==Early life==
[[File:Bela Lugosi 18.jpg|left|thumb|upright|Lugosi at age 18]]
Lugosi, the youngest of four children,<ref name=monsters-universal-studios>{{cite book|author1=Osborn, Jennifer (editor)|author2=Milano, Roy (photo captions)|year=2006|title=Monsters: A Celebration of the Classics from Universal Studios|publisher=Del Ray Books, imprint of Random House, Inc.|location=New York, NY|page=38|isbn=0-345-48685-4}} Referenced information is from an essay in the book written by his son Bela G. Lugosi.</ref> was born '''Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó''' in Lugos, Kingdom of Hungary (now [[Lugoj]], [[Romania]]), not far from [[Transylvania]], to István Blaskó, a banker, and Paula de Vojnich. He later based his last name on his hometown.<ref name=monsters-universal-studios/> He and his sister Vilma were raised in a [[Roman Catholic]] family.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rhodes|first=Gary|title=Lugosi: His Life in Films, on Stage, and in the Hearts of Horror Lovers|year=1997|url=https://books.google.com/books?visbn=0-7864-0257-1&id=Aueo3mOrIKIC&pg=PA38&lpg=PA38&ots=PFzGZNPZXt&dq=%22Bela+Lugosi%22+CATHOLIC&sig=y0MXm3vsaiq-PqF0p8odUBBA5Bo|isbn=0-7864-0257-1}}</ref>

At the age of 12, Lugosi dropped out of school.<ref name=monsters-universal-studios/> He began his acting career probably in 1901 or 1902. His earliest known performances are from provincial theatres in the 1903–04 season, playing small roles in several plays and [[operetta]]s.<ref>Arthur Lennig, ''The Immortal Count'', University Press of Kentucky, 2003, p. 21; ISBN 978-0-8131-2273-1.</ref> He went on to [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] plays and other major roles. Moving to [[Budapest]] in 1911, he played dozens of roles with the National Theatre of Hungary between 1913–19. Although Lugosi would later claim that he "became the leading actor of Hungary's Royal National Theatre", almost all his roles there were small or supporting parts.<ref>Arthur Lennig, ''The Immortal Count'', University Press of Kentucky, 2003, pp. 25–26, 28–29; ISBN 978-0-8131-2273-1.</ref>

During [[World War I]], he served as an infantryman in the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]] from 1914-16. There he rose to the rank of captain in the [[Ski warfare|ski patrol]] and was awarded the [[Wound Medal (Austria-Hungary)|Wound Medal]] for wounds he suffered while serving on the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|Russian front]].<ref name=monsters-universal-studios/>

Due to his activism in the actors' union in Hungary during the time of the [[Revolutions and interventions in Hungary (1918–1920)|Hungarian Revolution of 1919]], he was forced to flee his homeland.<ref name=monsters-universal-studios/> He first went to [[Vienna]] and then settled in [[Berlin]] in the Langestrasse where he continued acting.<ref name=monsters-universal-studios/> Eventually, he travelled to [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], US as a crewman aboard a merchant ship.<ref name=monsters-universal-studios/> He took the name Lugosi, in 1903, to honor his birthplace, Lugos.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-franklin-ruehl-phd/halloween-facts-history-_b_1074357.html|work=Huffington Post|title=15 Intriguing Halloween-Related Factoids!|date=3 November 2011}Expedited something of Excorsit? Go to the Frist page of this site. Happy Halloween Month.