Dracula! The name is enough to give moviegoers everywhere a shiver down their spines like a flow of ice water poured down their backs. For decades Bram Stoker's book has been translated to many movie vampires from Nosferatu in 1922 to today's latest fair skinned offerings. Many cultures throughout the ages have had legends of creatures which feed off of humans. In fact there are legends of many things that go bump in the night that have been popularized in movies but none have ever been so popular or portrayed so many times as Count Dracula of Transylvania in the Carpathian Mountains.

In 1897 Bram Stoker published his novel “Dracula”. Based on the tales and legends of Vlad the Impaler, Stoker wrote his take on the legends handed down from generation to generation to come up with his incarnation of Count Dracula, a Count of Transylvania. Years later in 1921, legendary filmmaker F.W. Murnau decided to make the novel “Dracula” into a silent movie. When he approached Bram Stoker's widow Florence, she refused to give her permission for the film to be made. Mr. Murnau however, slightly changed the story line and gave the characters different names and continued on with the film. Thus, “Nosferatu Symphony of Horror” was made and premiered in 1922. Later Mrs. Stoker realizing the film was loosely based on her husband's classic novel sued the filmmaker. The court ruled that all copies were to be destroyed however; some managed to escape the destruction and are able to be seen. Filmmakers in later years have worked diligently to restore this classic to as close to its original condition as it could be. What a shame it would have been to have lost this classic film forever.

Mr. Murnau's idea of a vampire was not the gracious, charming, and handsome vampire of today but a tall, grave gaunt figure which moved stiffly and without any semblance of normalcy. The count had two central teeth and looked nothing like Bela Lugosi's or Christopher Lee's charming count who made all the girls mad with love as well as fear. That may be one of the most horrifying aspects of the first film. No one would mistake this early Count Dracula for anything other than the monster he had been created to be.

The earlier Count Dracula's were the type of vampires who slept on earth from the grave they had been buried in. Who drank human blood without fail and mesmerized young maidens into submission in order to let them feed from their pretty necks without protest. These Count Dracula's were to be feared and to be avoided. The majority of them were driven mad by religious symbols, by Holy Water and destroyed by sunlight. Even some of the modern day Count Dracula movies had quite a few of those characteristics too. But as everything else, this stereotype has changed. Now modern day vampires portrayed in movies are chic, young, good looking people who you could pass on the street and not recognize as a vampire. There have even been vampires lately that can....gasp.....survive and thrive in sunlight and feed from animals in the wild and not on human victims. The later variations have strayed more and more from the classic mold of Count Dracula as portrayed by Bram Stoker.

But first we have to address two of the most famous actors to portray Count Dracula on stage and film. The first was Bela Lugosi, who came from Hungary while already a popular stage actor. When he arrived in the United States he couldn't speak English and learned his first role by rote, starting a film career in the US. He started playing the role of Count Dracula in the United States in 1927 on Broadway. The play was hugely popular and he did a three year run of the role there. He was first filmed by Tod Browning in his role as Count Dracula in 1931. Count Dracula was his most famous and best remembered role during his career. Mr. Lugosi did have a drug abuse problem and hid his addiction on the set of his movies by sipping brandy. He died a pauper and drug addicted of a heart attack in August of 1956 after taking a string of roles that ran from bad to worse. The last director he had worked for was Ed Wood in a series of films that were low grade and made for the shock value only. He was buried in his Dracula cape and in 1997 was honored by the United States Post Office by being portrayed as Count Dracula on a stamp from the series “Most Famous Movie Monsters”. He was so down on his luck upon his death that Frank Sinatra quietly paid for his funeral. After the movie “Ed Wood” was released, Johnny Depp, who portrayed his friend Edward Wood, bought his Hollywood home.

Christopher Lee was the next most memorable actor to take on the role as the Count. He played Count Dracula seven times for Hammer Film Productions of the UK with the last being “The Satanic Rites of Dracula”. He did work on other Dracula films for other production companies as well and has even portrayed the monster in “Frankenstein”. He has said that his height was a hindrance to him in many roles because many English actors have refused to work with him because he was so much taller than they. He says that at 6'5” he has usually been the tallest man in the room and no other actor wants that. Mr. Lee has made around 230 films during his long career. But he is still remembered as Dracula to many people. He has since gone on to have many movie roles including several in the Star Wars series and the Lord of the Ring series. He is also a professionally trained singer and can speak four languages well and can “get along” in three others. It's great to know Mr. Lee is still going strong and is currently working on a movie to be released in 2010.

Dracula has been played by many people in many countries for many, many years. One has to wonder if Mr. Stoker ever thought his novel would ever inspire such a following of a single character. It has certainly been one of the most prolific characters ever created for the horror venue. The character has been played by many different actors in as many different countries. It makes one wonder if the “real” Count Dracula is rolling over in his grave?