Hollywood legend Bela (Dracula) Lugosi was the FIRST celeb to publicly admit drug problems, entering rehab to kick his addiction!
Despite attaining stardom in Dracula in 1931 Lugosi plagued by poor management and bad career choices found himself on the skids in the late 1950s – both professionally and personally.
After a string of no-budget flicks including Bride of the Monster, the Hungarian count of the undead was flat broke and in dire need for medical care for morphine addiction.
Lugosi did what few celebs did back in the primitive 1950s- he checked himself into rehab at the
Motion Picture Country House Hospital but after a few weeks of treatment he was ejected because he hadn’t worked on a union film within the last previous five years.
Desperate, with his options exhausted, Lugosi checked himself into the Los Angeles General Hospital for drug detoxification.
When Lugosi emerged from his detox, it was widely reported in the media, a precursor to the many many celebrity “rehab” stints of today.
Sadly, he died less than year later on August 16, 1956 but Bela “Dracula” Lugosi died “clean.”