‘Dracula’ star Bela Lugosi ‘exaggerated’ his drug addiction to win back his wife

Bela Lugosi, who made his mark as Dracula in Hollywood, insisted to reporters that he battled a crippling drug addiction for more than two decades – but an author claimed he “deliberately exaggerated” his story in a heartbreaking reason.

“What he said was that he was addicted to drugs for 20 years, in some cases 25 years,” author Robert Cremer told Fox News Digital. “But he greatly exaggerated the story … And this exaggeration of his drug addiction was directed, in part, at (the fourth wife) in the hope that she would feel guilty and reconcile with him and return to him .”

“He wanted his wife and son back,” Cremer added.

Cremer, who was a syndicated columnist for The Hollywood Reporter, has a new book coming out Dec. 17, “Bela Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape.” It features more than 700 photographs, family artifacts and historical documents, many of which have never been seen outside of Lugosi’s family. It also highlights interviews with those who knew the actor over the years.

Cremer has known the Lugosi family for over 50 years. His original book about the Hungarian performer was published in 1976. His next release is the only authorized biography of the star, who died in 1956 at the age of 73.

Lugosi brought Dracula to life in Hollywood after his success in the title role on stage, the Los Angeles Times reported. His performance, which involved a distinct accent, slicked-back black hair, a flowing cape and a charming persona, helped define how vampires are portrayed on screen over the years.

But despite his meteoric rise to fame, Lugosi became addicted to morphine due to injuries sustained in World War I, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) reported.

“His fourth wife, Lillian, made it quite clear that he was a drug addict only from 1953 — after their divorce — until he entered rehab in 1955,” Cremer explained. “She said before that he was not a drug addict in any sense of the word. He only took the drug when he was in extreme pain from this World War I injury. He didn’t take it regularly like a drug addict would. He only took it when absolutely necessary to take care of the pain.”

Cremer said Lugosi hoped his account would make studio heads sympathetic and offer him more roles to support his family.

“The divorce from Lillian in 1953 devastated him,” Cremer explained. “He was a very proud man and he took his marriage seriously. He took his responsibility for his family very seriously. And in those years, between 1948 and … until the early 1950s, he was on the road constantly.”

“… This is a man past retirement age with sciatica issues that caused him great pain on the road endlessly,” Cremer said. “He felt this responsibility that he wanted to adequately provide for his wife and son.”

Lugosi married Lillian in 1933. They had their only child, a son named Bela G. Lugosi, in 1938.

Cremer previously spoke with the doctor who treated Lugosi for his drug addiction, as well as Lillian before he died in 1981.

“We brought boxes of Kleenex over to Lillian’s house when we talked about (the divorce),” Cremer recalled. “The tears flowed endlessly. She truly loved him, but Bela could not overcome his jealousy. And because there was a 30-year age difference, he always felt that he was inadequate as a husband and was very jealous. Because of this, he felt that Lillian had to look around for younger men, which was absolutely not the case. Because of jealousy, Lillian finally felt that she could no longer expose her son Bela Jr. to the tension, to his arguments, to his accusations.”

“This far-fetched idea that he was addicted to drugs for so long is absolute nonsense,” Cremer continued. “Lillian reiterated that… many times. She said: “It’s so important to me to make sure people know what the real background of this is.”

“The newspapers, of course, based their reports on what Bela had said. But this deliberate exaggeration was never, ever covered by the press in later years.”

Cremer noted that the main reason Lillian was willing to talk was to help clarify the situation.

“We agreed that we wanted this drug issue to be cleared up once and for all so that there is no more misinformation circulating about it,” Cremer added.

Lugosi struggled with painful sciatica in his later years. Still, he was determined to put on a show for the fans. Cremer described how, before his appearance on stage as Dracula, where he had to climb out of a coffin, he was “deathly afraid” that he would have an attack of sciatica on stage, interrupting his performance.

Lugosi’s niece, Lynne Lugosi Sparks, told Fox News Digital that it was important for the family to address decades of rumors about his drug use.

“The first three chapters of the book deal with the end of his life and that subject to get him out of the way, because the rest of his life is so interesting and important,” she explained. “… From the very beginning, we feel my grandmother’s feelings (about) what the real situation was. And then we really get to the heart of the book, which is this beautiful story of Bela’s life.”

Cremer said Lugosi was exploited by the movie studios. At the end of his life, the actor felt that he had been forgotten.

“Lillian told me that after she starred in ‘Dracula’ (in 1931) she started appearing almost immediately in small roles, some even uncredited,” he explained. “… She felt these roles were far below his stature as a major Hollywood star. His closest friend… who I’ve interviewed endlessly, said he talked to him and asked, “Why are you taking these uncredited, very minor roles?” Bela said, “I want people to see me more.”… She felt that if she could keep her face on the screen constantly, it would increase her popularity and increase her stature, which was not true. “

“This tendency of his to accept minor roles at very low salaries gave the studios the impression that they could get him for a nickel or a dime, where they would have to pay other actors much more,” Cremer said. “They also knew that no matter what role he appeared in, he created a magnificent performance. . . . This trend continued throughout his career. . . . It was a tragic story.”

Lugosi died in his apartment at the age of 73 of a heart attack. His fifth and final wife, Hope Lininger, said the actor “seemed to be getting better month by month” following his drug treatment.

Lugosi Sparks said her grandmother and father chose to bury her grandfather in his suit.

“It was their way of paying homage to the role he created and was known for, although he would have had no idea at the time that just a few years later there would be a renaissance in horror films and they would be televised,” she said.

“Bela… thought he was forgotten. And that tribute to him, burying him in cape and suit, was their way of saying, “This is Bela. Bela is Dracula. This was (the) achievement of his life.’”