Bela Lugosi in Person

Bela Lugosi in Person
Author: William M. Kaffenberger Jr.
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781593938055

The latest in a series of books by researchers extraordinaire Gary D. Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger, Bela Lugosi in Person brims with new facts, figures, and never-seen photos documenting the actor's scores of live public performances from 1931 to 1945, the era of his greatest fame. Three-act plays, vaudeville sketches, variety shows, and personal appearances are all chronicled at length, bringing new perspective to Lugosi's life and career. "Gary Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger have once again delivered the goods with their latest work Bela Lugosi in Person. They have combined their gift for scholarly research with an entertaining style to unveil fascinating aspects of Lugosi's stage career and the personal dramas that took place behind stage. Chockfull of surprises and new revelations that will delight every reader, but particularly aficionados who know Lugosi, but not 'Lugosi in Person.' Simply superb." - Robert Cremer, author of Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape "I've been a fan of Bela Lugosi for some six decades. Ironically I'd never heard of the actor until the day in 1956 that he died, when my Mother informed me of his passing. Now I'm also a fan of Gary D. Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger, a team who, it seems, know - and care - more about the man best known for his role of Count Dracula, and getting the facts about that man accurately recorded, than anyone else on the planet. Rhodes' previous book, Tod Browning's Dracula, and Rhodes and Kaffenberger's No Traveler Returns, are incredibly well-researched and entertaining studies of the actor's career that I could not put down once I began reading them ... and this new tome, written with the same scholarship and style, completes a literary trilogy every Bela Lugosi enthusiast should own and read. Highly recommended!" - Donald F. Glut, author of The Dracula Book and The Empire Strikes Back novelization. "I witnessed the intensity of my father, Bela Lugosi, firsthand. But I did not at the time realize how unique the experience was. His personal magnetism has survived in people's memories and in our culture. This is evidenced by the desire of so many people wanting to connect to Dad by connecting to me - at conventions, on the street and anywhere they hear the name "Bela Lugosi." It was Dad's elegance and captivating personality that made Count Dracula such an alluring yet horrific figure, so I can imagine the draw my father must have created when he was to appear in person - and the effect he must have had on a live audience. I am grateful that Gary Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger's new book shines a light on Dad's personal appearances, a previously uncovered facet of his career and legacy." - Bela G. Lugosi

Lugosi

Lugosi
Author: Gary Don Rhodes
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2006-04-05
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0786427655

He was born Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko on October 20, 1882, in Hungary. He joined Budapest's National Theater in 1913 and later appeared in several Hungarian films under the pseudonym Arisztid Olt. After World War I, he helped the Communist regime nationalize Hungary's film industry, but barely escaped arrest when the government was deposed, fleeing to the United States in 1920. As he became a star in American horror films in the 1930s and 1940s, publicists and fan magazines crafted outlandish stories to create a new history for Lugosi. The cinema's Dracula was transformed into one of Hollywood's most mysterious actors. This exhaustive account of Lugosi's work in film, radio, theater, vaudeville and television provides an extensive biographical look at the actor. The enormous merchandising industry built around him is also examined.

The Immortal Count

The Immortal Count
Author: Arthur Lennig
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 1013
Release: 2013-07-24
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0813143764

This definitive biography of the silver screen legend is “a moving, lively, witty, sad book that revives once more the long dead Count Dracula” (Kirkus Reviews). Bela Lugosi won immediate fame for his starring role in the 1931 film Dracula—the role that would forever define his persona. After a decade of trying to broaden his range, Lugosi resigned himself to a career as the world's most recognizable vampire, often playing opposite his horror film rival Boris Karloff. When he died in 1956, Lugosi could not have known that vindication of his talent would come—his face would adorn theaters and his Hungarian accent would be instantly recognized across the globe. In 1974, silent film expert Arthur Lennig published The Count, a highly regarded biography of the unsung actor. Now Lennig returns to his subject with a completely revised volume more than twice the length of the original. The Immortal Count provides deeper insights into Lugosi's films and personality. Drawing upon personal interviews, studio memos, shooting scripts, research in Romania and Hungary, and his own recollections, Lennig has written the definitive account of Lugosi's tragic life.

Bela Lugosi in Person (hardback)

Bela Lugosi in Person (hardback)
Author: Bill Kaffenberger
Publisher:
Total Pages: 420
Release: 2018-04-25
Genre: Drama
ISBN: 9781629333168

The latest in a series of books by researchers extraordinaire Gary D. Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger, Bela Lugosi in Person brims with new facts, figures, and never-seen photos documenting the actor's scores of live public performances from 1931 to 1945, the era of his greatest fame. Three-act plays, vaudeville sketches, variety shows, and personal appearances are all chronicled at length, bringing new perspective to Lugosi's life and career. Gary Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger have once again delivered the goods with their latest work Bela Lugosi in Person. They have combined their gift for scholarly research with an entertaining style to unveil fascinating aspects of Lugosi's stage career and the personal dramas that took place behind stage. Chockfull of surprises and new revelations that will delight every reader, but particularly aficionados who know Lugosi, but not "Lugosi in Person." Simply superb. - Robert Cremer, author of Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape I've been a fan of Bela Lugosi for some six decades. Ironically I'd never heard of the actor until the day in 1956 that he died, when my Mother informed me of his passing. Now I'm also a fan of Gary D. Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger, a team who, it seems, know - and care - more about the man best known for his role of Count Dracula, and getting the facts about that man accurately recorded, than anyone else on the planet. Rhodes' previous book, Tod Browning's Dracula, and Rhodes and Kaffenberger's No Traveler Returns, are incredibly well-researched and entertaining studies of the actor's career that I could not put down once I began reading them ... and this new tome, written with the same scholarship and style, completes a literary trilogy every Bela Lugosi enthusiast should own and read. Highly recommended! - Donald F. Glut, author of The Dracula Book and The Empire Strikes Back novelization. I witnessed the intensity of my father, Bela Lugosi, firsthand. But I did not at the time realize how unique the experience was. His personal magnetism has survived in people's memories and in our culture. This is evidenced by the desire of so many people wanting to connect to Dad by connecting to me - at conventions, on the street and anywhere they hear the name "Bela Lugosi." It was Dad's elegance and captivating personality that made Count Dracula such an alluring yet horrific figure, so I can imagine the draw my father must have created when he was to appear in person - and the effect he must have had on a live audience. I am grateful that Gary Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger's new book shines a light on Dad's personal appearances, a previously uncovered facet of his career and legacy. - Bela G. Lugosi

Bela Lugosi

Bela Lugosi
Author: Gary Don Rhodes
Publisher:
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2007
Genre: Actors
ISBN: 9780977379811

A scholarly, yet thoroughly entertaining study of Lugosi's entire life, focusing on the period between 1952-56 - his career, his marriages, his politics, and his close friendship with Richard Sheffield. This insightful hardcover edition contains previously unpublished research, interviews and hundreds of rare photos, many unseen until now. Includes details of newly discovered stage, newsreel, radio and TV work, as well as a filmography with new entries.

Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff

Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff
Author: Gregory William Mank
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 702
Release: 2010-03-08
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0786454725

Dracula and Frankenstein's Monster are horror cinema icons, and the actors most deeply associated with the two roles also shared a unique friendship. Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff starred in dozens of black-and-white horror films, and over the years managed to collaborate on and co-star in eight movies. Through dozens of interviews and extensive archival research, this greatly expanded new edition examines the Golden Age of Hollywood, the era in which both stars worked, recreates the shooting of Lugosi and Karloff's mutual films, examines their odd and moving personal relationship and analyzes their ongoing legacies. Features include a fully detailed filmography of the eight Karloff and Lugosi films, full summaries of both men's careers and more than 250 photographs, some in color.

Night of Dracula

Night of Dracula
Author: Christopher Schildt
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2002-05-08
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0743443772

"Good evening. I am...Dracula." From the night-cloaked mountains of Transylvania he comes, a sinister figure whose very name is synonymous with the Living Dead. But in the gleaming urban landscapes of the twenty-first century, who truly believes in the bloodthirsty superstitions of the past? Surely there are no such things as vampires, not in this day and age. Or are there? As a mysterious stranger moves among us, pursuing his own unfathomable agenda while feasting upon the throbbing veins of the captivated women who fall irresistibly under his spell, ancient legends prove all too accurate -- and the most celebrated vampire of them all haunts the night once more! Featuring an original introduction by Bela Lugosi Jr., son of the silver screen's greatest Dracula!

Becoming Dracula - The Early Years of Bela Lugosi Vol. 1 (hardback)

Becoming Dracula - The Early Years of Bela Lugosi Vol. 1 (hardback)
Author: Gary D. Rhodes
Publisher:
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2021-03-05
Genre:
ISBN: 9781629335339

The cobwebs of time and space are finally cleared. Drawing on years of research across four countries, excavating and analyzing thousands of yellowed documents in archives as well as every digitized source, Gary D. Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger shine light from their candelabrum onto a long-forgotten past, onto the creation of a legend. Becoming Dracula is a two-volume biography covering Bela Lugosi's life from his birth to 1930, when he first played the famous vampire onscreen. "No one has chronicled the life and career of Bela Lugosi with more precision than Gary Rhodes. With Becoming Dracula: The Early Years of Bela Lugosi, Volume One, Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger detail Lugosi's heretofore obscure early life in Austria-Hungary with a level of focused research akin to literary paleontology. As fascinating as the future Count Dracula's journey through Europe to America is, Lugosi-philes everywhere will rejoice that there will be a Volume Two continuation!" - Alan K. Rode, author of Michael Curtiz: A Life in Film (2017) "The path to becoming a vampire is simplicity itself: one need only fall victim to the notorious Count Dracula. The path that led to becoming Count Dracula, though, was lengthy, arduous, and fraught with disappointment, especially for the noble bloodsucker's initial cinematic portrayer, Bela Lugosi. Gary D. Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger have returned to focus their impeccable research and unimpeachable historicity on that path. 'Tis a path that begs to be followed." - John Soister, author of Conrad Veidt on Screen (2009) and Many Selves: The Horror and Fantasy Films of Paul Wegener (2017)