BÉLA LUGOSI: The Softer Side of a HORROR ICON

THE GRANDDAUGHTER OF THE ORIGINAL DRACULA SHARES SWEET FAMILY MEMORIES

- Lindsay Hoffman

On a transatlantic voyage, a reporter asked silver screen star Béla Lugosi if he was done with his most famous character, Count Dracula. "No. Dracula never ends," the actor replied. "I don't know whether I should call it a fortune or a curse, but it never ends." Irish novelist Bram Stoker created Count Dracula in 1897, but early depictions on stage and screen portrayed the vampire as a terrifying monster. Béla was the first actor to emphasize his glamour in 1931's Dracula. "His portrayal of evil disguised as a seductive gentleman, his authentic and romantic accent, his style of dress and cape - they have become embedded in our consciousness," Béla's granddaughter, Lynne Lugosi Sparks, tells Closer. "He never took for granted the importance his portrayal as Dracula had on his career." An upcoming book, Béla Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape by Robert Cremer, shares the history of the classically trained Hungarian actor wh