Bela Lugosi's Real Name: Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó

Quick answer: Bela Lugosi's real name was Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó. He was born on October 20, 1882, in Lugos, Austria-Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania), and died on August 16, 1956, in Los Angeles.

From Blaskó to Lugosi

Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó took the stage surname Lugosi from his hometown Lugos (Latin Lugoj). He performed in Hungarian theatre, served in World War I, and left Hungary after the postwar political upheavals, working in German film before immigrating to the United States (Britannica; LOC; IBDB).

English billing simplified Hungarian diacritics to Bela Lugosi; Blaskó remained his birth surname.

Dracula on stage and screen

Lugosi starred as Count Dracula in the 1927 Broadway adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel, then reprised the role in Tod Browning's Universal film Dracula (1931), which fixed his cape-and-accent image in popular culture. He continued in Universal and Poverty Row horror—White Zombie, The Black Cat (with Boris Karloff), Son of Frankenstein, and others—often typecast as the foreign menace (Britannica; Britannica scholars).

Later years and death

Addiction to pain medication after injuries and chronic typecasting marked his later career; Ed Wood cast him in low-budget films near the end of his life. Bela Lugosi died of a heart attack on August 16, 1956, in Los Angeles; he was buried wearing one of his Dracula capes, per family arrangements widely reported at the time (Britannica; LOC dates).

Dracula (1931) Blu-ray/DVD Universal Classic Monsters collections including Lugosi titles Lugosi biography (e.g. Arthur Lennig The Immortal Count)