{"id":85695,"date":"2021-11-04T19:02:15","date_gmt":"2021-11-04T19:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandbox.web.rcn.net\/rcntv\/?p=85099"},"modified":"2023-04-14T15:03:46","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T15:03:46","slug":"classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\/","title":{"rendered":"CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Bela Lugosi\u2019s Later Years"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\tFor over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation.<\/p>\n<p>Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you can see on RCN TV with insights and commentaries on classic television shows and legendary cinematic performances.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Last time here at \u201cThe Showplace,\u201d we took a look at the early career of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/name\/nm0000509\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bela Lugosi<\/a>. This week, we continue our look at the horror cinema legend.<\/strong><br \/>\nWhile most people in 1929 were suffering from the initial hit of the Great Depression, actor Bela Lugosi was lobbying hard for what he believed was the role of a lifetime&#8230;HIS lifetime.<br \/>\nLugosi was a natural playing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0021814\/?ref_=nm_knf_i1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dracula <\/a>on stage&#8230;his voice, delivery, mannerisms&#8230;even his face looked eerily similar to Bram Stoker\u2019s undead creature (when he previously performed the role on the silver screen, they barely needed any makeup to enhance his features.)<br \/>\n<em>Dracula<\/em> was a commercial and critical success upon release, and led to several sequels and spin-offs. It has had a notable influence on popular culture, and Lugosi&#8217;s portrayal of Dracula established the character as a cultural icon, as well as the archetypal vampire in later works of fiction. The film has since been selected by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry as &#8220;culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.&#8221; With most copies of the silent Dracula classic <em>Nosferatu<\/em> destroyed because of a contract dispute, Lugosi\u2019s film became the definitive image for this (and subsequent) generation(s).<br \/>\nBela, however, was not so thrilled.<br \/>\nUpon its release, Lugosi realized that he was becoming increasingly typecast as Dracula and was finding it near impossible to secure any other roles due to the popularity of his alter ego. Many reports claimed that he swore he would never again don the cape and play the role. He also tried to lobby film executives to hire him as something other than villains but after finding himself out of work and drowning in debt, he reluctantly agreed to take on antagonistic roles in popular sequels like<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0031951\/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em> Son of Frankenstein<\/em><\/a> and as Dracula in parodies like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0040068\/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein<\/em><\/a>.<br \/>\nHowever, the side effects of his popularity caused irreparable damage to his career. Lugosi would have very few job offers other than those associated with evil villains, monsters or, during World War II, Nazis. His better films during the 1930s included <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0024894\/?ref_=nm_knf_t2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Black Cat<\/a><\/em>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0026912\/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_46\">The Raven<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0031951\/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_38\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Son of Frankenstein<\/a><\/em> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0032258\/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_33\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Black Friday<\/em><\/a>.<br \/>\nFurthermore, Lugosi was under contract with Universal Studios, who would frequently pair him with fellow horror legend Boris Karloff. Karloff always demanded top billing and got more money than Lugosi throughout their pairing, even in films where Bela was the main star and Karloff had little more than a few lines.<br \/>\nTwo more things worked against the Hungarian actor.<br \/>\nIn 1936, England placed a ban on horror movies and refused to show any films resembling anything from that genre.<br \/>\nAlso, the increasing pain that Lugosi was experiencing from injuries suffered in World War I led to an increasing dependence on morphine. As word spread among Hollywood producers of Lugosi\u2019s drug use, his job opportunities became virtually nonexistent and he found himself once again out of work and destitute.<br \/>\nHe made one final attempt at a film career years later in 1955 by approaching Bel-Air Pictures in cooperation with the \u201cactor friendly\u201d film distributor, United Artists. He did receive a role in the financially successful film, The Black Sheep, which included fellow horror film legend Lon Chaney Jr., along with major motion picture stars Basil Rathbone and John Carradine. However, Lugosi&#8217;s character in the movie did not have any lines and his appearance was largely overshadowed.<br \/>\nBela Lugosi died of a heart attack in 1956. He was 73.<br \/>\nTo view the complete rundown of classic programming on RCN TV, check out the weekly listings <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcn.com\/rcntv\/classic-movies\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>here on our website<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RCN or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/em>\t\t<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation. Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you&#8230;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"Yoast SEO Relevanssi index exclude","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classic-video-showplace"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Bela Lugosi\u2019s Later Years - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Bela Lugosi\u2019s Later Years - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation. Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-04T19:02:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-04-14T15:03:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Chris Michael\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Chris Michael\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Chris Michael\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a\"},\"headline\":\"CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Bela Lugosi\u2019s Later Years\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-04T19:02:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-14T15:03:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":711,\"commentCount\":0,\"articleSection\":[\"Classic Video Showplace\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\\\/\",\"name\":\"CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Bela Lugosi\u2019s Later Years - ATVN\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-04T19:02:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-14T15:03:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/\",\"name\":\"ATVN\",\"description\":\"Local Programming &amp; Astound Digital Cable, Internet &amp; Phone Services\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a\",\"name\":\"Chris Michael\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg\",\"url\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"\\\/atvn\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/11\\\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Chris Michael\"},\"description\":\"Chris handles play-by-play for RCN sports events, including baseball, football &amp; basketball games and produces\\\/hosts the station\u2019s 60-minute live call-in show. Among Chris\u2019s other responsibilities include reporting on local news &amp; sports stories, conducting \u201cTake 5\u201d interviews with community and political leaders, producing commercials, voiceovers and promos; and generating blog entries and videos on the internet. Click here to listen to the weekly Sports Talk podcast.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.astound.com\\\/atvn\\\/author\\\/rcntvchris\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Bela Lugosi\u2019s Later Years - ATVN","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Bela Lugosi\u2019s Later Years - ATVN","og_description":"For over a hundred years some of the greatest video treasures of all time have been produced. Some have been lost in the sands of time and others, soon to be rediscovered, will become fan favorites for a whole new generation. Each week we will feature just one of the many hidden gems that you...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\/","og_site_name":"ATVN","article_published_time":"2021-11-04T19:02:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-04-14T15:03:46+00:00","author":"Chris Michael","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Chris Michael","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\/"},"author":{"name":"Chris Michael","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a"},"headline":"CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Bela Lugosi\u2019s Later Years","datePublished":"2021-11-04T19:02:15+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-14T15:03:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\/"},"wordCount":711,"commentCount":0,"articleSection":["Classic Video Showplace"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\/","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\/","name":"CLASSIC VIDEO SHOWPLACE: Bela Lugosi\u2019s Later Years - ATVN","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-11-04T19:02:15+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-14T15:03:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/classic-video-showplace-bela-lugosis-later-years\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/","name":"ATVN","description":"Local Programming &amp; Astound Digital Cable, Internet &amp; Phone Services","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/#\/schema\/person\/6aba8df7f74bf50b72426776afd0067a","name":"Chris Michael","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg","url":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg","contentUrl":"\/atvn\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Chris-Michael-Sports-Talk-Shop-Author-Image1.jpg","caption":"Chris Michael"},"description":"Chris handles play-by-play for RCN sports events, including baseball, football &amp; basketball games and produces\/hosts the station\u2019s 60-minute live call-in show. Among Chris\u2019s other responsibilities include reporting on local news &amp; sports stories, conducting \u201cTake 5\u201d interviews with community and political leaders, producing commercials, voiceovers and promos; and generating blog entries and videos on the internet. Click here to listen to the weekly Sports Talk podcast.","url":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/author\/rcntvchris\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87596,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85695\/revisions\/87596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}