Actor Spotlight: Bela Lugosi

Bela Lugosi

Name: Bela Ferenec Dezso Blasko

Birth: October 20, 1882

Death: August 16, 1956

“Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they play,” is just one of the many iconic lines Bela Lugosi said in his star role of Count Dracula in 1931’s Dracula.

Even after more than 50 years after his death, Lugosi remains an iconic figure in the world of classic movies and horror. He defined the image and characteristics of a vampire; the cape, his charming and suave attitude, and of course his aversion to sunlight and crosses and his affinity for blood. We can see these traits in the majority of vampire movies that have been produced since Dracula.

Actor Spotlight: Lon Chaney

Lon Chaney

Name: Leonidas Frank Chaney

Birth: April 1, 1983

Death: August 26, 1930

“Don’t step on it! It might be Lon Chaney!” was the popular 1920s catchphrase for one of Universal’s first horror movie stars, Lon Chaney. His ability to completely transform himself using makeup made the public believe that he never appeared on film wearing his own face, which coined him the name “Man of a Thousand Faces.”

Chaney was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado to two deaf and mute parents. Throughout his childhood, he learned to communicate through pantomime, sign language, and facial expressions, which is credited as to why he was such a great silent film actor.