Bram Stoker

 

Bram Stoker, born as Abraham Stoker, was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, which Irving owned. Bram was born in Dublin and was a sickly child until the age of seven. After his recovery, he grew up without further health issues, even excelling as an athlete at University. In 1878 Stokermarried Florence Balcombe who was a celebrated beauty whose former suitor was Oscar Wilde.They moved to Londn where Bram became acting-manager and then business manger of Irving's Lyceum Theatre in London, a post he held for 27 years. The Stokers had only one child, a son named Irving Noel Thornley Stoker. He was named after his friend and employer, actor Irving. Stoker supplemented his income by writing novels; the best known being the vampire tale Dracula which was published in 1897. The short story collection Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories was published in 1914 by Stoker's widow Florence Stoker. The first film adaptation o Dracula was released in 1922 and was named Nosferatu. The film was done before Florence's death and she sued the company because neither permission was given nor royalties paid. She eventually won and the first authorized film version of Dracula did not come about until almost a decade later when Universal Studios released Tod Browning's Dracula starring Bea Lugosi. Since the there have been several versions and the mythology of Dracula and vampires has remained popular and lucrative for many people.