UL or just a joke?
JamiJo
it's true. I love to study useless facts. I know more about vampires and
supersitions then a human being should know. Anyway, this story has to do with
actor Bella Lugosi.
It reportedly takes place when Bella was making Dracula. He only knew enough
English to speak his lines. In these days the stars didn't have catering so
when lunch time rolled around Bella went to the sandwich cart. All he could ask
for in English was ham on rye. One day he told another Hungarian friend of his
how sick he was of ham on rye. So the friend spent the entire day teaching me
to say "I want a roast beef sandwich." So the next day Bella went up and asked
for a roast beef sandwich and the guy asked "Will that be on white or wheat?"
Bella spent a few moments looking at him and finally said, "Ham on rye."
Now it's funny in a way, so part of me wonders if this is actually a joke. But
the fact my friend swore up and down it was true makes me wonder if it's a UL
instead or maybe even a true story. Do you guys know?
~Jami JoAnne Russell~
http://users.50megs.com/gambitsgal/intro.html
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Portal/2450/jami1.html
jhea...@centralva.net
yes
--
How do you eat soup in the Matrix?
Mitcho
>Now it's funny in a way, so part of me wonders if this is actually a joke. But
>the fact my friend swore up and down it was true makes me wonder if it's a UL
>instead or maybe even a true story. Do you guys know?
I don't know, but I don't speak French and yet spend a lot of time in
France and still manage to sample quite a number of different things
to eat.
Mitcho
Profiteroles being tiresome for every course, good as they are
--
The Urban Redneck o red...@employees.org o San Francisco, USA
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Boron Elgar
>Now it's funny in a way, so part of me wonders if this is actually a joke. But
>the fact my friend swore up and down.
My mother told me this joke sometime in the 50's, albeit about a
generic immigrant, rather than Lugosi.
Oh...and she used, "apple pie & coffee," rather than "ham on rye."
boron
Richard Evans
the fifties, though he told it about a generic immigrant who didn't
speak English well.
Dick Evans
gambit...@aol.comNOWAY (JamiJo) wrote:
>I never honestly could tell with this story. The man who told it to me swears
>it's true. I love to study useless facts. I know more about vampires and
>supersitions then a human being should know. Anyway, this story has to do with
>actor Bella Lugosi.
>
>It reportedly takes place when Bella was making Dracula. He only knew enough
>English to speak his lines. In these days the stars didn't have catering so
>when lunch time rolled around Bella went to the sandwich cart. All he could ask
>for in English was ham on rye. One day he told another Hungarian friend of his
>how sick he was of ham on rye. So the friend spent the entire day teaching me
>to say "I want a roast beef sandwich." So the next day Bella went up and asked
>for a roast beef sandwich and the guy asked "Will that be on white or wheat?"
>
>Bella spent a few moments looking at him and finally said, "Ham on rye."
>
>Now it's funny in a way, so part of me wonders if this is actually a joke. But
>the fact my friend swore up and down it was true makes me wonder if it's a UL
>instead or maybe even a true story. Do you guys know?
AFol...@webtv.net
This rings faint bells as an old "hapless foreigner" joke, not
something I've ever heard told specifically about Bela Lugosi. The
story itself isn't especially ULish, but possibly the mode of
transmission, and how it came to be attached to Lugosi, might be. Can
your friend give a source?
By the way, as to Lugosi's English skills, here's a comment from a fan
page (http://www.sightings.com/excursions/rip/bela.htm):
"I explained how 'Ed Wood' writers had tampered with history, toying
with Lugosi's personality for the sake of easy--some would say cheap--
laughs. I cited the scene where an insanely embittered Lugosi spits a
torrent of profanity at the mention of his horror film rival, Boris
Karloff. Lugosi's mediocre English, alone, makes that scene impossible."
Alan "I do not drink...celery tonic" Follett
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Joseph M. Shair
gambit...@aol.comNOWAY says...
<hack/> Of a version of the old
"apple pie and coffee" story.
~Bella spent a few moments looking at him and finally said, "Ham on rye."
~
~Now it's funny in a way, so part of me wonders if this is actually a joke. But
~the fact my friend swore up and down it was true makes me wonder if it's a UL
~instead or maybe even a true story. Do you guys know?
I don't know, but its almost a word for word
duplicate of a story my father used to tell in
the 50s about an anonymous immigrant (circa 1900).
In his version the attempted change was "Ham
sandwich" and "white or rye, mustard or mayonnaise"
was the stumper.
Of course when dad told it, it was "appa pie"
and "samwich".
I've since learned that many of his jokes
originated or were told by WC Fields. This
may be another of his.
Joe "'Honest John' was a favorite of his." Shair
And knowing is half the battle.
>One day he told another Hungarian friend of his
>how sick he was of ham on rye. So the friend spent the entire day teaching me
>to say "I want a roast beef sandwich."
Me???
Anywho, I find this 'entire day' thing hard to follow. It took me about five
minutes to learn how to say "Go home and go to bed" in Norwegian.[1] My mom's
side of the family. The other side is Irish...heh heh heh.
Kiss my bottom half, I'm half Irish.
[1]Phoentically it's "Go yumma lega day".
--
"When life hands you a lemon, pull out a gun and start shooting."
<SeanQ> -think any airline ever had the nerve to show "Alive" as their
in-flight movie? -
Bart Z. Lederman
In article <20000731121027...@ng-bd1.aol.com>, gambit...@aol.comNOWAY (JamiJo) writes:
>I never honestly could tell with this story. The man who told it to me swears
>it's true. I love to study useless facts. I know more about vampires and
>supersitions then a human being should know. Anyway, this story has to do with
>actor Bella Lugosi.
>
>It reportedly takes place when Bella was making Dracula. He only knew enough
>English to speak his lines. In these days the stars didn't have catering so
There have been biographies of Bela Lugosi published and on
television. He had been in this country for several years,
working on Broadway in the play "Dracula" and in other roles.
There was never any mention that he didn't know english. I'm
fairly certain he worked in english in europe before coming
to the U.S.
I think this story is very unlikely to be true.
--
B. Z. Lederman Personal Opinions Only
Posting to a News group does NOT give anyone permission
to send me advertising by E-mail or put me on a mailing
list of any kind.
Please remove the "DISABLE-JUNK-EMAIL" if you have a
legitimate reason to E-mail a response to this post.
Curtis Tack
> I never honestly could tell with this story. The man who told it to me swears
> it's true. I love to study useless facts. I know more about vampires and
> supersitions then a human being should know. Anyway, this story has to do with
> actor Bella Lugosi.
>
> It reportedly takes place when Bella was making Dracula. He only knew enough
> English to speak his lines. In these days the stars didn't have catering so
> when lunch time rolled around Bella went to the sandwich cart. All he could ask
> for in English was ham on rye. One day he told another Hungarian friend of his
> how sick he was of ham on rye. So the friend spent the entire day teaching me
> to say "I want a roast beef sandwich." So the next day Bella went up and asked
> for a roast beef sandwich and the guy asked "Will that be on white or wheat?"
>
> Bella spent a few moments looking at him and finally said, "Ham on rye."
>
> Now it's funny in a way, so part of me wonders if this is actually a joke. But
> the fact my friend swore up and down it was true makes me wonder if it's a UL
> instead or maybe even a true story. Do you guys know?
> ~Jami JoAnne Russell~
> http://users.50megs.com/gambitsgal/intro.html
> http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Portal/2450/jami1.html
Another version has it as an immigrant ordering apple pie and coffee and being
asked if he would like cherry.
Drew Lawson
gambit...@aol.comNOWAY (JamiJo) writes:
>It reportedly takes place when Bella was making Dracula. He only knew enough
>English to speak his lines. In these days the stars didn't have catering so
Accoring to IMDB, he arrived in New York in 1921. Dracula was
filmed in 1931, after Lugosi had plaid the roll on Broadway for
three years.
I guess if he'd spent 10 years eating nothing but ham on rye, be
might have gotten tired of it. But it seems more likely that he
would have learned a few words of English in that time.
Drew "pull the string!" Lawson
--
|Drew Lawson | Mrs. Tweedy! |
|dr...@furrfu.com | The chickens are revolting! |
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Lon Stowell
Drew Lawson <dr...@furrfu.com> wrote:
>In article <20000731121027...@ng-bd1.aol.com>
> gambit...@aol.comNOWAY (JamiJo) writes:
>
>>It reportedly takes place when Bella was making Dracula. He only knew enough
>>English to speak his lines. In these days the stars didn't have catering so
>
>Accoring to IMDB, he arrived in New York in 1921. Dracula was
>filmed in 1931, after Lugosi had plaid the roll on Broadway for
>three years.
Wouldn't houndstooth have been more artistically appropriate?
Charles A Lieberman
Lon Stowell
>>Accoring to IMDB, he arrived in New York in 1921. Dracula was
>>filmed in 1931, after Lugosi had plaid the roll on Broadway for
>>three years.
>
> Wouldn't houndstooth have been more artistically appropriate?
Marble rye, I should think.
Charles "assumed the mispledings were deliberate" Lieberman
--
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