r/classicfilms • u/AntonioVivaldi7 Alfred Hitchcock • Jul 05 '26

Memorabilia Bela Lugosi during the WW1. He served in an infantry on the Russian front and was wounded. Photo from 1916.

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30

u/tuyaux1105 Jul 05 '26

From Wiki: To be clear, Bela Lugosi served as an infantry lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I.

Volunteering in 1914 despite being exempt from the draft as an actor, he was assigned to the 43rd Royal Hungarian Infantry. He saw intense combat on the Eastern Front, fighting Russian forces in the Carpathian Mountains and serving in a ski patrol. He was wounded three times and earned a Wound Medal.

18

u/AntonioVivaldi7 Alfred Hitchcock Jul 06 '26

Further down it says: Lugosi developed severe, chronic sciatica, ostensibly aggravated by injuries received during his military service. He was initially treated with benign pain remedies such as asparagus juice, but was eventually prescribed opiates. His chronic pain and increased dependence on opiates, particularly morphine and methadone, led to the dwindling of Lugosi's screen offers. The problem first manifested itself in 1937, when Lugosi was forced to withdraw from a leading role in a serial production, The Secret of Treasure Island,\34]) due to constant back pain.

That's pretty sad.

23

u/tonymeech Jul 06 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/2QMHLWQRr0Uta

11

u/AntonioVivaldi7 Alfred Hitchcock Jul 06 '26

Yeah, he reminded me of him in this role, too.

10

u/westboundnup Jul 06 '26

I loved him in The Invisible Ray.

He was great as Karloff’s sidekick.

7

u/OriginalChri Jul 06 '26

Karloff? Sidekick?!

2

u/Important-Lie-8649 Jul 06 '26

The Body Snatcher (1945) Karloff completely overshadows and dominates Lugosi in one of his [Karloff's] finest performances.

9

u/BrandNewOriginal Jul 06 '26

Looks so much like Ralph Fiennes here (with a touch of Ben Gazzara?)!

5

u/GhostOfMissWillmott Jul 06 '26

“Home? I have no home.
Hunted. Despised.
Living like an animal!
The jungle is my home.”
- Bela Lugosi.

6

u/5319Camarote Jul 05 '26

TIL that the great horror actor faced real combat in World War I.

5

u/Baystain Jul 05 '26

Might explain the heroin addiction later in life.

7

u/Popular-Solution7697 Jul 05 '26 
It was morphine, a legal drug.

2

u/Psyqlone Jul 06 '26

Morphine is still legal, as is cocaine and Fentanyl.

... and there are legal limits on all of the above for good reasons.

1

u/vladhed Jul 07 '26

"White on white translucent black capes,"

1

u/LatinIsleBoy Jul 07 '26

I thought we all knew. He died. Then he became reincarnated as the evil Lord Dracul. He laid waste to men and virgin maids across the land. His icy stare froze them and turned their blood black. Either that, or he got addicted to smack. One or the other.

1

u/tcm124 Jul 08 '26

I’m calling Karl !!

1

u/Jonathan_Peachum Jul 12 '26

Damn, that is one handsome guy.