Bela Lugosi Reaches Out to Fans From Beyond the Grave!

Dallas, Texas: Known throughout the world for his legendary portrayal of the Transylvanian vampire, Count Dracula, Bela Lugosi was a tragic figure whose death dropped the final curtain on a life filled with pain, disappointment, and profound heartache.

Yet he is a Hollywood immortal, and his passion never faded, even in death.

"Born Be'la Ferenc Dezso Blasko on October 20, 1882 in Lugos, Hungary, Lugosi peaked early," said Doug Norwine, Director of Entertainment Memorabilia Auctions for Heritage Auction Galleries. "He was a stage star in his native Hungary - playing roles such as Romeo and Jesus Christ - before coming to America in 1920, where he found some success in New York and Hollywood. It was the role of Dracula, in the 1931 Universal film, a role that he had played onstage on Broadway and one that was originally intended for Lon Chaney before that iconic star's untimely death, that made Lugosi a superstar."

"His success as The Count was a double-edged sword, however," said Norwine. "The same role that made him a star also typecast him. Lugosi did memorable work in such films as The Black Cat (1934) and The Raven (1935), with horror rival Boris Karloff, but, in time, alcohol, a succession of failed marriages, and the ravages of an increasingly insidious drug addiction took their toll. Lugosi had to be content with such forgettable fare as Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla (1952), The Black Sleep (1956), and several films for the infamous Ed Wood, including Glen or Glenda (1953), Bride of the Monster (1955), and the posthumously-released Plan Nine from Outer Space (1959)."

"Plan Nine was to be Lugosi's last film," Norwine said. "In fact, Bela died just a few days after shooting began, on August 16, 1956. Wood completed the film using his chiropractor to double for Lugosi, leaving only a few shots of a weary-looking Bela as a sad last tribute to a great actor."

"As befitted the legendary Count Dracula, Lugosi's final appearance on this earth was handled with the star's customary panache and aplomb," Norwine said. "As he had requested, he was laid to rest wearing his Dracula cape, tuxedo and medallion. It was a morbidly poetic flourish that blended legend, fantasy and reality - a touching finale to Lugosi's life."

"2006 marks the 50th anniversary of Lugosi's death," said Norwine, "and to mark this auspicious occasion, we're proud to offer to the collecting community one of the most important pieces of Lugosi memorabilia in existence - his funeral book signed by the mourners who attended his wake - a number of them colorful key players in Lugosi legend and lore. Included in this one-of-a-kind volume are signatures of such luminaries as director Ed Wood, Jr., Tor Johnson, the former Swedish wrestler and star of Plan Nine... and Bride of the Monster, Paul Marco ('Kelton the Cop'), George Weiss (producer of Glen or Glenda), Conrad Brooks (policeman Jamie in Plan 9... ), Dudley Manlove ('Eros' of Plan 9...), 'L. King' (presumably Loretta King, leading lady of Bride of the Monster), Kathleen Wood (Ed's wife), and Norma E. McCarty (Ed's ex-wife, who had annulled the marriage after learning he was a transvestite, and who acted for him in Plan 9...). Additional signers include Duci di Kerekjarto (longtime Lugosi friend, who played violin tribute at the funeral), directors Steve Sekely and Zoltan Korda, Manly P. Hall (who supposedly hypnotized Lugosi for a scene in 1940s Black Friday,) Mr. and Mrs. Robert Boyle (he was associate art decorator on Lugosi's The Wolf Man), Scotty Beal (assistant director on the Lugosi films Dracula, Murders in the Rue Morgue, and The Raven), Don Marlowe (Lugosi agent and hanger-on) and Forrest J. Ackerman (longtime editor of Famous Monsters of Filmland)."

"We also include a pallbearer's card from Richard Sheffield, Jr., teenage friend and fan of Lugosi," Norwine said. "The original paperbound funeral book comes in a beautiful custom black leather case with gold lettering, which the consignor had especially created for the book after receiving it from Lugosi's widow, who died in 1997. Over the past half-century, the Strother Mortuary which had conducted Lugosi's funeral has fallen to the wrecking ball, and Lugosi's caped corpse has long rested (presumably!) at Holy Cross Cemetery in Los Angeles. The funeral book survives, a remarkable curio, intimately linked to the 'undead' Lugosi and a strikingly dramatic relic of true Hollywood Gothic."

Heritage Auction Galleries will offer The Bela Lugosi Funeral Book and Pallbearers Card with a Custom Leather Case in their upcoming Signature auction, to be held April 14 & 15, 2006 at their headquarters in Dallas, TX.

The Bela Lugosi Funeral Book and Pallbearers Card with a Custom Leather Case bears a pre-auction estimate of $10,000 and up.

The Bela Lugosi Funeral Book and Pallbearers Card with a Custom Leather Case

For more information about Heritage's auctions, and a complete record of prices realized, along with full-color, enlargeable photos of each lot, please visit www.HeritageAuctions.com.

Prospective consignors and sellers of Entertainment, Celebrity or Hollywood memorabilia are invited to www.HeritageAuctions.com/Entertainment and click on the "Sell Now" tab. Or simply email Doug Norwine at DougN@HeritageAuctions.com.

To reserve your copy of any Heritage auction catalog, please contact Nicole Jewell at 1-800-872-6467, ext. 272, or visit www.HeritageAuctions.com to order by email.