They say timing is everything, and the right time to launch a Kickstarter for a comprehensive biography of Béla Lugosi is right before Halloween!
The new biography entitled Béla Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape, from Clover Press and journalist and Lugosi expert Robert Cremer, aims to be the definitive Lugosi biography. The Man Behind the Cape includes over 700 photographs, including many rare or never-before-seen family photos, letters, documents and historical artifacts curated by Lynne Lugosi Sparks of the Lugosi Family Archives (and an all-new foreword by Béla Lugosi, Jr. and an afterword by Lugosi historian Dr. Gary Rhodes).
The tale of Hollywood’s original vampire also includes exclusive interviews with Lillian Lugosi Donlevy, Lugosi’s wife of 20 years, as well many of his Hungarian relatives and friends. The book delves into his time growing up in Hungary, his costly political activism, his struggles to break into the business, and his ascension to Hollywood royalty.
The book also examines Lugosi’s late work in B-movie productions in Gower Gulch in the 1950s, with interviews with his former director and friend Edward D. Wood, Jr. which detail previously undiscovered information about how Wood and Lugosi came together for such classics as Glen or Glenda, Bride of the Monster and Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Béla Lugosi: The Man Behind the Cape is currently available to back on Kickstarter until November 16.
