Happy Birthday, Count Dracula

Béla Lugosi in 'Dracula'Béla Lugosi was born 126 years ago today. The Hungarian native became a horror and world cinema icon when he donned a black cape and fangs to play the titular villain in 1931's "Dracula."

Lugosi's star-making turn followed earlier success playing Dracula in a Broadway play based on the bloodthirsty Count's legend. Surprisingly, Lugosi would only play Dracula one more time on-screen, in the 1948 spoof "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein."

Lugosi also appeared in 1932's "White Zombie," one of the first zombie films ever made and the inspiration for the name of the late '90s shock rock band. (More useless trivia: a clip of "White Zombie," basically just a closeup of Lugosi giving his trademark stare, appears in the 2007 remake of "Halloween." Of course, the "Halloween" remake was directed by none other than ex-White Zombie band leader Rob Zombie.)

Lugosi died a pauper after his drug addiction made it hard for him to secure gainful employment. Lugosi's final film role was in Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space," released three years after his death.

Frank Sinatra, an admirer of Lugosi's, paid for his funeral. At his family's request, Lugosi was buried in his Dracula cloak. As far as I know, he has yet to rise from the dead to feast the blood of the living.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)