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75-413: A mantle is a piece of clothing, a type of cloak . Several other meanings are derived from that. Mantle may refer to: Cloak Cloaks generally fasten at the neck or over the shoulder, and vary in length from the hip all the way down to the ankle – mid-calf being the normal length. They may have an attached hood and may cover and fasten down the front, in which case they have holes or slits for

150-645: A cape , or a full-length cloak. Gentlemen wear an ankle-length or full-length cloak. Formal cloaks often have expensive, colored linings and trimmings such as silk , satin , velvet and fur . The term was the title of a 1942 operatic comedy. According to the King James Version of the Bible, Matthew recorded Jesus of Nazareth saying in Matthew 5:40: "And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also." The King James Version of

225-532: A $ 1,000 check. Sinatra would recall Lugosi's amazement at his visit, since the two men had never met before. During an impromptu interview upon his release from the treatment center in 1955, Lugosi stated that he was about to begin work on a new Ed Wood film called The Ghoul Goes West . This was one of several projects proposed by Wood, including The Phantom Ghoul and Dr. Acula . With Lugosi in his Dracula cape, Wood shot impromptu test footage, with no particular storyline in mind, in front of Tor Johnson 's home, at

300-477: A child, Bela G. Lugosi , in 1938. (Bela eventually had four grandchildren (Greg, Jeff, Tim, and Lynne) and seven great-grandchildren, although he did not live long enough to meet any of them.) Lillian and Bela vacationed on their lakeshore property in Lake Elsinore, California (then called Elsinore), on several lots between 1944 and 1953. Lillian's parents lived on one of their properties, and Lugosi frequented

375-621: A cloak may be anything that disguises or conceals something. In many science fiction franchises, such as Star Trek , there are cloaking devices , which provide a way to avoid detection by making objects appear invisible. A real device, albeit of limited capability, was demonstrated in 2006. Because they keep a person hidden and conceal a weapon, the phrase cloak and dagger has come to refer to espionage and secretive crimes: it suggests murder from hidden sources. "Cloak and dagger" stories are thus mystery, detective, and crime stories of this. The vigilante duo of Marvel comics Cloak and Dagger

450-463: A clown in the first film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , He Who Gets Slapped (1924) starring Lon Chaney , but this has been heavily disputed. The rumor originated from the discovery of a publicity still from this film found posthumously in Lugosi's scrapbook, which showed an unidentified clown in heavy makeup standing near Lon Chaney in one scene. It was thought to be evidence that Lugosi appeared in

525-515: A crewman aboard a merchant ship , then made his way north to New York City, where he again took up acting in (and sometimes directing) stage plays in 1921–1922, then worked in the New York silent film industry from 1923 to 1926. In 1921, he met and married his second wife, Ilona von Montagh, a young Hungarian emigree and stage actress whom he had worked with years before in Europe. They only lived together for

600-545: A desire to play more comedy, as he had in the Mother Riley farce . Independent producer Jack Broder took Lugosi at his word, casting him in a jungle-themed comedy, Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952), starring nightclub comedians Duke Mitchell and Jerry Lewis look-alike Sammy Petrillo , whose act closely resembled that of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis ( Martin and Lewis ). Hal B. Wallis , Martin and Lewis's producer, unsuccessfully sued Broder. Lugosi enjoyed

675-537: A female friend were both arrested for shoplifting in New York City, which was the last he heard of her.). Lugosi took his place in Hollywood society and scandal when he married wealthy San Francisco resident Beatrice Woodruff Weeks (1897–1931), widow of architect Charles Peter Weeks , on July 27, 1929. Weeks subsequently filed for divorce on November 4, 1929, accusing Lugosi of infidelity, citing actress Clara Bow as

750-509: A few weeks, but their divorce took until October 1925 to be finalized. He later moved to California in 1928 to tour in the Dracula stage play, and his Hollywood film career took off. Lugosi claimed he performed the Dracula play around 1,000 times during his lifetime. He eventually became a U.S. citizen in 1931, soon after the release of his film version of Dracula . Lugosi's first film appearance

825-578: A fur-lined korzno  [ uk ] ( Old East Slavic : кързно ). Powerful noblemen and elite warriors of the Aztec Empire would wear a tilmàtli ; a Mesoamerican cloak/cape used as a symbol of their upper status. Cloth and clothing was of utmost importance for the Aztecs. The more elaborate and colorful tilmàtlis were strictly reserved for élite high priests, emperors ; and the Eagle warriors as well as

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900-640: A lively career on stage, with plenty of personal appearances. As film offers declined, he became more and more dependent on live venues to support his family. Lugosi took over the role of Jonathan Brewster from Boris Karloff for Arsenic and Old Lace . Lugosi had also expressed interest in playing Elwood P. Dowd in Harvey to help himself professionally. He also made plenty of personal live appearances to promote his horror image or an accompanying film. The Vincent Price film, House of Wax premiered in Los Angeles at

975-423: A man costumed as a gorilla on a leash. He later allowed himself to be photographed drinking a glass of milk at a Red Cross booth there. When Lugosi playfully attempted to bite the "nurse" in attendance, she overreacted and spilled a glass of milk all over his shirt and cape. Afterward, Lugosi was interviewed by a reporter who botched the interview by asking the prearranged questions out of order, thoroughly confusing

1050-533: A penny from her fortune.) On June 26, 1931, Lugosi became a naturalized United States citizen. In 1933, the 51-year-old Lugosi married 22-year-old Lillian Arch (1911–1981), the daughter of Hungarian immigrants living in Hollywood. Lillian's father was against her marriage to Lugosi at first as the actor was experiencing financial difficulties at the time, so Bela talked her into eloping with him to Las Vegas in January 1933. They remained married for 20 years and they had

1125-573: A seaman on a merchant ship, then making his way north to New York City and Ellis Island. In 1927, he starred as Count Dracula in a Broadway adaptation of Bram Stoker 's novel , moving with the play to the West Coast in 1928 and settling down in Hollywood. He later starred in the 1931 film version of Dracula directed by Tod Browning and produced by Universal Pictures . Through the 1930s, he occupied an important niche in horror films, but his notoriety as Dracula and thick Hungarian accent greatly limited

1200-514: A six-month tour of Dracula , Lugosi co-starred in a lowbrow film comedy, Mother Riley Meets the Vampire (also known as Vampire Over London and My Son, the Vampire ), released the following year. Following his return to the United States, he was interviewed for television, and reflected wistfully on his typecasting in horror parts: "Now I am the boogie man ". In the same interview, he expressed

1275-465: A special double feature. The combination was so successful that Umann scheduled extra shows to accommodate the capacity crowds, and invited Lugosi to appear in person, which thrilled new audiences that had never seen Lugosi's classic performance. "I owe it all to that little man at the Regina Theatre," said Lugosi of exhibitor Umann. "I was dead, and he brought me back to life." Universal took notice of

1350-713: A suburban graveyard, and in front of Lugosi's apartment building on Carlton Way. This footage ended up posthumously in Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957 ), which was filmed in 1956 soon after Lugosi died. Wood hired Tom Mason , his wife's chiropractor , to double for Lugosi in additional shots. Mason was noticeably taller and thinner than Lugosi, and had the lower half of his face covered with his cape in every shot, as Lugosi sometimes did in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein . Following his treatment, Lugosi made one final film, in late 1955, The Black Sleep , for Bel-Air Pictures, which

1425-416: A trap door concealed on the stage could seem sudden. When Lugosi reprised his role as Dracula for the 1931 Universal Studios motion picture version of the play, he retained the cloak as part of his outfit, which made such a strong impression that cloaks came to be equated with Count Dracula in nearly all non-historical media depictions of him. Fantasy cloaks are often magical . For example, they may grant

1500-449: A turning point for the actor, but within the year he was back on Hollywood's Poverty Row, playing leads for Sam Katzman ; the producer was then releasing through Monogram Pictures . At Universal, Bela Lugosi was usually cast for his name value; he often received star billing for what amounted to a supporting part. Lugosi went to 20th Century-Fox for The Gorilla (1939), which had him playing straight man (a butler) to Patsy Kelly and

1575-616: Is a reference to this. Bela Lugosi Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó ( Hungarian: [ˈbeːlɒ ˈfɛrɛnt͡s ˈdɛʒøː ˈblɒʃkoː] ; October 20, 1882 – August 16, 1956), known professionally as Bela Lugosi ( / l ə ˈ ɡ oʊ s i / lə- GOH -see ; Hungarian: [ˈluɡoʃi] ), was a Hungarian–American actor. He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic Dracula (1931), Ygor in Son of Frankenstein (1939) and his roles in many other horror films from 1931 through 1956. Lugosi began acting on

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1650-441: Is noteworthy as being Bela Lugosi's only color film. Lugosi played Dracula for a second and final time on film in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948), which was his last "A" movie. For the remainder of his life, he appeared – less and less frequently – in obscure, forgettable, low-budget B features. From 1947 to 1950, he performed in summer stock , often in productions of Dracula or Arsenic and Old Lace , and during

1725-623: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences , in which he (or his agent) calls the idea that he is only fit for horror films "an error." Lugosi developed severe, chronic sciatica , ostensibly aggravated by injuries received during his military service. Though at first he was treated with benign pain remedies such as asparagus juice, doctors increased the medication to opiates . The growth of his dependence on opiates, particularly morphine and (after 1947, when it became available in America) methadone ,

1800-542: The Jaguar knights . In full evening dress in the Western countries, ladies and gentlemen frequently use the cloak as a fashion statement , or to protect the fine fabrics of evening wear from the elements, especially where a coat would crush or hide the garment. Opera cloaks are made of quality materials such as wool or cashmere, velvet and satin. Ladies may wear a long (over the shoulders or to ankles) cloak usually called

1875-586: The Marvel comic book stories and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe , the sorcerer Doctor Strange is associated with a magical Cloak of Levitation , which not only enables its wearer to levitate , but has other mystical abilities as well. Doctor Strange also uses it as a weapon. Alternatively, cloaks in fantasy may nullify magical projectiles , as the "cloak of magic resistance" in NetHack . Figuratively,

1950-732: The Ritz Brothers . When Lugosi's Black Friday premiered in 1940 on a double bill with the Vincent Price film The House of the Seven Gables , Lugosi and Price both appeared in person at the Chicago Theatre where it opened on Feb. 29, 1940 and remained for four performances. He was finally cast in the role of Frankenstein's monster for Universal's Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943). (At

2025-563: The himation . Romans of the Republic would wear the toga as a formal display of their citizenship. It was denied to foreigners and was worn by magistrates on all occasions as a badge of office. The toga allegedly originated with Numa Pompilius ( r.  715–672 BC), the second semi-legendary king of Rome. Eminent personages in Kievan Rus' adopted the Byzantine chlamys in the form of

2100-516: The "other woman", and claimed Lugosi tried to take her checkbook and the key to her safe deposit box away from her. She even claimed he slapped her in the face one night because she ate a pork chop he had hidden in their refrigerator. Lugosi complained of her excessive drinking and dancing with other men at social gatherings. The divorce became official on December 9, 1929. (Weeks died 17 months later (at age 34) from alcoholism in Panama, Lugosi never receiving

2175-610: The 1903–04 season, playing small roles in several plays and operettas . He took the last name "Lugosi" in 1903 to honor his birthplace, and went on to perform in Shakespearean plays. After moving to Budapest in 1911, he played dozens of roles with the National Theatre of Hungary between 1913 and 1919. Although Lugosi would later claim that he "became the leading actor of Hungary's Royal National Theatre", many of his roles there were small or supporting parts, which led him to enter

2250-405: The 1940s as a screen menace. In addition to his nine Monogram features, he worked in three features for RKO and one for Columbia ( The Return of the Vampire , 1943). He also accepted the lead in an experimental, economical feature, shot in the semi-professional 16mm film format and blown up to 35mm for theatrical release, Scared to Death (completed April 1946, released June 1947). The feature

2325-482: The 1959 British film, which would finally explain the mystery. Lugosi repeatedly married. In June 1917, Lugosi married 19-year-old Ilona Szmik (1898–1991) in Hungary. The couple divorced after Lugosi was forced to flee his homeland for political reasons (risking execution if he stayed) and Ilona did not wish to leave her parents. The divorce became final on July 17, 1920, and was uncontested as Lugosi could not show up for

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2400-506: The Bible has the words recorded a little differently in Luke 6:29: "...and him that taketh away thy cloke, forbid not to take thy coat also." Cloaks are a staple garment in the fantasy genre due to the popularity of medieval settings. They are also usually associated with witches , wizards , and vampires ; the best-known stage version of Dracula , which first made actor Bela Lugosi prominent, featured him wearing it so that his exit through

2475-688: The Cheese . In 1925, he played an Arab Sheik in Arabesque which premiered in Buffalo, New York at the Teck Theatre before moving to Broadway. His first American film role was in the silent melodrama The Silent Command (1923) which was filmed in New York. Four other silent roles followed, villains and continental types, all in productions made in the New York area. A rumor has circulated for decades among film historians that Lugosi played an uncredited bit part as

2550-644: The Hungarian film industry. During World War I , he served as an infantry officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army Imperial and Royal 43rd Infantry Regiment from 1914 to 1916, with the rank of lieutenant . He was awarded the Wound Medal for wounds he sustained while serving on the Russian front . Returning to civilian life, Lugosi became an actor in Hungarian silent films, appearing in many of them under

2625-552: The Hungarian stage in 1902. After playing in 172 productions in his native Hungary, Lugosi moved on to appear in Hungarian silent films in 1917. He had to suddenly emigrate to Germany after the failed Hungarian Communist Revolution of 1919 because of his former socialist activities (organizing a stage actors' union), leaving his first wife in the process. He acted in several films in Weimar Germany , before arriving in New Orleans as

2700-450: The Monster (1955). During post-production of the latter, Lugosi decided to seek treatment for his drug addiction , and the film's premiere was arranged to raise money for Lugosi's hospital expenses (resulting in a paltry amount of money). According to Kitty Kelley 's biography of Frank Sinatra , when the entertainer heard of Lugosi's problems, he visited Lugosi at the hospital and gave him

2775-476: The Paramount Theatre on April 16, 1953. The film played at midnight with a number of celebrities in the audience that night ( Judy Garland , Ginger Rogers , Rock Hudson , Broderick Crawford , Gracie Allen , Eddie Cantor , Shelley Winters and others). Producer Alex Gordon , knowing Lugosi was in dire need of cash, arranged for the actor to stand outside the theater wearing a cape and dark glasses, holding

2850-503: The aging star. Embarrassed, Lugosi left abruptly, without attending the screening. Late in his life, Bela Lugosi again received star billing in films when the ambitious but financially limited filmmaker Ed Wood , a fan of Lugosi, found him living in obscurity and near-poverty and offered him roles in his films, such as an anonymous narrator in Glen or Glenda (1953) and a mad scientist in Bride of

2925-552: The country at New Orleans in December 1920. He made his way to New York and was inspected by immigration officers at Ellis Island in March 1921. He only declared his intention to become a US citizen in 1928; on June 26, 1931, he was naturalized . On his arrival in America, the 6-foot-1-inch (1.85 m), 180-pound (82 kg) Lugosi worked for some time as a laborer, and then entered

3000-594: The elegant, somewhat hot-tempered General Nicholas Strenovsky-Petronovich in International House (1933). Regardless of controversy, five films at Universal – The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), The Invisible Ray (1936), Son of Frankenstein (1939), Black Friday (1940), plus minor cameo performances in Gift of Gab (1934) and two at RKO Pictures , You'll Find Out (1940) and The Body Snatcher (1945) – paired Lugosi with Boris Karloff . Despite

3075-494: The end of the previous film in the series, The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942), Lugosi's voice had been dubbed over that of Lon Chaney Jr. since Ygor's brain was now in the Monster's skull. ) But at the last minute, Lugosi's heavily accented dialogue was edited out after the film was completed, along with the idea of the Monster being blind, leaving his performance featuring groping, outstretched arms and moving lips seeming enigmatic (and funny) to audiences. Lugosi kept busy during

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3150-501: The film Prisoners (also 1929), believed lost , which was released in both a silent and partial talkie version. In 1929, with no other film roles in sight, he returned to the stage as Dracula for a short West Coast tour of the play. Lugosi remained in California where he resumed his film work under contract with Fox, appearing in early talkies often as a heavy or an "exotic sheik ". He also continued to lobby for his prized role in

3225-523: The film version of Dracula . Despite his critically acclaimed performance on stage, Lugosi was not Universal Pictures ' first choice for the role of Dracula when the company optioned the rights to the Deane play and began production in 1930. Different prominent actors, such as Paul Muni , Chester Morris , Ian Keith , John Wray , Joseph Schildkraut , Arthur Edmund Carewe , William Courtenay , John Carradine , and Conrad Veidt were considered. Lew Ayres

3300-447: The film, but historians all agree that is very unlikely, since Lugosi was in both Chicago (appearing in a play called The Werewolf ) and New York at the time that film was in production in Hollywood. Lugosi was approached in the summer of 1927 to star in a Broadway theatre production of Dracula , which had been adapted by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston from Bram Stoker 's 1897 novel . The Horace Liveright production

3375-483: The finished film. Tor Johnson said in interviews that Lugosi kept screaming that he wanted to die the night they shared a hotel room together. In 1959, a British film called Lock Up Your Daughters was theatrically released (in the U.K.), composed of clips from Bela Lugosi's Monogram pictures from the 1940s. The film is lost today, but a March 16, 1959, critical review in the Kinematograph Weekly mentioned that

3450-562: The garment's bell-like shape. Thus the word is related to the word clock . Ancient Greeks and Romans were known to wear cloaks. Greek men and women wore the himation , from the Archaic through the Hellenistic periods ( c. 750–30 BC). Romans would later wear the Greek-styled cloak, the pallium . The pallium was quadrangular, shaped like a square, and sat on the shoulders, not unlike

3525-400: The hands to pass through. However, cloaks are almost always sleeveless. Christian clerics may wear a cappa or a cope – forms of cloak – as liturgical vestments or as part of a religious habit . The word cloak comes from Old North French cloque ( Old French cloche , cloke ) meaning "bell", from Medieval Latin clocca "travelers' cape ," literally "a bell," so called from

3600-677: The health spa there. Bela Lugosi Jr. was boarded at the Elsinore Naval and Military School in Lake Elsinore, and also lived with Lillian's parents while she and Bela were touring. After almost breaking up their marriage in 1944, Lillian and Bela finally divorced on July 17, 1953, at least partially because of Bela's excessive drinking and his jealousy over Lillian taking a full-time job as an assistant to actor Brian Donlevy on Donlevy's radio and television series Dangerous Assignment . Lillian obtained custody of their son Bela Jr. Lugosi called

3675-624: The medical examiner at the age of 73. The rumor that Lugosi was clutching the script for The Final Curtain , a planned Ed Wood project, at the time of his death is not true. Lugosi was buried wearing one of the "Dracula" capes and his full costume as well as his Dracula ring in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California . Contrary to popular belief, Lugosi never requested to be buried in his cloak; Bela G. Lugosi confirmed on numerous occasions that he and his mother, Lillian, made

3750-411: The more colorful role of the villain, The Invisible Ray , and a romantic role in producer Sol Lesser 's adventure serial The Return of Chandu (1934), but his typecasting problem appears to have been too entrenched to be alleviated by those films. Lugosi addressed his plea to be cast in non-horror roles directly to casting directors through his listing in the 1937 Players Directory , published by

3825-447: The movie contained new Lugosi footage (intriguing since Lugosi had died in 1956). Back in 1950 however, Lugosi had appeared on a one-hour TV program called Murder and Bela Lugosi (which WPIX-TV broadcast on Sept. 18, 1950) in which Lugosi was interviewed and provided commentary about a number of his old horror films while clips from the films were being shown; historian Gary Rhodes thinks some of this Lugosi TV production found its way into

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3900-733: The person wearing it invisibility as in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling . A similar sort of garment is worn by the members of the Fellowship of the Ring in The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien , although instead of granting complete invisibility, the Elf-made cloaks simply appear to shift between any natural color (e.g. green, gray, brown) to help the wearer to blend in with his or her surroundings. In

3975-413: The police one night after Lillian left him and threatened to commit suicide, but when the police showed up at his apartment, he denied making the call. (Lillian eventually did marry Brian Donlevy in 1966, by which time he had also become an alcoholic, and she died in 1981.) Lugosi married Hope Lininger, his fifth wife, in 1955; she was 37 years his junior. She had been a fan, writing letters to him when he

4050-829: The proceedings. (Szmik then married wealthy Hungarian architect Imre Francsek in December 1920, moved with him to Iran in 1930, had two children, and died in 1991.) After living briefly in Germany, Lugosi left Europe by ship and arrived in New Orleans on October 27, 1920, and, after making his way north, underwent his primary alien inspection at Ellis Island, N.Y. on March 23, 1921. In September 1921, he married Hungarian actress Ilona von Montagh in New York City, and she filed for divorce on November 11, 1924, charging him with adultery and complaining that he wanted her to abandon her acting career to keep house for him. The divorce became final in October, 1925. (Lugosi learned in 1935 that von Montagh and

4125-420: The relative size of their roles, Lugosi inevitably received second billing, below Karloff. There are contradictory reports of Lugosi's attitude toward Karloff, some claiming that he was openly resentful of Karloff's long-term success and ability to gain good roles beyond the horror arena, while others suggested the two actors were – for a time, at least – amicable. Karloff himself in interviews suggested that Lugosi

4200-550: The rest of the year, made personal appearances in a touring "spook show", and on early commercial television. In September 1949, Milton Berle invited Lugosi to appear in a sketch on Texaco Star Theatre . Lugosi memorized the script for the skit, but became confused on the air when Berle began to ad lib. He also appeared on the anthology series Suspense on October 11, 1949, in a live adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe 's " The Cask of Amontillado ". In 1951, while in England to play

4275-458: The role. Through his association with Dracula (in which he appeared with minimal makeup, using his natural, heavily accented voice), Lugosi found himself typecast as a horror villain in films such as Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), The Black Cat (1934) and The Raven (1935) for Universal, and the independent White Zombie (1932). His accent, while a part of his image, limited

4350-470: The roles offered to him, and he unsuccessfully tried for years to avoid typecasting . He co-starred in a number of films with Boris Karloff , who was able to demand top billing. To his frustration, Lugosi, a charter member of the American Screen Actors Guild , was increasingly restricted to mad scientist roles because of his inability to speak English more clearly. He was kept employed by

4425-543: The show. Karloff's monster was weak by comparison." The same year saw Lugosi making a rare appearance in an A-list motion picture: he was a stern Soviet commissar in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer romantic comedy Ninotchka , starring Greta Garbo and directed by Ernst Lubitsch . Lugosi was quite effective in this small but prestigious character part and even received top billing among the film's supporting cast, all of whom had significantly larger roles. It might have been

4500-902: The stage name "Arisztid Olt". Due to his activism in the actors' union in Hungary during the revolution of 1919 and his active participation in the Hungarian Soviet Republic , he was forced to flee his homeland when the government changed hands, initially accompanied by his first wife Ilona Szmik. They escaped to Vienna before settling in Berlin (in the Langestrasse), where he began acting in German silent films. During these moves, Ilona lost her unborn child, after which she left Lugosi and returned home to her parents where she filed for divorce, and soon after remarried. Lugosi eventually travelled to New Orleans, Louisiana , in December 1920 working as

4575-634: The studios principally so that they could put his name on the posters. Among his teamings with Karloff, he performed major roles only in The Black Cat (1934), The Raven (1935), and Son of Frankenstein (1939); even in The Raven , Karloff received top billing despite Lugosi performing the lead role. By this time, Lugosi had been receiving regular medication for sciatic neuritis , and he became addicted to doctor-prescribed morphine and methadone . This drug dependence (and his gradually worsening alcoholism)

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4650-419: The theater in New York City's Hungarian immigrant colony. With fellow expatriate Hungarian actors he formed a small stock company that toured Eastern cities, playing for immigrant audiences. Lugosi acted in several Hungarian language plays before starring in his first English Broadway play, The Red Poppy in 1922. Three more parts came in 1925–26, including a five-month run in the comedy-fantasy The Devil in

4725-409: The title alongside Basil Rathbone as Dr. Frankenstein's son and Boris Karloff reprising his role as Frankenstein's monster . Regarding Son of Frankenstein , the film's director Rowland V. Lee said his crew let Lugosi "work on the characterization; the interpretation he gave us was imaginative and totally unexpected ... when we finished shooting, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that he stole

4800-426: The tremendous business and launched its own national re-release of the same two horror favorites. The studio then rehired Lugosi to star in new films, fortunately just as Lugosi's fourth wife had given birth to a son. Universal cast Lugosi in Son of Frankenstein (1939), appearing in the character role of Ygor, a mad blacksmith with a broken neck, in heavy makeup and beard. Lugosi was third-billed with his name above

4875-689: The type of role he could play. Lugosi did attempt to break type by auditioning for other roles. He lost out to Lionel Barrymore for the role of Grigori Rasputin in Rasputin and the Empress (also 1932); C. Henry Gordon for the role of Surat Khan in Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), and Basil Rathbone for the role of Commissar Dimitri Gorotchenko in Tovarich (1937), a role Lugosi had played on stage. He played

4950-425: Was becoming apparent to producers, and after 1948's Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein , the offers dwindled to parts in low-budget films; some of these were directed by Ed Wood , including a brief appearance in Wood's Plan 9 from Outer Space (released posthumously in 1957). Lugosi married five times and had one son, Bela G. Lugosi (with his fourth wife, Lillian). Lugosi, the youngest of four children,

5025-547: Was born Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in 1882 in Lugos, Kingdom of Hungary (now Lugoj , Romania) to Hungarian father István Blaskó, a baker who later became a banker, and Serbian-born mother Paula de Vojnich. He was raised in a Catholic family. At the age of 12, Lugosi dropped out of school and left home to work at a succession of manual labor jobs. His father died during his absence. He began his stage acting career in 1902. His earliest known performances are from provincial theatres in

5100-537: Was directly proportional to the dwindling of Lugosi's screen offers. The problem first manifested itself in 1937, when Lugosi was forced to withdraw from a leading role in a serial production, The Secret of Treasure Island , due to constant back pain. Historian John McElwee reports, in his 2013 book Showmen, Sell It Hot! , that Bela Lugosi's popularity received a much-needed boost in August 1938, when California theater owner Emil Umann revived Dracula and Frankenstein as

5175-424: Was eventually hired to play Jonathan Harker, only to be replaced by Robert Ames after being cast in a different role in a different Universal Pictures film. Ames was in turn replaced with David Manners. Lugosi had played the role on Broadway, and was considered before director Tod Browning cast him in the role. The film was a major hit, but Lugosi was paid a salary of only $ 3,500, since he had too eagerly accepted

5250-415: Was in the 1917 Hungarian silent film Leoni Leo . When appearing in Hungarian silent films, he mostly used the stage name Arisztid Olt . Lugosi made at least 10 films in Hungary between 1917 and 1918 before leaving for Germany. Following the collapse of Béla Kun 's Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, leftists and trade unionists became vulnerable, some being imprisoned or executed in public. Lugosi

5325-508: Was in the hospital recovering from his drug addiction. She would sign her letters "A dash of Hope". They remained married until his death in 1956. However Bela and Hope were actually discussing getting divorced before he died. Lugosi died of a heart attack on August 16, 1956, in the bedroom of his Los Angeles apartment while taking a nap. His wife, Hope, discovered him when she came home from work that evening, his apparently having died peacefully in his sleep around 6:45 p.m. according to

5400-636: Was initially mistrustful of him when they acted together, believing that the Englishman would attempt to upstage him. When this proved not to be the case, according to Karloff, Lugosi settled down and they worked together amicably (though some have further commented that the English Karloff's on-set demand to break from filming for mid-afternoon tea annoyed Lugosi). Lugosi did get a few heroic leads, as in Universal's The Black Cat after Karloff had been accorded

5475-523: Was proscribed from acting due to his participation in the formation of an actors' union . Exiled in Weimar -era Germany, he co-starred in at least 14 German silent films in 1920, among them Hypnose: Sklaven fremden Willens (1920), Der Januskopf (1920) and an adaptation of the Karl May novel Caravan of Death (1920). Lugosi left Germany in October 1920, emigrating by ship to the United States, and entered

5550-461: Was released in the summer of 1956 through United Artists with a promotional campaign that included several personal appearances by Lugosi and his co-stars, as well as Maila Nurmi (TV's horror host "Vampira"). To Lugosi's disappointment, however, his role in this film was that of a mute butler with no dialogue. Lugosi was intoxicated and very ill during the film's promotional campaign and had to return to L.A. earlier than planned. He never got to see

5625-407: Was successful, running in New York City for 261 performances before touring the United States to much fanfare and critical acclaim throughout 1928 and 1929. In 1928, Lugosi decided to stay in California when the play ended its first West Coast run. His performance had piqued the interest of Fox Film , and he was cast in the Hollywood studio's silent film The Veiled Woman (1929). He also appeared in

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