"I am Drac-u-la. I bid you velcome" - Bela Lugosi from "Dracula" (1931)...
Happy Birthday Dracula, 109 years old today (I wonder how Willard Scott missed this guy). Dracula who was born on May 18, 1897 and dies at daylight only to be born again at the witching hour every night came from the pen of Bram Stoker. The novel was read by the author publicly for the first time anywhere in London on this date. Stoker would have been reading "The Un-dead" instead had he not decided to change the title of his novel to "Dracula"...
Stoker spent 7 years researching European folklore and stories of vampires and although "Dracula" was not the first work of its kind, it has become the most popular, reaching legendary proportions as early as 1931 when Bela Lugosi filmed "Dracula". Count Vampyre (oh, please) was Stoker's first choice for the name of his main character but while doing research he ran across the Romanian name, Dracul, meaning the Devil and Count Dracula it would be...
| Stoker chose his friend, tyrannical actor-manager Henry Irving as his inspiration for the mannerisms of Dracula and hoped that Irving would play Dracula in a stage version of the novel but Irving would have no part of it. There are those who also believe that "Vlad the Impaler" may have served as an inspiration in addition to Irving. During the 6-year reign of the historical Vlad III of Wallachia it is believed that Vlad who had a penchant for blood killed from 20,000 to 40,000 European civilians mostly by using his favorite method of impaling them on a sharp pole (ouch!). Vlad, revered as a folk hero by Romanians (quite the role model) then went on to impale as many as 100,000 Turkish Muslims for an encore... Some of the actors portraying Dracula on stage and in film in addition to Bela Lugosi include: Christopher Lee, Jack Palance, Frank Langella and Gary Oldman. Lon Chaney played the son of Dracula. In 1938 Orson Welles and John Houseman chose Dracula to be the inaugural episode of "The Mercury Theatre on the Air" on radio. Welles was the voice of The Count. Portrayals of Dracula through the years include these movie titles: "Dracula's Daughter", "Son of Dracula", "House of Dracula", "The Brides of Dracula", "Taste the Blood of Dracula", the list is endless but the funniest rendering of Dracula was the Mel Brooks parody "Dracula: Dead and Loving It"... More May 18 Memories... 1631] John Winthrop is elected 1st governor of Massachusetts (I had to double check to make sure his last name wasn't Kennedy)... 1897] Bram Stoker's "Dracula" is born (feature story)... 1917] Congress passes the Selective Service Act calling up soldiers for WWI... 1927] The Ritz Hotel opens in Boston... 1933] The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is created (principally to build dams)... 1934] Congress approves the "Lindbergh Act" making kidnapping a capital offense... 1934] The Academy Award is called "Oscar" for the 1st time in print by Sidney Skolsky... 1951] The UN moves out of temporary headquarters in Lake Success for a permanent home on 1st Avenue in Manhattan... 1959] Wilbert Harrison is #1 with "Kansas City"... 1960] "Cathy's Clown" is #1 for the Everly Brothers... 1963] Running back Ernie Davis of Syracuse, winner of the 1961 Heisman Trophy, dies of leukemia at 23... 1963] "If You Wanna Be Happy" by Jimmy Soul is #1... 1968] Formally a #1 hit for Nick Lucas in 1929, "Tiptoe through the Tulips" is released by Tiny Tim (it will go top 20)... 1969] The Beatles are #1 with "Get Back"... 1978] "The Buddy Holly Story" starring Gary Busey, premieres in Dallas... 1980] Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington State leaving 57 dead or missing... 1995] Ballet dancer Alexander Godunov is found dead at 45... 1995] Elizabeth Montgomery, star of "Bewitched" dies from colorectal cancer at the age of 62... 1998] The federal government files a sweeping antitrust case against Microsoft... 1998] "Murphy Brown" starring Candice Bergen ends its run after 10 years... 2003] "Les Miserables", the 3rd longest running show in Broadway history, closes after more than 16 years... 2004] At age 40, Arizona pitcher Randy Johnson becomes the oldest pitcher in major league history to throw a perfect game, a 2-0 shutout over Atlanta... [To ensure accuracy of dates and content, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline]... Happy Birthday To... 1922] Bill ("Maude") Macy... 1924] Sportscaster Jack Whitaker... 1928] Pernell Roberts... 1934] Dwayne ("Dobie Gillis") Hickman... 1942] Albert Hammond... 1946] Reggie Jackson... 1952] Country singer George Strait... 1970] SNL's "Weekend Update" co-anchor Tina Fey... 1983] Soon to be Tennessee Titan QB Vince Young... "Happy Trails To"... Johnnie Wilder Jr. who passed away on May 13th. Johnnie was the lead singer of Heatwave ("Boogie Nights", "Grooveline" and "Always and Forever" which remains to this day, one of the biggest selling singles of all-time in New York City). After serving 3 years in the military in Germany, Johnnie formed Heatwave. The group became a hit in England and Europe before returning to the states and scoring here. In the late 70's, Johnnie was paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life in an horrific car crash. He was given a week to live... I had the pleasure of meeting Johnnie at his Dayton, Ohio home in the early 80s and could not believe the courage and spirit he exhibited and maintained throughout his ordeal. Following the accident Johnnie learned how to breathe properly so he could sing again and he conquered that obstacle by singing background on Heatwave's 4th and 5th albums. In recent years he turned to a solo Gospel career... Johnnie was an inspiration to everyone he touched. Johnnie would have been 57 in July. R.I.P. Johnnie Wilder Jr... [Today is the 138th day of 2006 with 227 days left in the year and 11 days until Memorial Day] ... |
