Lugosi: The Forgotten King

Forrest J Ackerman (born Forrest James Ackerman; November 24, 1916 – December 4, 2008) was an American magazine editor, science fiction writer and literary agent, a founder of science fiction fandom, a leading expert on science fiction and fantasy films, and acknowledged as the world's most avid collector of genre books and movie memorabilia. He was based in Los Angeles, California. This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Forrest J Ackerman", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 62 years on stage, screen and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and awards, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for The Awful Truth (1937). His film career began with The Secret Six (1931) starring Wallace Beery and featuring Jean Harlow and Clark Gable. By the end of 1933, he had already appeared in 22 movies, most notably Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1932) and the second lead in the action film Picture Snatcher with James Cagney (1933). He played in seven more films in 1934 alone, including Woman in the Dark, based on a Dashiell Hammett story, in which Bellamy played the lead, second-billed under Fay Wray. Bellamy kept up the pace through the decade, receiving a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Awful Truth (1937) with Irene Dunne and Cary Grant, and played a similar part, that of a naive boyfriend competing with the sophisticated Grant character, in His Girl Friday (1940). He portrayed detective Ellery Queen in a few films during the 1940s, but as his film career did not progress, he returned to the stage, where he continued to perform throughout the 1950s. Bellamy appeared in other movies during this time, including Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) with Maureen O'Hara and Lucille Ball, and the horror classic The Wolf Man (1941) with Lon Chaney, Jr. and Evelyn Ankers. He also appeared in The Ghost of Frankenstein in 1942 with Chaney and Bela Lugosi. Bellamy appeared in numerous television series. In 1949, Bellamy starred in the television noir private eye series Man Against Crime (also known as Follow That Man) on the DuMont Television Network; initially telecast live in its earliest seasons, the program lasted until 1956 and was simulcast for a season on Dumont and NBC, and ran on CBS during a different year. The lead role was taken by Frank Lovejoy in 1956, who subsequently starred in NBC's Meet McGraw detective series. An Emmy Award nomination for the mini-series The Winds of War (1983) – in which Bellamy reprised his Sunrise at Campobello role of Franklin D. Roosevelt – brought him back into the spotlight. Highly regarded within the industry, Bellamy served as a four-term President of Actors' Equity from 1952–1964. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ralph Bellamy, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Bela Lugosi (born Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko) was a Hungarian stage, screen, and television actor. He was born on October 20, 1882 and passed away on August 16, 1956. He is best remembered for his iconic portrayal of Count Dracula in the classic 1931 Dracula film.

Bela George Lugosi was born on January 5, 1938 in Los Angeles. He is also known as Bela Lugosi Jr. – he is the son of our legendary transylvanian actor, Béla Lugosi. He didn’t become an actor like his father, but he is deeply involved with the film industry through his work and his family legacy. He works as a attorney in California, and his long legal battle versus Universal Pictures led to the creation of the California Celebrities Rigths Act, which means that the rights of publicity survive the celebrity’s death and descend to heirs by wills. We reached the 77 year old lawyer via e-mail to talk about his father and his legal work, among other things.

​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.   David Frankham (born 16 February 1926) is a film and television actor. After serving in India and Malaya in WWII, Frankham worked first as a news reader, and then a writer, interviewer and producer for the BBC from 1948 through 1955. In 1955 Frankham moved to Hollywood to pursue a career as an actor. He soon found work, appearing on five episodes of the live television program Matinee Theater. He worked steadily in television, as well as appearing in films such as Return of the Fly (1959), Ten Who Dared (1960), Master of the World (1961), Tales of Terror (1962), The Spiral Road (1962), King Rat (1965), and The Great Santini (1979). Frankham provided the voice of Sergeant Tibbs the cat in Walt Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmatians. He appeared in guest roles on American television from the late 1950s through the 1980s. His career peaked in the 1960s with frequent roles on such popular shows as Thriller (U.S. TV series), Twelve O'Clock High (TV series), The F.B.I., Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Beverly Hillbillies, The Outer Limits, Star Trek, then onward into the 1970s in Cannon (TV series), The Waltons, and McCloud (TV series). Description above from the Wikipedia article David Frankham, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

a B movie and serial actress of the 1940s. Born Louise Gunter in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, she attended Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. Moving to Hollywood, Currie enrolled in Max Reinhardt's drama school. “At the time, I was not necessarily a movie fan, but once I came to California, of course, that’s what California’s all about, the movie industry.” Attracting the interest of movie scouts while appearing in one of the school’s stage productions, Currie surprised them by expressing no desire at that point to enter movies. She wanted to wait until she graduated, and was better equipped as an actress, before she decided her next career move. When she was ready, she signed with agent Sue Carol. After she made a movie at Columbia, Harry Cohn wanted to put her under contract, but Currie would have none of it – she thought it “would maybe be more interesting to freelance.” She stated in 1999 that that was “more fun for me because I was able to pick and choose and do what I wanted, rather than all the little contract players who had to do exactly as they were told and go into films that they didn’t want or like. So, I had my independence, and I chose to do it that way.” The not-overly-ambitious Currie worked steadily during the next few years, with small, uncredited parts in As and leads in Poverty Row flicks. She found herself in a bunch of Westerns – her bullwhip-carrying role in GUN TOWN was her favorite – and also as the heroine in Bela Lugosi’s THE APE MAN. She was again menaced by Bela in VOODOO MAN. Her most enduring and fondly remembered credit is ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, considered by many the greatest cliffhanger of all time; two years later, she acted for 12 episodes opposite another serial marvel: THE MASKED MARVEL. Currie enjoyed the fast-paced shooting schedules of her B movies and serials: “Fortunately, I had enough training that I could do my scenes and not mess them up, not muff the lines. And I thought that was more stimulating and interesting than pictures like CITIZEN KANE [in which she played a reporter], where you just sat on a set for endless hours, doing nothing – which to me was just a trial and a bore. So I sort of enjoyed the activity, and the fact that you could do something quickly and do it well, and have it finished... But I’m sure that most of the people that started with big A productions would never have understood that, or been able to cope with it!” 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Anne Jeffreys (born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael; January 26, 1923 – September 27, 2017) was an American actress and singer. Born Annie Jeffreys Carmichael on January 26, 1923 in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Jeffreys entered the entertainment field at a young age, having her initial training in voice (she was an accomplished soprano). "She became a member of the New York Municipal Opera Company on a scholarship and sang the lead at Carnegie Hall in such things as La bohème, Traviata, and Pagliacci." However, she decided as a teenager to sign with the John Robert Powers agency as a junior model. Her plans for an operatic career were sidelined when she was cast in a staged musical review, Fun for the Money. Her appearance in that revue led to her being cast in her first movie role, in I Married an Angel (1942), starring Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. She was under contract to both RKO and Republic Studios during the 1940s, including several appearances as Tess Trueheart in the Dick Tracy series, and the 1944 Frank Sinatra musical Step Lively. She also appeared in the horror comedy Zombies on Broadway with Wally Brown and Alan Carney in 1945 and starred in Riffraff with Pat O'Brien two years later. Jeffreys also appeared in a number of western films and as bank robber John Dillinger's moll in 1945's Dillinger. Description above from the Wikipedia article Anne Jeffreys, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Sara Karloff is Boris Karloff's daughter, she was born on her father's birthday.

Rebekah Isabelle Laemmle (October 20, 1909 – June 12, 2014), known professionally as Carla Laemmle, was an American actress and dancer, and the niece of Universal Pictures studio founder Carl Laemmle. As an actress and dancer, she is known primarily for her roles in The Phantom of the Opera (1925) and Dracula (1931). At the time of her death, she was one of the last surviving actors of the silent film era, with her career spanning nearly 90 years, also with one of the longest gaps. Laemmle died at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 104 on June 12, 2014. She never married nor had children, but was the companion of actor-writer Raymond Cannon until his death in 1977. She was buried at Home of Peace Cemetery (East Los Angeles).

John Carradine (born Richmond Reed Carradine; February 5, 1906 – November 27, 1988) was an American actor, considered one of the greatest character actors in American cinema. He was a member of Cecil B. DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, best known for his roles in horror films, Westerns, and Shakespearean theatre. In the later decades of his career, he starred mostly in low-budget B-movies, but continued to also appear in higher-profile fare. In total, he holds 351 film and television credits, making him one of the most prolific English-speaking actors of all time. Carradine was married four times, had five children, and was the patriarch of the Carradine family, including four sons and four grandchildren who are or were also actors. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Carradine, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.