Bela Lugosi

I started acting when I was very young, my family was always needing money, so I worked to pay my family's bills. I performed in many different plays, but it was performing Shakespearean plays such as King Lear and Macbeth that caused me to persue the acting further.No sooner had I began making a name for myself in the theatre world, World War I broke out. I served as infantry lieutinant in the Astro-Haungarian Army and was wounded three times. In 1917 I married Ilona Szmick, but her parents disapproved of my political views, so we divorced. Two years after the divorce, I moved to Germany where I continued to become more and more well known to the theatre world, securing roles in such plays as "The Death Caravan" and "King Lear". It was in 1927, after moving to New York to perform my role in "Dracula", that I was seen my a movie producer who asked me to consider playing Dracula in their next film. I could not speak english fluently, but I was able to memorize the lines well enough to satisfy the director and the producer. "Dracula" was a big success, but it would haunt me for many years to come.In 1929 I had married Beatrice Weeks, but our marriage lasted only three days. The reason for divorce lies solely with Clara Bow. I began making films again in 1934, but due in part to the success of "Dracula", I was type-cast in several B-horror films. Much of the time, working with fellow "horror master" Boris Karloff. A few years later, I married Lillian Arch with whom I had a son, Bela Lugosi Jr. This would be my longest, yet most stressful marriage. For during this time, my career would decline even more, forcing me to take on several unpleasant projects in order to keep my family and I out of bankruptcy. After years of suffering from Chronic Sciatica and aggrivating a back injury, I went to the doctor and was prescribed morphine. I would slowly become addicted to the substance and was forced to drink burgundy to cover it up while on the set.It was twenty years before I admitted to my dependancy. And by that time I had not only become addicted to morphine, but also barbituates, demerol, and a few other substances. Thankfully I sought help for myself and was able to kick the habit. During the end of my career, I made several films with my friend Ed Wood, who cast me in very degrading roles. But being his good friend, I tried to offer my talents to his films as often as I could. I was no longer financially stable, so I was happy to get any work at all. In 1956, two years after divorcing Lillian, I married Hope Lininger. She had written me everyday during my rehabilitation and christened herself, "my most devoted and loyal fan".As I was reading the script for another of Ed Wood's films, "Final Curtain", I suffered a massive heart attack. At the request of my wife and son, I was buried in my Dracula cape.