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He was born Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko on October 20, 1882, in Hungary. He joined Budapest's National Theater in 1913 and later appeared in several Hungarian films under the pseudonym Arisztid Olt. After World War I, he helped the Communist regime nationalize Hungary's film industry, but barely escaped arrest when the government was deposed, fleeing to the United States in 1920.
As he became a star in American horror films in the 1930s and 1940s, publicists and fan magazines crafted outlandish stories to create a new history for Lugosi. The cinema's Dracula was transformed into one of Hollywood's most mysterious actors. This exhaustive account of Lugosi's work in film, radio, theater, vaudeville and television provides an extensive biographical look at the actor. The enormous merchandising industry built around him is also examined.
Gary D Rhodes
Gary D. Rhodes is professor of media production at Oklahoma Baptist University. He is author of numerous books, including The Perils of Moviegoing in America: 1896-1950 and The Birth of the American Horror Film. He is also writer/director of such films as Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula and Banned in Oklahoma. He is coeditor (with Robert Singer) of Film by Design: The Art of the Movie Poster, published by University Press of Mississippi.
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