Bela Lugosi was born in Transylvania in the Hungarian town of Lugos, as Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko on October 20, 1882. His father was vice president of the state bank of Lugos. He was the youngest of four children.

1900 -- stage debut

1902 -- Joined National Actors' Company and performed many plays in Transyvania. He took the name of his hometown. Lugosi means "from Lugos" or "of Lugos".

He acted with different touring companies until 1911, when he started acting in Budapest, with the Hungarian Theatre in Budapest and Budapest's National Theatre. He first appeared in film during this period, using the name Arisztid Olt. Some of his early films were horror films, including "Az Elet Kiralya"/"A King's Life" (1918), based on Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray".

1918 -- The Hungarian monarchy collapsed and a Communist regime was established. He was active in politics and organized an actors' union.

1919 -- After the defeat of the Hungarian Leftists, Bela had to flee to Germany. He appeared in some films while living there.

1921 -- Sailed to New York City. Despite not speaking a word of English, he hoped to act on the American stage. He joined the Hungarian community, producing and starring in Hungarian productions there.

1923 -- Broadway debut as an Apache dancer in "The Red Poppy". American film debut: "The Silent Command", a Fox movie in which he played a German spy.

1927 -- He played "Dracula" on Broadway in the fall of this year. The play was successful. After a Broadway run of a year, he toured with the melodrama for two.

1930 -- Universal purchased screen rights to "Dracula" and wanted to borrow Lon Chaney from MGM to play the Count. As Chaney's health kept him from the project, the studio scouted around for replacements and finally chose Lugosi, at that time unknown to American film audiences.

An interesting fact when compared to later films: Bela Lugosi did not wear fangs in this portrayal of the count.

The 1931 version of "Dracula" was the first talking picture horror film. The rest is history, as mortals say. This was the part that made Bela a star, and no other film he was in ever gleaned as much success.

The Opinion of Your Webmistress: I found the Bela Lugosi version of Dracula (1931) boring. I love the image of him, but it moved slow slow slow. However, I wish I'd been one of Renfield's flies on the curtain in the theatres where Bela performed! 27.2.00: Someone signed my guestbook, apalled that I found the film boring. If I didn't believe that Bela Lugosi contributed much to the genre, both in film and literature, I wouldn't have created this page. But thanks for your honest opinion. 30.10.02: A visitor wondered if I liked the version with music by Phillip Glass. Why yes, I did indeed. Thank you for the reminder.

Aug 16, 1956 -- Died of a heart attack. At his request, he was buried in his Dracula cape.

As Vincent Price related, when he and Peter Lorre went to view Bela's body, Lorre, seeing Lugosi dressed in his famous Dracula cape, quipped, "Do you think we should drive a stake through his heart just in case?"