Bram Stoker

Irish · b. 1847

Bram Stoker spent his days managing London's Lyceum Theatre for the mesmeric actor Henry Irving — a common model for the Count — and seven years researching Transylvanian folklore and Whitby shipping records for Dracula. The 1897 novel sold modestly in his lifetime; his widow's lawsuit against the pirate film Nosferatu helped make it immortal.