12. Bela Lugosi created the stereotype vampire, though he only portrayed him twice on film
Bela Lugosi and the character of Dracula are inextricably linked, and have been since the iconic film was released in 1931. Throughout the rest of his career, he tried to break out of the horror genre with little success. He appeared in small roles in mainstream films, such as in the Greta Garbo vehicle Ninotchka (1939) but his medical issues led producers and directors to be wary of casting him in larger roles. He was paired with Boris Karloff in five Universal films, always yielding the top billing to the latter, and two additional films at RKO Studios. Their relationship was often strained.
Lugosi’s career declined steadily through the 1940s during which he portrayed the Frankenstein monster in a role which afforded him no dialogue, and a voiceover role in another Frankenstein film when the monster was portrayed by Chaney. In 1948 Lugosi appeared in what was the final major motion picture of his career, Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein. In the film the comic pair encounter Frankenstein’s monster (played by Glenn Strange), Chaney’s Wolf Man, and several other brief meetings with others of the Universal monsters’ stable. They also deal with Dracula, played by Bela Lugosi for only the second time in his career. It was the last time he played Dracula on film.