Hollywood actor died penniless after 20-year drug

Bela Lugosi stays best recognized for his performance as Dracula in the 1931 movie of the same identify, a task that made him one in all early Hollywood’s defining horror stars.

A Hungarian immigrant, the Hollywood legend moved to the United States before the Great Depression to flee persecution, having beforehand served in World War I and labored in theatre.

Alongside Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney, he turned related to supernatural and horror roles, however he discovered it troublesome to transfer past Dracula professionally.

Over time, his profession narrowed to parody appearances and lower-budget productions. Reports famous that by the end of his life he had little financial savings and was combating dependancy that had lasted for many years.

“He didn’t answer me when I spoke to him, so I went to him. I could feel no pulse, but apparently he must have died a very short time before I arrived,” his fifth spouse, Hope, told The Los Angeles Times in 1956, after his dying. “We have been very happy together. He seemed to be getting much better month by month, and it was a great shock to me to find him dead when I entered the house.”

The yr before his dying, Lugosi sought institutional care, saying he had been hooked on narcotics for roughly 20 years. British creator Thomas Wiseman recalled assembly him shortly before he died.

“He was already a broken, dying man,” he wrote. “The money he had made from his films, about $200,000, had gone. The famous hypnotic eyes were vacant. His hands trembled uncontrollably…He was ready to talk frankly about his degeneration as a human being. He spoke in a dead, flat, comatose voice about how he’d become an alcoholic and a drug addict. Last year, when all his money had gone, he had to leave the private sanatorium where he was being treated.”

Wiseman added that Lugosi requested a proper dedication from the courtroom. “He pleaded with the court to be ‘put in restraint’, which meant being committed to a state institution. He told the court, ‘I have been addicted to narcotics for 20 years. I need help.’”

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The Associated Press wrote that he underwent a three-month rehabilitation program. “He was admitted to hospital to begin a three-month rehabilitation course, and when he was released, he said he was convinced that he had been cured forever,” its obituary acknowledged.

Lugosi’s son, Bela Jr., later said that his father had urged him to not enter the performing career.

“I actually took my dad’s good advice and stayed away from the camera because he thought actors were too dependent on producers and agents,” he shared. “He hoped I would follow some other career path, so I went to law school and worked in the area of celebrity rights.”

Speaking about his father’s most well-known position, he added, “He was such a versatile actor before that movie, and it typecast him, but he was proud to have made the character his own. I’m sure he’d be totally amazed to know his popularity today and how fondly he’s still remembered.”

Bela Lugosi died of a coronary heart assault at age 73. He reportedly left about $1,000, divided between his spouse and son. His spouse believed that a further $3,000 might need been hidden of their house however couldn’t discover it. A pal commented, “Lugosi had probably spent it all on alcohol.”