Bela Lugosi

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Today in history: 20 October 1882

Bela Lugosi, born on this date, was a Hungarian actor, who is best known for playing the character Dracula in the 1931 Universal film and for his roles in various other horror movies.

He began his acting career about the age 20 in plays and operettas and joined the National Theater of Hungary about 10 years later.

During World War I, he served as an infantry lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914 to 1916. There he rose to the rank of captain in the ski patrol and was awarded a medal for being wounded at the Russian front.

Due to his activism in the actors' union in Hungary during the time of the Hungarian Revolution of 1919, he was forced to flee his homeland. He first went to Vienna and then settled in Berlin in the Langestrasse where he continued acting. Eventually, he entered the United States illegally by traveling to New Orleans, Louisiana as a crewman aboard a merchant ship.

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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35piJvqIFGQ&feature=related"]Intimate Interviews Bela Lugosi - YouTube[/ame]

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[He first went to Vienna and then settled in Berlin in the Langestrasse where he continued acting.

In Berlin Lugosi also worked with Friedrich Murnau who later rose to fame with Nosferatu.