Bela Lugosi, who starred in films like ‘Son of Frankenstein’ and ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’ in the early days of Hollywood, was buried in his ‘Dracula’ costume following his death in 1956, except for the original cape, which he wanted his son to have, according to the auctioneer.
Béla Ferenc Dez’s Blaskó, known professionally as Bela Lugosi, was a Hungarian-American actor best known for his appearances as Count Dracula in the 1931 film, Ygor in the 1939 film Son of Frankenstein, and many other horror films from 1931 to 1956.
In 1902, Lugosi debuted on the Hungarian stage. Lugosi began creating silent films in 1917 after appearing in 172 different movies in his home Hungary. Because of his previous socialist activism, he was forced to escape to Germany after the failed Hungarian Communist Revolution of 1919.
In 1927, he featured as Count Dracula in a Broadway production of Bram Stoker’s novel, and the play followed him to the West Coast in 1928, where he settled in Hollywood. He went on to star in Tod Browning’s 1931 film adaptation of Dracula, which was produced by Universal Pictures.
In films, he was frequently paired with Boris Karloff, who was able to command top billing. Lugosi, a founding member of the American Screen Actors Guild, was progressively relegated to minor roles due to his inability to speak English more fluently, much to his chagrin.
Lugosi was married five times and had one son, Bela George, with his fourth wife, Lillian. Lugosi died of a heart attack while napping in his Los Angeles apartment on August 16, 1956. When his wife Hope returned home from work that evening, she discovered him dead on his bed, having died peacefully in his sleep at 6:45 p.m., according to the medical examiner.
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