Halloween

[lorealdb]

What Actor was the first to play the role of Count Dracula?

[gerry]

I'm sure it was Bella Lugosi in 1931 for the movie "Dracula"

[ajmmac]

there was a 1922 german film called nosferatu based on dracula--the vampire was count orlok played by max schrek

[LeMarchand]

In 1924 someone called Hamilton Deane played Dracula on stage in London in an adaptation of the book by himself and John Balderston. There was a previous stage play (written by Stoker, in 1897), but I can't find out who played Dracula as it seems to have been a one-off performance designed to retain the stage rights for Stoker: http://www.sfsite.com/02a/drac26.htm

[thekraut]

max schreck? I thought it was Klaus Kinski who played the vampire in Murnaus "Nosferatu". will look it up on imdb.

[thekraut]

It was max schreck in 1922, the movie was based on the dracula story but the vampire was called Graf Orlok. But why oh why is that movie in the Kinski DVD collection I just bought?

[LeMarchand]

It was max schreck in 1922, the movie was based on the dracula story but the vampire was called Graf Orlok. But why oh why is that movie in the Kinski DVD collection I just bought?

 

If you mean the Herzog/Kinksi set, it should be Herzog's 1979 remake in the box, not the 1922 "original"...

 

Further to the original question, the 1922 version of "Nosferatu" is the earliest screen version of Dracula, though as Stoker's widow attempted to have all prints destroyed as it infringed copyright, whether this can be actually considered Dracula's first screen appearance is debatable. (Some claim an earlier film about someone who thinks he is the count as the first portrayal!). Lugosi is the first official screen portrayal.