Today’s DOTD - Drink Of The Day - is a Bela Lugosi Cocktail inspired by Dracula! Ok, not Dracula, but someone who played Dracula, legendary actor Bela Lugosi, who was born on this date, October 20, 1882.
Lugosi is most remembered for portraying Count Dracula in the 1931 namesake film, Dracula, as well as in the later Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Throughout his career, Lugosi was largely typecast as a horror movie villain, including as Dracula, Ygor, and even Frankenstein’s monster. Still, his performances in films like Murders in the Rue Morgue, The Raven, Black Friday, & Son of Frankenstein set the standard for horror movies for 50 years or more.
Born October 20, 1882 as Bela Ferenc Dezso Blasko in part of the Kingdom of Hungary (now Romania), he was the youngest of four children. He dropped out of school at the age of 12, worked in various jobs, and began stage acting in 1902 at the age of 20. The following year he took the last name Lugosi after his birthplace, the town of Lugos.
Lugosi served as an infantry officer in the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914 to 1916 during WWI, and after the war became an actor in Hungarian silent films. After the failed communist revolution of 1919, he fled to Vienna, then Berlin, and in 1920 emigrated to the United States, making his way to New York City. There he entered the theater in New York’s Hungarian community.
He got some American film roles, but in 1927, at the age of 45, he was approached to star in a Broadway production of Dracula adopted from the original Bram Stoker novel. This version of the show was very successful and it toured the U.S. to much acclaim. Somewhere along the way, Universal Pictures optioned the rights to the play and began production of a movie, starting in 1930. Lugosi was not their first choice to play Dracula, but he eventually got the role and the film was a major hit. He was paid $3,500 in 1930 for his role - which is roughly $68,000 in 2025 dollars, with no residuals, & no share of the box office.
From that point on, with his heavily accented voice, Lugosi was largely typecast as a horror film villain. Whether that was due to his thick accent or not, it was clear his typecasting was locked in, and his career started to decline. He also developed severe, chronic sciatica, presumably from his injuries during WWI, and as the medical custom was at the time, soon enough he was medicated with opiates. His last appearance as Dracula in Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in 1948 was his last “A” list movie. For the remainder of his life he appeared less and less frequently, in forgettable films such as Ed Woods’ magnum opus Plan 9 From Outer Space, which is generally regarded as one of the worst films ever made.
Still, over a 50-year career Lugosi appeared in more than 170 productions, & established himself as the quintessential vampire. He was Dracula, and his version of the image lives on today. So to celebrate him, our Drink Of The Day is a Bela Lugosi Cocktail.
A warning about today’s DOTD:
***The proscribed garnish for the drink is a bit more involved than the typical cherry, lemon slice, or twist. You’ll need to make a disc of sugar brulee, which requires a flame being applied to sugar deposited on a thick lemon slice soaked with Angostura bitters, then lifted off after cooling and placed on the rim of the glass. Yes, it’s a bit of a chore and involves fire. We won’t give you any side eye if you forsake this step, but most bartenders and patrons who’ve had this drink agree – it’s worth the trouble.***
Ingredients
Here’s what you’re going to need for this drink:
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