Becoming Dracula: The Early Years of Bela Lugosi, Volume Two

Becoming Dracula: The Early Years of Bela Lugosi

by Gary D. Rhodes, Bill Kaffenberger

The cobwebs of time and space are finally cleared. Drawing on years of research
across four countries, excavating and analyzing thousands of yellowed documents
in archives as well as every digitized source, Gary D. Rhodes and Bill Kaffenberger
shine light from their candelabrum onto a long-forgotten past, onto the creation
of a legend. Becoming Dracula is a two-volume biography covering Bela Lugosi’s life
from his birth to 1930, when he first played the famous vampire on screen.


“Dracula left his native land and crossed the waters by ship in search of fresh killing fields. Bela
Lugosi headed for America not looking for blood but for a fresh start. Gary D. Rhodes and Bill
Kaffenberger, with their usual precise and careful scholarship, chronicle Lugosi’s attempts to
establish himself on stage and screen in his new homeland. While fans might think they are
familiar with this period in Bela’s life, this excellently written book will provide them with many
surprises and an astonishing amount of detail.”
– Henry Nicolella, author of Frank Wisbar (McFarland, 2017) and
Many The Horror and Fantasy Films of Paul Wegener
(BearManor Media, 2017)

“By presenting a staggering wealth of well researched details, Gary D. Rhodes and Bill
Kaffenberger create not only the context but the humanity of Lugosi becoming Dracula. Their
portrait-in-words is nuanced, revealing and sympathetic, but still preserves the mystery and
majesty of this most charismatic of actors. They introduce the reader to the Hungarian-American
subculture in which Lugosi found himself when he arrived on the shores of the United States.
Lugosi was initially the big fish in that small pond, but the authors portray his emergence into
the vast ocean of Broadway and Hollywood and the fascination Lugosi created with his unique
presence there.”
– Steve Haberman, screenwriter of Dead and Loving It (1995) and
author of Silent The History of the Silent Horror Film (Midnight
Marquee, 2010)

892 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 1, 2021

About the author

Gary D. Rhodes is Head of Film & Mass Media at the University of Central Florida. He is the author of Lugosi (1997), White Zombie: Anatomy of a Horror Film (2002), Emerald Illusions: The Irish in Early American Cinema (2012) and The Perils of Moviegoing in America (2012). Rhodes is also the writer-director of the documentary films Lugosi: Hollywood's Dracula (1997) and Banned in Oklahoma (2004). Currently he is at work on a history of the American horror film to 1915, as well as a biography of William Fox.

Reviews

[Coy Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional book that covers Lugosi from 1921 to 1930, following his career as it developed on stage and in films in the US. Incredibly detailed. As with volume 1, I was enthralled.