How Bela Lugosi Destroyed Himself Entirely?

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[@AgeOfVintage]

Thank you all for watching the videos and a HUGE THANK YOU for those who support the channel on Patreon. Just as little as $5 a month helps the channel tremendously!!! click here: www.patreon.com/ageofvintage Thank you! 🙂

[@kennethrussell1158]

Who else is thinking about the song by "Bauhaus" "Bela Lugosi's Dead" from 1979?

[@donolbers9446]

Huge respect for Lugosi, a public figure that had enough sense to realize he needed help, and at 70 plus years of age, sought out that help, knowing he would be outed by the vicious gossip rags. I would call that his greatest role of all. R.I.P.

[@zacharymcmillan2788]

Fun fact: the only celebrity who visited Lugosi while he was in rehab (besides Ed Wood,of course) was Frank Sinatra.

[@dgenerated]

RIP Bela

[@frankneeri8315]

An interesting note. My grandfather, Francis Pallos and his daughter, my mother, often entertained Bela Lugosi for dinner in Los Angeles during the 1930’s. My grandfather was the Hungarian Consul for the west coast during the 1920’s, 1930’s and early 1940’s located in Los Angeles and was a major contact for the Hungarian American community. My mom described his visits and how he would go from being charming to bizarre depending how much drugs he had consumed. He always was pleasant and an active member of the Hungarian community in acting community along with Michael Curtiz and George Cukor.

[@julioalcaraz5417]

What a great story. Thanks 🙏 for sharing

[@vbacs22]

It's such a delight to read stories like this for a Hungarian like me. Thank you!

[@M_Darabi]

Mr. Lugosi had the courage to come out and tell the world he had a drug problem which he sought help for and was successful. He was bluntly honest...more so than the crazy actors / actresses of today. Bela is and will always be my favorite actor of all time. He was a good man and he was genuine.

[@GoneGone816]

Precisely. 🖤 People love making him out to be a scumbag for clicks. I have been scouring the internet for blasphemous content to correct.

[@MelancoliaI]

@@GoneGone816 Fact is, his last interview is a watershed moment in the history of addiction awareness. Took a lot of courage to discuss his issues publicly and we're still feeling the impact today

[@danielueblacker9118]

Bela was Not the first nor sadly the last Actor to have drug dependance. A wonderful person, may he be at Eternal Rest.

[@Voodoomaria]

Bela WAS however one of the FIRST to publicly acknowledge both his addiction, and his seeking of treatment for same. His courage in doing so did help a lot of other Hollywood notables decide to seek help for their various substance abuse issues.

[@ruthlawrence8046]

@@Voodoomaria Couldn't agree with you more. Cheers Ruth from Australia 🇦🇺🇦🇺❤🕸🕷🦇

[@Voodoomaria]

@@ruthlawrence8046 Thank you Ruth. I'm a film collector, and a serious classic horror movie junkie. Lugoi is one of my pantheon of horror legends, but I always felt sorry for the man. A respected dramatic/romantic stage actor in his home country, but he comes to Hollywood, does one successful [Iconic] horror outing, and by Hollywood magic, he's typecast as a ghoulie in b- movies. What a tremendous let-down.

[@philipibaugh2925]

He was first to publicly admit and go into treatment publicly. He should get more credit for that in a age where things like that were looked at as weakness or something for homeless junkies.

[@lisamckennon3025]

@@Voodoomaria Lugosi was badly used by Hollywood. He was underpromoted, underpaid, passed over for good roles time and again; he was never given help overcoming his accent and diction, which was one of the greatest impediments to his acting career. The only other actor who comes to mind that was as badly mistreated by Hollywood was Peter Lorre, another Hungarian.

[@bhartley868]

Lugosi , enlisted in 1914 , with the Austro- Hungarian army , with the 43 Royal Hungarian infantry, Ski troops. in World War I . He made Lieutenant & was wounded three times, decorated & released in 1916. His injuries must have been telling for him to be released during the war. His army lost the War. He lost his country. His first wife died during his war service. His second wife died before he came to the USA. I suspect his morphine addiction may have started with his war injuries evolving into Sciatica , not to mention combat memories. Try loosing a war for memories ! Hungary was torn apart. Perhaps all this damage forged his acting. Like the roaring twenties , many learned to live life fully now & enjoy the party, having survived the horror of World War I , knowing personally those that did not make it.

[@GeorgeSemel]

World War I was a meat grinder, I didn't know anything about his military service. The wounds must have been troubling as he got older. No surprise he had a problem with Morphine.

[@ruthlawrence8046]

@ B Hartley I totally agree with you. He really suffered greatly throughout his life, many things are just too much for one person to bear. Hope he has found the peace he deserves. Cheers Ruth from Australia 🇦🇺🦇

[@MelancoliaI]

Pretty sure he came to the US as a refugee in the first place, if i remember correctly

[@bhartley868]

@@MelancoliaI In 1919 Lugosi fled to Germany. In 1920 he emigrated to the US. In 1931, he became a US citizen.

[@richie9308]

His first wife divorced him after he fled Hungary and his 2nd wife divorce because she accused him of having an affair.

[@richardcleveland1763]

Lugosi's greatest asset as an actor was his eyes.

[@Tiara-qr7hc]

Can I just say that his performance truly terrified me as a child so much that I still to this day cannot watch Dracula at night without feeling like Dracula is coming for me. That's some talent. No violence on screen whatsoever but the message is received loud and clear.

[@yuvgotubekidding]

Bela as Ygor in “Son Of Frankenstein” is his best movie performance to me.

[@recommendedforyou2936]

I agree

[@cherryleegee1182]

It is sad to know that my number one favorite Dracula live such a sad and hard life. All he wanted was to basically do what he loves to doing the most which was acting. But in the end all he got was well heartache and addiction. It just breaks my heart. Thank you so much for posting this video. Everyone take care, take it easy and be safe

[@ozzietadziu]

"The path you walked was thorny, through no fault of your own. For as the rain enters the earth, the river enters the sea, the soul enters a predetermined destiny. And even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers at night can become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the moon is full and bright." Maria Ospenskaya to Bela Lugosi in "The Wolfman".

[@stanthology]

- I love that!

[@deboracopeland6356]

Thank you for posting that.

[@miapdx503]

Excellent film 🌺

[@robertsettle2590]

I'm confused I guess, but I thought that was said to Long Chaney Jr. in "The Wolfman".

[@ozzietadziu]

You could be right. Remember it was Bela who attacked Lon and made him a wherwolf. I only remember Maria speaking the words over one of them. It really doesn't matter which. The speech was gold.

[@sonjastanger4078]

The way u tell ur stories... keep me coming back the truth & fate of each individual is well said... I cud sit & listen 2 u tell these w/such grace, etc... ty, 4 sharing always 💖 🙏🕯💔😪

[@fredmillsaps5268]

Now if you could just learn how to write a sentence, Sonja.🙁

[@StephiSensei26]

Lugosi fan here. Brilliant breakdown and homage to Bela. Just one thing, the pics at 3:55 and again at 11:00 minutes aren't Lugosi. They're the Hispanic actor who did Lugosi's part in Spanish, on the same set. Lugosi shot the film during the day and the Hispanic crew came in during the evening. Same costume, different actor. By the way, the Spanish version is pretty good and maybe even better in some respects. Thank you.

[@lisamckennon3025]

I noticed that, too! That's definitely Carlos Villarios!

[@twistoffate4791]

I saw it too, and went, "Uh-ohhhh...."

[@StephiSensei26]

@@twistoffate4791 They can't fool us! We're watching!

[@twistoffate4791]

@@StephiSensei26 Exactly!!

[@carlhursh9692]

The best Dracula!

[@lindseycarribean5113]

Vincent price

[@kirkmorrison6131]

He was/ is one of my favorite actors. The film techniques are dated but it doesn't matter his acting makes you almost feel the evil in his characters.

[@tomantush4867]

A man who has already lived in Hell need have no fear of it.

[@geoffreyfoster8039]

I would say that a man who has lived in Hell should have great fear of it, knowing full well what is coming.

[@carmelasilvestri4207]

I loved seeing all of his movies. Still do .

[@lanacampbell-moore4549]

RIP Mr Lugosi & Happy Halloween Weekend Everyone!!!🧙🎃👻🧡

[@mrmjb1960]

Dracula stereotyped him,as did The Wolfman did for Lon Chaney Jr. And Frankenstein for Boris Karloff.

[@ruthlawrence8046]

Hi Age of Vintage, how are you going? This is a fabulous look into the life of Bela Lugosi, the Hungarian actor who became so famous for playing the FABULOUS role of Count Dracula. He always seemed to find some femme fatale with the palest of white skin ( I know it was filmed in black and white) who would faint at the sight of his appearance & he would pick her up & sink his huge fangs into her lily white neck. Ahhh they don't make films like that anymore. I always thought he was the perfect actor for the role, in his fabulous costume, complete with the huge swirling cape. It really was a shame he became addicted to opiate drugs, which he used for injuries he received in the war. There will never be another Count Dracula quite like the infamous Bela Lugosi, I hope you finally found you're peace. Love Love from Australia 💙🎬📽🦇🕷🕸💚💛💜💜💖💖❤❤🇦🇺🇦🇺😨😨😨🦇🦇🦇🕷🕷🕷🕸🕸🕸💖💖⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘💋💋💋💋💋

[@michaelmcgee8543]

He was a great icon for vampires, on screen.

[@Voodoomaria]

One thing not commonly known, is that back in Hungary, Lugosi was not only a major theatre star, He was also apponted as the commisar in charge of performing arts in Bucharest. It was a position within the communist government of course. and when that became known in Hollywood [long before the communist witch-hunts of the 1950's] Lugosi found it increasingly difficult to get work with the major studios and was consigned to work more and more for the poverty-row production houses. While not officially black-listed, his position as a party official in the old country did not win him many friends in America. In the west people failed to understand that under the soviet system EVERYBODY was a party member, and IF you wished to work in certain in certain jobs or capacities it could ONLY be done under the auspices of also being a party official. It's not as though he had a choice when he was offered the post. He was also a founding member of the screen actor's guild [his guild membership number was in the low double didgits] at a time in America where any trade-union organization activities was automatically equated with Bolshivism. Add these difficulties to a chronically depressive personality, Career type-casting, add in an injury leading to morphine addiction, and this is a recipe for a VERY unhappy life.

[@bhartley868]

Lugosi should be given credit . After his last movie , Ed Woods , BRIDE OF THE MONSTER , where Lugosi fights with the octopus in the swamp, suspension of belief . Lugosi had himself committed for medical care of his addiction. He beat it and was released , and died in about a year. He never made the movie project , THE GOUL GOES WEST. an Ed Wood projected special project. Ed Wood did insert some footage of Lugosi in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE. after Lugosi death .

[@angelsaltamontes7336]

I recall with a mischievous smile what could be as good an epitaph as many for fella Bela: in a guest spot on Abbott & Costello's radio show, the pair's skit has them as cops come to investigate strange goings-on at Lugosi's pad. The spooky master shows A&C through the place, explaining away one suspicious element after another. Coming upon a funereal foundation in a salon, our guys press him whether THIS, at least & at last, could be some kind of trouble. "No!", said our hero: "This is my bier". "Oh, YEAH?" "Yes. MY bier is a DRY bier". Hey, i'm just quoting! Don't throw me---

[@ardathbey4150]

We need actors like him now... not just CGI

[@danf321]

A lot of actors played Dracula over the years, but no one had the suave elegance that Bela possessed.

[@SoberIrishman]

Millions of people sabotage life because they suffer from mental illness and depression hiding the pain behind addiction. This culture shames people like that today, myself included, and give litttle care outside an institution to those that suffer. These days are cold indeed. Bless him for his suffering, Corey Haim was very similar. Thos that suffer, get it.

[@oliverbrownlow5615]

This may be the first time Corey Haim has ever been said to have been very similar to Bela Lugosi.

[@SoberIrishman]

@@oliverbrownlow5615 in the vein of addiction and how it destroys a life....yep.

[@RSEFX]

The writing in this video has something of a sensationalistic, yellow journalism take on Mr. Lugosi,

[@Hudpix16]

The whole channel is like that.

[@jaytrace1006]

I understand that he didn’t like being typecast after “Dracula”, but his accent really didn’t make him a person that could fit into a leading man role in American film. Now, Arnold made it happen 50 years later, but in the black & white days, he was limited, I think. He couldn’t really do westerns, and comedies would be difficult due to timing and subtle variances in speech. Given those challenges, he still made films until his death. Many of the problems that plagued him were due to his addictions.

[@Nifflerify]

To be fair Arnold was also type cast throughout his career albeit in a more lucrative role.

[@GoneGone816]

A lot of his addictions were caused by his age and constant work. (Note my last name…)

[@jaytrace1006]

A vicious circle, I suppose…

[@GoneGone816]

@@jaytrace1006 indeed, sir. He also had PTSD from serving in the army. Self medicating once he found something that made it go away for a while. His tolerance skyrocketed and he required more and more to produce the same effect. It was sad. He didn’t start film acting in the US until he was 40. Once he exploded, he was booking job after job because it was what he loved… All that standing made his (literal) old battle wounds flare up and he got sciatica and arthritis along with it. He was in constant pain.

[@jaytrace1006]

Ugh. Between my late wife, who was in constant pain from arthritis and took copious amounts of medication until it took her life, and my own bouts with sciatica, much of that rings all too familiar. The wife also had some PTSD from two rapes, and still we weren’t dealing with the ravages of war on the human existence. My heart is heavy for this man, so beloved in the world of cinema.

[@davidllewis4075]

Some years ago heard he never legally changed his name, in theory so he could get out of contracts. Have no way of authenticating this memory.

[@krystallovesclassics508]

Clark Gable is becoming the new Marilyn Monroe in a sense of people especially on YT and Twitter can't seem to uplift someone else without taking a baseless shot at him.

[@NelsonStJames]

This is the generation we live in. They seem hellbent on destroying any past icons simply for being human.

[@JoeMotionVideos82]

Dracula saved Universal Studios from Bankruptcy.

[@paulhunter6742]

Bela Lugosi was offered role of Frankenstein before Boris Karloff, who made role his own. Ironically, both starred together several films during 1930s. And both ended up typecast as studio monsters.

[@goldenagenut]

One of the biggest and most tragic facts about the art of film is the loss of the great majority of silent films made during thecearly days of cinema. What we lost we'll never know, almost the entire beginning of the most important art form, destroyed, truly a tragic loss.

[@jonmeek3879]

I find no fault with this man as his addiction was in large part due to the wounds suffered in WW1 . RIP

[@kali3665]

3:58 This isn't Lugosi - that's Carlos Villiarias, who played Dracula in the 1931 Spanish version. I think part of Lugosi's problem was that he was never taken seriously by Universal, and they practically sabotaged his career. Lugosi justifiably turned down the role of the Frankenstein monster because at the time he was offered the part, it was little more than a grunting speechless monster - there was no way to bring any character to it, and he didn't want to hide his features under the makeup. Supposedly, Lugosi was hoping for the role of Dr. Frankenstein, which would have demonstrated his versatility, but Universal wasn't about to consider that. When Boris Karloff made Frankenstein a smash, Universal essentially screwed Lugosi, wouldn't give him a long term contract, and switched all their promotional efforts (that they never gave Lugosi in the first place) to Karloff. Lugosi finally got a term contract with Universal in the 40s but only so he would be available to play opposite Karloff - Universal simply didn't value Lugosi except in support of Karloff. Understandably, Lugosi resented this. Lugosi, too, wanted to be center stage in every film he was in - he saw himself as a leading man well into his 60s. And it's likely that he simply couldn't tell a good script from a bad one so long as he was the star. The morphine addiction didn't help either. He was ultimately forced to play the Monster in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, but the studio sabotaged his performance: intended to be blind and speaking dialogue, Lugosi played the role as written. At the last minute, however, Universal decided a talking Hungarian monster sounded funny (why didn't anyone notice earlier?), so they cut all his dialogue. Which incidentally removed all references that the creature was blind. So, Lugosi performed as required by the script, but without that background, he just looked like an incompetent actor. And it looked like Universal blamed Lugosi for its 11th hour butchering when the film bombed. So Universal wouldn't hire Lugosi again until pretty much forced to do so for Abbott & Costello Meets Frankenstein, and even THEN, he almost lost out on it because Universal had no interest in hiring Lugosi for anything. Without any interest from the big studios, Lugosi descended into the gutter, which is truly sad. He would be rediscovered in the 60s and finally receive in the 80s the respect he always felt he deserved, but both way too late for Lugosi.

[@dandavis8300]

Even as a little kid, I knew they had treated him badly with the role of "Joseph" in "The Body Snatcher". He should have played the Doctor, although Henry Daniell was very good in the role. The final scene where the Doctor is dragged down by Karloff's corpse would have been even more awesome with Lugosi in it.

[@kali3665]

@@dandavis8300 Lugosi was talented, but I really could not see him tackle the role of MacFarlane the way Daniell did. Now, there's a talent never taken seriously - they always had Daniell playing bad guys, but he was good. Daniell had a major role in Chaplin's The Great Dictator but much of it was cut supposedly because Chaplin thought Daniell was funnier than HE was! Daniel was also one of the best actors to take on the role of Professor Moriarity. But, yes, they should have found a better way to take advantage of Lugosi in The Body Snatcher. His scene with Karloff, though, was extraordinary.

[@jayrosen6663]

Kali, he knew a bad script from a good one. He treated the crap he was in as a work of Shakespeare!!

[@kali3665]

@@jayrosen6663 Maybe, but he definitely looked for in-your-face starring roles instead of segueing into character roles like Karloff did.

[@oliverbrownlow5615]

I agree that Universal treated Bela poorly, though he did some great work for the studio throughout the 30's and 40's. Universal also didn't seem to know what to do with the character of Dracula after the initial movie. The first sequel, *Dracula's Daughter,* wasn't until 1936 and didn't even include an appearance by Dracula. The second sequel, *Son of Dracula* wasn't until 1943 and featured an absurdly miscast Lon Chaney, jr. In the role of the count (in the same year, Lugosi himself was over at Columbia Pictures filming *Return of the Vampire,* the closest thing to real, respectful *Dracula* sequel Lugosi would ever get to make). One wonders if *Son of Dracula* wasn't rushed into production specifically as a response to Lugosi's project at Columbia. Universal next cast John Carradine as Dracula in *House of Frankenstein* (1944) and *House of Dracula* (1945). The oft- told story is that the studio didn't offer the role to Lugosi at this time due to his drug addiction, but I think it more likely that they did offer the role to Lugosi in these films, and that he refused because of the insulting treatment of the character, as a flunkie to Karloff's mad doctor, who is quickly killed off in the first film, and as an effete patient seeking a medial cure for his vampirism in the second (where he's killed off halfway through the picture, leaving another vampire to take center stage). Even in *Abbott and Costello Meet Frsnkenstein* (1948), where Lugosi is at last returned to the role that made him famous, and that he made famous, Dracula is concerned with matters that would have been completely alien to the Dracula of the 1931 movie, and that seem more appropriate to the mad scientist characters Lugosi had been playing in the interim between the two films than to his original Dracula character. It's a shame that Universal never realized that it could have made a series of Dracula films starring Bela Lugosi portraying the character with the same power and majesty he had brought to the original film, greatly to the benefit of the studio, Lugosi, and Lugosi's many fans. In insisting on screwing Lugosi, the studio also screwed itself.

[@everydayeveryday982]

I watch and enjoy all his old movies. To me he was a very great actor who I enjoy watching. I Love all his movies good or bad. Thank you for doing a video about his life story

[@evanelston9525]

He was buried in the whole Dracula outfit !!!

[@JudeNance]

I remember him well.

[@elderlypoodle9181]

Loved it!! May I see Ernest Thesinger highlighted ? My favorite character actor. I heard he asked the director which ring he should wear for his part. He had a collection.

[@gerryj1946]

Thanks for the story. What is the purpose of playing any music in the background? It's not essential, and frankly, distracting and counter-productive.

[@johndaugherty7779]

Excellent presentation. Thank you.

[@JiveDadson]

The movie _Ed Wood_ is about the last days of Legosi, as well as the eponymous director. It is a very good movie, and not at all a downer.

[@lisamckennon3025]

I LOVED "Ed Wood"!! One of my all-time favorite films! Martin Landau won an Oscar for his portrayal of Lugosi.

[@Crrly]

PULL THE STRINGS! PULL THE STRINGS!

[@jamesmiller4184]

Definitely the best plan even beyond Nine! Pull em!! That might have been the very best thing that Eddie (Wood) ever got onto film of Bela's. "Little people . . . "

[@ghostnote599]

Macabre Legend

[@philipibaugh2925]

Wow! I knew about his opiate addiction, knew he was first to publicly admit and go into treatment but didn't know he was like first people experimenting with methadone and it's maintenance properties for addicts. I've even more respect for him now

[@travelinben1966]

Loved worldwide.R.I.P. Bela.

[@guilfordcigarman]

It is very interesting to see Lugosi in a non-horror role in "Ninotchka" (1939) with Greta Garbo and Melvyn Douglas.

[@bobriedel3277]

At his funeral, fellow actor Peter Lorre, himself an immigrant from Europe, asked someone if they should put a stake thru Lugosi's heart to make sure that "Dracula" wouldn't rise.

[@BatEatsMoth]

Well, people see his ghost walking around Hollywood dressed in that cape, so it appears that Peter's fears were justified.

[@pgh45rpms]

When Bela Lugosi died, he was buried in costume but his cape was a replica.

[@bhartley868]

Age of Vintage Destroys itself Entirely !

[@lanacampbell-moore6686]

Sad story & thanks AOV💙

[@christinsmith550]

Thank you for another great video! Please do one on helen chandler( my favorite actress!

[@hollyhobby2763]

yesss. thank you sir🤍

[@stephaniehand503]

thank you

[@goldenagenut]

Here opioid addiction is such a prevalent problem and it ends up that's what happened to Lugosi, very sad, it seems we've learned very little since.

[@lindseycarribean5113]

Creepy like Vincent price

[@jamesmiller4184]

Our host might occasionally get some details not quite right but . . . he sure has S-T-Y-L-E !

[@cherchezlavache5183]

Very nice, thank you, but at the 11min mark you have a photo of Carlos Villarías, who played Dracula in the 1931 Spanish version of the movie, not Bela Lugosi.🤷‍♀️

[@Americaone1]

Bela(Bayla)injured his back on stage and became a morphine addict.....Bela was the first actor to admit he had a drug addiction 😳

[@larrywax3638]

Fame & stardom are a Venus fly trap.

[@efandmk3382]

Many of the movie stars of the twenties through the fifties were addicted to morphine, or heroin. Amanda Blake, who played Kitty the town madame in the TV series Gunsmoke, died of Aids that she contracted from shooting black tar with shared needles. She had been an addict for decades.

[@bustersmith5569]

Where did you hear all that ? She contacted aids from her husband,,,,

[@efandmk3382]

@@bustersmith5569 The press releases at the time of her death. Maybe your version is a mop up version. Blame her husband so she's without blame? That happens all the time. You know that Marilyn Monroe was murdered and Judy Garland accidentally overdosed, etc. etc. I'm surprised they never tried to say the Elvis Presley was overweight because of some disease and not because he liked chocolate covered hamburgers or whatever it was. LOL.

[@patrickdrazen8411]

Two points: (1) at about the 11 minute mark, there is a still of a Dracula who is definitely NOT Lugosi. It is from a Spanish language version which Universal filmed at the same time. (2) If you check the 1920s, there is a still of Bela playing--Jesus. Truth!

[@ScarletVoodoo]

This irritated me to no end. It's clearly not the same man and not a hard thing to double check on google before adding it to the video.

[@misottovoce]

Playing...Jesus??? Do you know the film name?

[@OlympicLeprechaun]

@@misottovoce I don't think it was a film. I believe he portrayed Christ in a play. But there are photos online.

[@misottovoce]

@@OlympicLeprechaun Ah hah...interesting, thank you!

[@telecasteredtodeath]

"As with any Catholic, Bela Lugosi knew all too well what lay beyond" ?? Are you (AGE OF VINTAGE) implying Catholics actually know what they are in for after death? Hope you're wrong here champ, I'm a Catholic and I'm not quite sure what I am in for!!

[@davewatson2124]

Best just listened to with a blank screen. The constant looping of the same photos will annoy you.

[@joebloggs8636]

Simpleton.

[@undergroundwarrior70]

A very sad and tragic life of Bela Lugosi. He was an excellent actor, and too bad he was typecast of his Dracula role. I have seen some of his B-Movies and a few of them weren't too bad but most of them were awful. Hollywood will make you or break you when it comes to the top executives of the movie studios. Bela Lugosi passed away when I was 7 months old.

[@1733Athalia]

Very odd background music.

[@misslinda772]

He was sooooo handsome when young!

[@Dexterthecat]

Bela was a victim. Never underestimate the power of addiction.

[@monicacall7532]

When I think of Lugosi two images always pop into my mind. The first is his brief appearance in Ed Wood’s infamous film “Plan Nine From Outer Space” (universally voted as the worst film ever made) as the grieving widower. He died before he could do any more acting in the film, so Wood’s wife’s chiropractor who was taller and slimmer than Lugosi literally stood in for him by standing with his cape covering much of his face-as if film goers couldn’t already tell that this man was definitely not Lugosi! Of course there are so many absurd and silly things in “Plan Nine” that the Lugosi stand in is just one of many goofs. The other image I have of him is of Martin Landau playing him along with Johnny Depp’s Ed Wood in the film “Ed Wood”. It’s a funny yet heartbreaking performance. Those who knew Lugosi back in the day said that it was as if Landau was channeling him. It’s sad that he got so stereotyped that he wasn’t able to to play a character in another film genre besides horror.

[@charlieryan1736]

Thanks for making this interesting and informative video

[@mrmjb1960]

Lugosi spent several months in the Looney Bin put there because he tried to bite an innocent woman thinking he was Dracula for real.

[@32mybelle]

His story isn't so different from current Hollywood actors that end up addicted and unable to make a come back, but he may have been one of the first of his kind.

[@EmilyGloeggler7984]

Such a shame that typecasting Americans never gave him the acting freedom as he had in his homeland of Hungary to play a variety of drama and comedy roles. I’d love to have seen his rendition of Cyrano de Bergerac.

[@BrokenneckYgor]

Bela was a great Hunky

[@032319581]

So sad

[@doctorlolchicken7478]

Bela Lugosi may have had a tragic end, but he did get a Bauhaus song in his honor, which has done almost as much for keeping him in people’s minds as the Dracula films.

[@robertsettle2590]

No it has not!

[@THREESISTERS15]

He will always be the only Dracula.

[@jamesmiller4184]

So, Bela did not have his last rites! For RCCs I understand this lack to be very serious. (Admitting of all sins just pre-death, and being for these forgiven.) How very sad! Contrary to what some might believe, Bela did do a number of 'straight' non-horror/monster type roles, one standout being as a Soviet Russian official in NINOTCHKA, opposite of no less than Garbo herself! It was a superb portrayal and hardly a "B" film. In two others, The Invisible Ray and the other The Black Cat, both opposite Karloff, his were basically straight roles as well. Again, no monstrism and, very fine. (Ray was a genuine early Sci-Fi thing and "Cat," a juicy satanic item with plenty of fantastic inside scenes a-tres-Deco!) A definite highlight in Bela's life was his son, Bela Junior, seen here compliments of our host twice with his father. As are known, in so many cases offspring and their famous parents do not work all that well. We know some of these names but, in the case of Bela Sr. and Jr. it was mutual admiration and father & son love, which can be observed handily in stills as well as in home movies of them. Though a very saddening end Bela did have, his triumph was and is his son -- grown now into a successful attorney-at-law as well as chronicler presenter of the great days of his and his father's. I think this presentation of our host's was a fine tribute to the success that Bela surely was most multifariously, for which I'm sure we all thank him.

[@lasenoritacometa1977]

I just watched Dracula last week with BL 😎

[@WarmEssence]

What a mess!

[@rhiannonmidnight73]

It's so sad what happened to Bala Lugosi, but how many stars now are ending up taking too many drugs or drink then go off to get clean.

[@haha-kq6rz]

Morphine, methadone and codine. Not even once.

[@scotth6814]

10:58 This is not a picture of Bela Lugosi. This picture is of the actor who played Dracula in the Spanish version. Some of the other pictures I'm suspicious of too.

[@stephaniehand503]

Loved Bella

[@mrmjb1960]

Morphine also addicted Peter Lorre too prescribed for a illness.

[@andrewjohnson388]

Blimey ..one does not get more complex than that ...but great ....

[@jamesmiller4184]

Whoa! Stop the music: At time 3:59 we've the Spanish Dracula subbing for Bela.

[@devondicker3516]

At 10:56, I don’t think that’s Bela?

[@scallopohare9431]

Well, he chose to move, but did not shed his accent. So, he was very limited in what roles he could get.

[@cha5]

I remember a comparison with Lugosi to Peter Lorrie, although Lorrie was never limited and typecast by his accent the way poor Lugosi was.

[@PrimoMagazine]

The most negative assessment of Lugosi I've ever heard.

[@Dollygirl66]

Bella is an original class act! Why is it you have to post something so negative about him? Do you feel better to trash on someone else’s downfalls?All humans do have flaws you know,

[@jewelcopeland8440]

Had this been a marvel movie he would have made millions many celebs can't handle money well. The accent and the role typecast him drugs took alot of stars

[@talcumpowder1000]

I always found him more durable than Karloff. His Ygor in Son of Frankenstein, Bela in The Wolf Man and White Zombie are all vastly different portrayals. An actor superior to his material

[@unknownterror18]

Bela addiction to morphine.

[@vulpeish]

^ ^ I know this is a bit of a cheap shot......but Bela Lugosi inspired Bauhaus to write " Bela Lugosi s Dead" The most gothic song of all time! Foxy Love fae Scotland VVxx

[@ashleycarr6269]

That Bauhaus song, "Bela Lugosi Is Dead" was also used very effectively in the vampire movie "The Hunger," starring David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve as the vampires.

[@BrokenneckYgor]

I didn’t know he was dead, I thought he went back to hungary

[@ki809]

From the first seconds of the video there is already an error: He is not Romanian but Hungarian.

[@jamesmiller4184]

Uh, not so fast. He said ". . . was an ethnic Hungarian from Romania" and, refers to his being Hungarian numerously throughout. Might this actually be technically correct somehow? I'm not sure.

[@markcepeda8144]

Mr lugosi. Rip

[@Y-F-F-1]

Tldw; Heroin.