Oct. 20, 1882
The picture above is Bela in wardrobe for the never made film the MYSTERIOUS ABBE.Bela was to be a French clergyman crime solver.
Lugosi had-and still has- a charisma about him. He only played the role of Dracula twice onscreen....in DRACULA(1931) and ABBOTT and COSTELLO meet FRANKENSTEIN. But ask any kid to imitate Dracula....and they imitate Lugosi. Christopher Lee played the Count 8 times (this includes the Franco version and the French DRACULA-FATHER and SON). John Carradine played him 4 or 5 times....I believe. Mr. Carradine said:
""The English critics said I was the best Dracula,which was nice considering that I had been preceeded by Bela Lugosi,who did a hell of a job.He was a charming man and a hell of an actor. He used to come to the set with a bottle of claret,which he supped at a little bit all day long.He never got drunk,never lost a line,never lost his tempo or his accent,which was native to him."
Lugosi and Karloff in the comedy the GIFT of GAB! (Bela's in the closet!)
Here's a pic of Bela with band leader Paul Whitman
