the country with his father and mother, Lillian, when Béla appeared in a 1944 theatrical version of Arsenic and Old Lace. “The three of them explored the East Coast,” says Sparks, noting that her grandfather didn’t drive and refused to fly. “So Lillian drove him.”
Inside Béla Lugosi’s Life Outside the Role
In his personal life, Béla felt most at home among Los Angeles’ fellow Hungarian expats. “My grandfather enjoyed good food, especially Hungarian dishes, wine, imported sulfur water and, of course, his ever-present cigars,” says Sparks. Béla also had an ear for music and often spent hours in record shops. “Hungarian gypsy music was his favorite,” Sparks adds.
He also loved dogs. “When he and Lillian lived in the Hollywood Hills, they had four dogs. He enjoyed walking in the [neighborhood] with them,” she says. “My grandfather’s favorite was his prized white German shepherd, Bodri.”
After Béla’s death in 1956 at age 73, Sparks’ father, Bela Jr., helped push for the California Celebrities Rights Act, which finally passed in 1985 and gave heirs control over the commercial use of a celebrity’s image. “He would be very proud of my dad for realizing the necessity of protecting his name and image,” says Sparks, who carries on that work as the CEO of Lugosi Enterprises today. “At the end of my grandfather’s life, he thought he had been forgotten. To know that he is remembered and respected and so well loved would be overwhelming.”
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