Where stars who played Dracula are now – secret addiction, rehab and tragic deaths

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is one of the world’s most legendary stories – and many Hollywood actors have made their roles as the horror character just as iconic.

From the 1931 film starring Bela Legosi, to the Hammer House classics with Christopher Lee and, more recently, the terrifying and thrilling BBC adaptation with Claes Bang, this is a story that remains undead – much like its leading character.

While Halloween favourite Dracula was certainly dramatic on screen with the constant battle between good and evil, and Dracula’s eternal search for his bride, the actors who have played the roles have also led interesting lives too.

To commemorate Bram Stoker, who died on this day in 1912 (April 20), Daily Star looks at where the actors who played Dracula on screen are now.

Bela Lugosi

Bela Lugosi is the original and one of the most iconic actors to have ever played Dracula, appearing in the 1931 Universal Monsters production.

Along with performing theatre productions in Hungary, where the star was born, he also appeared in classic horror films including Son Of Frankenstein, The Raven and Black Cat.

He also reprised his famous role of Dracula in the 1948 film Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, as well as in a UK theatre production before his final roles in film The Black Sheep in 1956.

However during this time, it was also reported that Bela had become addicted to morphine after being prescribed the drug for his sciatica, with the LA times reporting in an obituary following his death that the actor arrived at “General Hospital asking that he be committed because he had been using narcotics for 20 years”.

The actor was also married multiple times – first to Ilona Szmik from 1898 to 1991, then to Ilona Von Montagh from 1921 to 1924.

He later wed Beatrice Woodruff Weeks in July 1929, but they divorced months later in November of the same year.

Bela also married Lillian Arch, with whom he was married for more than 20 years between 1933 and 1953 and had one child, also called Bela.

During the final year of his life, he married Hope Liniger, who is reported to have met Bela after writing to him in hospital, with the couple remaining married until his death.

Hope found Bela dead at their home, after the actor died in his sleep from a heart attack aged 73 years old on August 16, 1956, with Hope telling the LA Times: “We have been very happy together. He seemed to be getting much better month by month, and it was a great shock to me to find him dead when I entered the house.”

Following his death, Bela was reported to have been buried in one of the original capes he wore as Dracula.

Christopher Lee

Acting legend Sir Christopher Lee had a number of defining roles, including Dracula in the Hammer films.

Talking to The Guardian about working on Hammer House productions, he said: “Hammer was an important part of my life, and generally speaking, we all had a lot of fun,” adding: “I pleaded with Hammer to let me use some of the lines that Bram Stoker had written,” for Dracula and: “Occasionally, I sneaked one in.”

However, he admitted that “all hell broke loose” when he said that he was not going to play the role anymore.

His acting career also included films such as Wicker Man, The Man with the Golden Gun, Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, as well as playing Saruman in The Lord Of The Rings and Count Dooku in Star Wars Episodes II and III.

Acting ran in the family too, as Christopher is also the uncle of huge UK actress Dame Harriet Walter, who appeared in films such as Sense and Sensibility and Atonement, as well as having a successful stage career.

One of her most recent TV appearances was as fearsome Russian gymnastic coach Dasha in Killing Eve.

Christopher was also knighted in 2014 for his services to drama and charity and was also awarded a BAFTA fellowship in 2011.

However, outside of acting, Christopher Lee had another passion – music – and surprised everyone by releasing a heavy metal album, Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross, in 2010.

In the same year, he told The Guardian that he has a few interests including music and also writing books, but that his one passion was always acting, saying: “Acting is what keeps me going, it’s what I do, it gives life purpose.”

The legendary horror actor died aged 93 on June 7, 2015 after being hospitalised for heart failure and respiratory problems.

According to Celeb Net Worth, Christopher had a fortune of £18million at the time of his death after his lengthy acting career.

Leslie Nielsen

Leslie Nielsen took Dracula into the world of satire when he played the horror character to comic effect in Mel Brook’s parody film Dracula: Dead And Loving It.

He was already a huge acting and comedy star by the time he took on the role, having rose to fame in films including Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure, before landing one of his most famous roles in comedy film Airplane, and The Naked Gun series.

Speaking about working with him on Airplane, director Jerry Zucker said: “We cracked up during shooting, then cracked up again during dailies. He really got what we were doing, and he loved it.”

His final performances were also in comedy parodies, including Bond satire Spy Hard and Scary Movies three and four.

In his personal life he was married four times – first to nightclub singer Monica Boyar between 1950 and 1956 and then to Alisande Ullman from 1958 to 1973, with whom he had two daughters.

He was also married to Brooks Oliver from 1981 to 1983 and Barbaree Earl from 2001.

However the actor died on November 28, 2010 at the age of 84 years old, after contracting pneumonia, with a statement from the actor’s representative saying: “We are saddened by the passing of beloved actor Leslie Nielsen, probably best remembered as Lt Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun series of pictures, but who enjoyed a more than 60-year career in motion pictures and television.”

His nephew also told AFP news agency: “With his friends and his wife by his side, he just fell asleep and passed away.”

Gary Oldman

Gary Oldman’s interpretation of Dracula was both terrifying and passionate in equal measure, with his performance cementing his status as one of the greatest on screen Draculas.

Considered one of the greatest character actors of all time, Gary Oldman has since taken on a number of roles, including the Academy Award winning Winston Churchill in the Darkest Hour in 2017, and as Sirius Black in the Harry Potter franchise.

He most recently starred in award nominated film Mank in 2020, and 2021 TV series Slow Horses.

Gary isn’t the old famous actor in his family though, as his sister Laila Morse played Mo Harris in BBC soap EastEnders.

Laila has also starred in films herself including Love, Honour and Obey and Great Expectations, but credits her brother as helping her land her first acting role in 1997’s Nil By Mouth.

She told Loose Women: “My big brother wrote and directed Nil by Mouth. He just wanted something raw.

“He was with a friend and he just said, ‘she could do that’. I just looked at him and went what? I can’t do that.

“He said, come back to the hotel and read a bit, which I did… and he went, right you’re doing it. That’s the first thing I’d ever done.”

The actor has also been married three times, first to actress Lesley Manville from 1987 to 1989, with whom he had a son Alfie, and in 1990, he then married another Hollywood a-lister, Uma Thurman, but the couple divorced two years later.

In a 1996 interview with Vanity Fair, Uma later admitted that the marriage was “a mistake”, but she still has admiration for her former husband, hailing him as “a truly great actor”.

She said: “We met when I was 18. He was 12 years older. It was a crazy love affair that ended, as it needed to. He was my first love. I had no prior experience.”

From 1997 to 2001, Gary was also married to model Donya Fiorentino, with whom he had two sons Gulliver and Charlie, before marrying art curator Gisele Schmidt in 2017.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers

Jonathan Rhys Meyers ramped up the sex appeal when he arrived on our TV screens in Sky’s adaptation of Dracula in 2014.

Jonathan was already a huge name, after appearing in drama series Gormanghast in the mid-nineties, as well as films including Velvet Goldmine before landing his role in the footballing comedy hit Bend It Like Beckham.

From there Jonathan also landed leading roles as King Henry VIII in drama series Tudors, for which he was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards, as well as playing Bishop Heahmund in Vikings.

He has also starred in films including From Paris With Love alongside John Travolta, and The Mortal Instruments opposite Lily Collins, as well as following in Keira Knightly’s footsteps and landing himself modelling campaigns with fashion brands including Hugo Boss.

Jonathan is also listed as appearing in a number of films currently in pre-production.

However in his personal life, Jonathan has been reported to have battled alcohol addiction, and spoke openly about going into rehab during an interview with Daily Mail, saying: “I’ve been to a lot of rehab centres in my life… I went to three in one year and I talked to my therapist.

“I would be known as somebody who relapses with problem drinking, not alcoholism. I don’t suffer from alcoholism – I suffer from an allergy to alcohol every time I drink it. But once I stop, I never think about it again.

“That doesn’t mean that the problem is any less, it just means I have a different version of it. But when I drink, the consequences are so devastating that it is a problem. But I never need a drink. It’s not something that I crave.”

Away from our screens, Jonathan has also been married to actor and producer Mara Lane since 2016, with whom he has one son called Wolf.

Claes Bang

Danish actor Claes Bang injected good old fashioned horror back into Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat’s 2019 BBC Dracula drama – along with some seriously good looks as the famous count.

He already had a long acting career prior to playing Dracula, and since then, his fame has only grown with leading roles in films such as The Square, The Bay Of Silence and recent blockbuster The Northman.

Away from our screens as an award winning actor, he is also a musician in the band This Is Not America, telling The Guardian: “I don’t think it’s true that every actor wants to be a musician and every musician wants to be an actor. If it is true, it saddens me a bit.

“For me it’s more of an antidote to being on stage or a film set, where people say, ‘Wear these clothes, stand in this light, say these lines in this way…’ When I sit down with my piano or guitar, I get to call all the shots.”

He has also been married to stylist Lis Louise-Jensen since 2010, with whom he shares two step children.

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk