He was best remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the horror film classic Dracula , Ygor in Son of Frankenstein and his roles in many other horror films from through Lugosi began acting on the Hungarian stage in After playing in productions in his native Hungary, Lugosi moved on to appear in Hungarian silent films in He had to suddenly emigrate to Germany after the failed Hungarian Communist Revolution of because of his former socialist activities organizing a stage actors' union , leaving his first wife in the process.
He acted in several films in Weimar Germany , before arriving in New Orleans as a seaman on a merchant ship, then making his way north to New York City and Ellis Island. In , he starred as Count Dracula in a Broadway adaptation of Bram Stoker 's novel , moving with the play to the West Coast in and settling down in Hollywood.
Through the s, he occupied an important niche in horror films, but his notoriety as Dracula and thick Hungarian accent greatly limited the roles offered to him, and he unsuccessfully tried for years to avoid typecasting.
He co-starred in a number of films with Boris Karloff , who was able to demand top billing for his status a horror icon and had portrayed characters such as Frankenstein's monster in the horror film Frankenstein Lugosi, a charter member of the American Screen Actors Guild , was frustrated over increasingly being restricted to mad scientist roles because of his inability to speak English more clearly.
He was kept employed by the studios principally so that they could put his name on the posters and prevent others from doing so. Among his teamings with Karloff, he performed major roles only in The Black Cat , The Raven , and Son of Frankenstein ; even in The Raven , Karloff received top billing despite Lugosi performing the lead role.
