Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#32707
of 909177 performers
Top 5%
Bela Lugosi represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 91 years in, and Bela is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Bela Lugosi appears in 26 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Bela. Moonage Daydream is the clearest case: a film rated 7.5 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for music, documentary, romance. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Brett Morgen, John Landis, Bob Rafelson and others, Bela Lugosi helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
Moonage Daydream (2022) as Self (archive footage) · Ninotchka (1939) as Commissar Razinin · Dracula (1931) as Count Dracula
Career snapshot
Ranked #32707 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
26
1931–2022
Career length
91 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.5
Moonage Daydream
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.5
Ninotchka
Most frequent director
Edward D. Wood Jr.
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Edward D. Wood Jr.
Most common genre
Horror
23 titles
Average runtime
1h 18m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.0
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
7.0
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2020s
7.5 average MV
The 2020s are where the work and the material meet. Moonage Daydream — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2020s
7.5
Across 1 catalogue film in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2020s
7.5
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
1930s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. Ninotchka, Son of Frankenstein, The Invisible Ray.
Most productive era
1930s
11 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1990s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | — | 6.52 films | — | — | — | — |
| Action | — | — | — | — | 6.21 film | — |
| Thriller | 6.42 films | 6.71 film | — | — | — | — |
| Comedy | 7.11 film | 6.81 film | — | 6.31 film | 6.21 film | — |
| Crime | 6.32 films | 5.83 films | — | — | 6.21 film | — |
| Romance | 7.11 film | — | — | — | 6.21 film | — |
| Horror | 6.510 films | 6.210 films | 5.22 films | — | 6.21 film | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio · Career peak
1931Dracula
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Count Dracula. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Highest rated performance · Most recent film
2022Moonage Daydream
7.5 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. The current state of the argument, as Self (archive footage).
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
26 of 26 films
as Count Dracula
Directed by Tod Browning
as Self (archive footage)
Directed by Brett Morgen
as Commissar Razinin
Directed by Ernst Lubitsch
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Count Dracula
Dracula (1931)
Performance score7.6
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Count Dracula gives Bela Lugosi a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Self (archive footage)
Moonage Daydream (2022)
Performance score7.3
Moonage Daydream asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Self (archive footage) is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Commissar Razinin
Ninotchka (1939)
Performance score7.2
Ninotchka asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Commissar Razinin is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Joseph
The Body Snatcher (1945)
Performance score7.1
The Body Snatcher asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Joseph is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Count Dracula
Start here. Dracula is the clearest statement of what Bela Lugosi does — accessible, 74 minutes, and rated 7.0 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Bela at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
Ninotchka (1939)
A deliberate change of key after Dracula — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
The Body Snatcher (1945)
A deliberate change of key after Ninotchka — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948)
Keeps the horror register of The Body Snatcher but asks for a colder reading of it.
Moonage Daydream (2022)
A deliberate change of key after Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Tod Browning
Director
2 films together
Notably Dracula
Erle C. Kenton
Director
2 films together
Notably Island of Lost Souls
Lew Landers
Director
2 films together
Notably The Raven
Edward D. Wood Jr.
Director
2 films together
Notably Bride of the Monster
George Melford
Director
1 film together
Notably Drácula
Victor Halperin
Director
1 film together
Notably White Zombie
Robert Florey
Director
1 film together
Notably Murders in the Rue Morgue
Edgar G. Ulmer
Director
1 film together
Notably The Black Cat
Lambert Hillyer
Director
1 film together
Notably The Invisible Ray
Rowland V. Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably Son of Frankenstein
Ernst Lubitsch
Director
1 film together
Notably Ninotchka
Jean Yarbrough
Director
1 film together
Notably The Devil Bat
Arthur Lubin
Director
1 film together
Notably Black Friday
George Waggner
Director
1 film together
Notably The Wolf Man
Wallace Fox
Director
1 film together
Notably The Corpse Vanishes
Roy William Neill
Director
1 film together
Notably Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
William Beaudine
Director
1 film together
Notably The Ape Man
Robert Wise
Director
1 film together
Notably The Body Snatcher
Charles Barton
Director
1 film together
Notably Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet Frankenstein
Bob Rafelson
Director
1 film together
Notably Head
John Landis
Director
1 film together
Notably Innocent Blood
Brett Morgen
Director
1 film together
Notably Moonage Daydream
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Tod Browning
Director
2 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
DraculaLew Landers
Director
2 films together · 6.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The RavenErle C. Kenton
Director
2 films together · 6.3 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Island of Lost SoulsEdward D. Wood Jr.
Director
2 films together · 5.2 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
Bride of the MonsterBrett Morgen
Director
1 film together · 7.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Moonage DaydreamErnst Lubitsch
Director
1 film together · 7.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
NinotchkaCharles Barton
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Bud Abbott and Lou Costello Meet FrankensteinGeorge Waggner
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Wolf ManRobert Wise
Director
1 film together · 6.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Body SnatcherRowland V. Lee
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Son of FrankensteinEdgar G. Ulmer
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Black CatGeorge Melford
Director
1 film together · 6.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
DráculaBob Rafelson
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
HeadRoy William Neill
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf ManLambert Hillyer
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Invisible RayJohn Landis
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Innocent BloodArthur Lubin
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Black FridayRobert Florey
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Murders in the Rue MorgueVictor Halperin
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
White ZombieJean Yarbrough
Director
1 film together · 5.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Devil BatWilliam Beaudine
Director
1 film together · 5.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Ape ManWallace Fox
Director
1 film together · 5.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Corpse VanishesSix degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
Moonage Daydream
as Self (archive footage)
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Ninotchka
as Commissar Razinin
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
Ninotchka
as Commissar Razinin
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Head
as Dr. Vitus Werdegast (Archival Footage) (uncredited)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
Dracula
as Count Dracula
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Bela Lugosi has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
91 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Horror Legend
Awarded
23 catalogue titles in horror, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
Moonage Daydream
as Self (archive footage)
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
The Body Snatcher
as Joseph
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Innocent Blood
as Count Dracula (archive footage)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Black Friday
as Eric Marnay
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
Moonage Daydream
as Self (archive footage)
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
Innocent Blood
as Count Dracula (archive footage)
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
Innocent Blood
as Count Dracula (archive footage)
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
The Corpse Vanishes
as Dr. Lorenz
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Have your say
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Reference
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