Bram Stoker

 Contrary to popular belief, Bram Stoker did not base his most famous character, Count Dracula, on Prince Vlad II of Romania (at the time called Wallachia). Most of his novel was completed and his vampire protagonist was to be named Count Wampyr. Then, during his research, he came across William Wilkinson's book "An Account of the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia". In this book were brief passages about "Voivode Dracula" (never referred to as Vlad), who crossed the Danube to fight the Turks and helped to drive them out of Wallachia, but was betrayed to them by his brother. What intrigued Stoker was a footnote that in Romanian, Dracula meant Devil (although it actually means "of the dragon," in reference to Vlad's father's membership in the Order of the Dragon). Liking the name for that reason, Stoker changed the name of his vampire from Wampyr to Dracula.

Another story is that the Dracula character is actually based on actor Henry Irving, for whom Stoker served as personal manager and with whom he did not get along. This story is given some credence by the fact that the Dracula character in the play, which Stoker did not write, is quite different from the Dracula character in the book, which Stoker did write, and most film versions of the story are based on the play, not the book.

In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker travelled the world, although he never visited Eastern Europe, a setting for his most famous novel. Stoker was a member of The London Library and it is here that he conducted much of the research for Dracula.

About the year 1971, there were plans to make a film on the tumultuous working relationship of Stoker and Irving. Peter Cushing was set to play Stoker and Christopher Lee as Irving. The project was eventually canceled.

Happy Birthday, Bram Stoker!