Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manky's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: iHeart Radio and Grim and Mild. Our world is full
Speaker 1: of the unexplainable, and if history is an open book,
Speaker 1: all of these amazing tales are right there on display,
Speaker 1: just waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Some actors, despite their best efforts, become known
Speaker 1: for playing a particular role. Sean Connery, for example, acted
Speaker 1: in almost a hundred films throughout the years, but most
Speaker 1: people remember him best as Agent Double oh seven from
Speaker 1: the James Bond franchise. Boris Karloff appeared in eighty films
Speaker 1: before he was ever cast in his starring role as
Speaker 1: the Lumbering Monster in nineteen ones Frankenstein But to eight.
Speaker 1: When people hear the name Karlaf, they can't help but
Speaker 1: imagine his massive figure, dressed all in black with a
Speaker 1: pair of bolts protruding from his neck. But one actor
Speaker 1: is so well known for one particular part it followed
Speaker 1: him to his grave. Bell O Blasco was born in
Speaker 1: eighteen eighty two in Hungary. Dropping out of school when
Speaker 1: he was just twelve years old, he took up acting
Speaker 1: one year later and got his start performing in local
Speaker 1: productions while trying to make a name for himself. In
Speaker 1: nineteen eleven, Blasco moved to Budapest and performed with a
Speaker 1: National Theater of Hungary. Although being in a bigger company
Speaker 1: didn't bring him fame and fortune, so at the outbreak
Speaker 1: of World War One, he enlisted with the Austro Hungarian
Speaker 1: Army and fought for two years. When he returned home
Speaker 1: due to injuries he sustained, he resumed his acting career
Speaker 1: that he had left behind. After that, Blasco bounced from
Speaker 1: Hungary to Vienna and then to Berlin for a short
Speaker 1: time until finally working his way to America. He earned
Speaker 1: rave reviews for his portrayal of a villainous character in
Speaker 1: a ninete stage play, staying in the role when the
Speaker 1: production moved out to the West Coast. The following year,
Speaker 1: he started getting cast in American silent films. As it
Speaker 1: turned out, Universal Studios was looking to cast the role
Speaker 1: that he originated on Broadway for a film version of
Speaker 1: the play. Their first choice, Lon Cheney, who had already
Speaker 1: terrified audiences as the Phantom of the Opera, had sadly
Speaker 1: died before production could begin. But although Blasgow had to
Speaker 1: find the character on the New York stage, producers were
Speaker 1: cautious about a relatively unknown actor headlining their next major
Speaker 1: motion picture, and yet they hired him for the project.
Speaker 1: Both the play and the film told the story of
Speaker 1: a Transylvanian vampire whose moved to England caused quite a stir.
Speaker 1: Based on the e book by brom Stoker, Dracula became
Speaker 1: a huge hit and catapulted Blasgow to great acclaim. But
Speaker 1: if you're wondering why you've never heard of Blastgow, there's
Speaker 1: a good reason why. At this point he no longer
Speaker 1: went by that last name. You see. Early on in
Speaker 1: his career he had chosen a stage name to honor
Speaker 1: his place of birth in Hungary, the town of Lugos,
Speaker 1: So from nineteen oh three onward, audiences had come to
Speaker 1: know him as Bella Lugosi. While he had lived in
Speaker 1: relative obscurity back in Hungary, Legosi soon found a lucrative
Speaker 1: niche for himself as the leading man in horror and
Speaker 1: suspense movies. He went on to star in films like
Speaker 1: Murders in the Room, Morgue, Son of Frankenstein, and The
Speaker 1: black Cat. Sadly, as quickly as his star ascended, it
Speaker 1: came crashing back down. For one, Legosi grew tired of
Speaker 1: being typecast as a villain. In fact, Universal had offered
Speaker 1: him the title role in their upcoming Frankenstein picture after
Speaker 1: Dracula's box office success, but he refused, saying that the
Speaker 1: part should be played by some half with extra Instead,
Speaker 1: the role, of course, went to Boris Karlaf, who would
Speaker 1: go on to co star with Legosi in five films
Speaker 1: Later in life. Due to his accent and ethnicity, he
Speaker 1: found it difficult to break out of the horrors honra.
Speaker 1: He acted in numerous B movies over the next two decades,
Speaker 1: each one more questionable in quality than the last. By
Speaker 1: the time he died in nineteen fifty six, Legosi had
Speaker 1: appeared in over one films in roles ranging from mad
Speaker 1: doctors to evil scientists and even a heroic magician. But
Speaker 1: he was a shadow of his former self, relying on
Speaker 1: favors from directors and fellow actors to cast him whenever
Speaker 1: he needed the work. But even after all of that,
Speaker 1: his fans remembered him best as Count Dracula, looming over
Speaker 1: his prey in his white waistcoats and black cape. Bella
Speaker 1: Legosi terrified audiences for years as the legendary character, practically
Speaker 1: defining how the modern vampire appeared on stage and screen
Speaker 1: for the next century. In fact, his costume was so
Speaker 1: iconic he was buried in it upon his death. This
Speaker 1: coffin can be found at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Speaker 1: But now that I think about it, maybe someone should
Speaker 1: go check on it, you know, just to make sure
Speaker 1: he's still inside. One might not consider a pirates in
Speaker 1: the traditional sense as fancy, but that's apparently what Henry
Speaker 1: Every wanted to be and successfully ended up being. In fact,
Speaker 1: when he led a mutiny as the first mate aboard
Speaker 1: the Charles the Second, he renamed his new ship exactly that,
Speaker 1: the fancy, a word that perhaps captures Every's essence more
Speaker 1: than we yet know. After all, by definition, the word
Speaker 1: fancy is a faculty of imagination or delight, and that
Speaker 1: is exactly how you might likewise define the life and
Speaker 1: legacy of the pirates in question. No now as the
Speaker 1: King of pirates or the arch pirate, depending on who
Speaker 1: you ask. Henry Every does not have a lot in
Speaker 1: common with his fellow pirate lords. Sure he has an
Speaker 1: unclear beginning and arise to captaincy by seizing the opportunity,
Speaker 1: But beyond that he is something of a unicorn. He
Speaker 1: did not need multiple acts of piracy to cement his legend.
Speaker 1: He did not need to die in battle or be
Speaker 1: hanged for his crimes. He was well a bit fancier
Speaker 1: than all of that. In six Henry sailed for the
Speaker 1: volcanic island of param up the coast of Madagascar. There
Speaker 1: he and his small pirate squadron waited for their pay day,
Speaker 1: the pay day of all pay days, you could say,
Speaker 1: And on September seven they spotted that prize, a twenty
Speaker 1: five ship convoy led by the Grand Mogul on their
Speaker 1: annual pilgrimage to Mecca. The convoy was laden with treasures
Speaker 1: from South Asia, treasures intended to be used as offerings
Speaker 1: once they reached the holy city. Only they would never
Speaker 1: reach it. They did, however, put up a fight. Armed
Speaker 1: with a massive sixteen hundred ton eighty cannon ship as
Speaker 1: well as a six hundred ton escort, they held their
Speaker 1: own renowned pirate, Thomas two, was killed during the battle
Speaker 1: with the mogul vessel and numerous ships in the Pirates
Speaker 1: squadron were left behind because they simply could not keep up.
Speaker 1: Perhaps you could say that they just weren't fancy enough.
Speaker 1: In fact, the forty six gun Fancy soon found itself
Speaker 1: accompanied by only two other comrades, the Pearl and the
Speaker 1: Portsmouth Adventure. So massively outgunned and out numbered, Henry even
Speaker 1: to the odds with an opening broadside that crippled the
Speaker 1: mast of the Mogul's ship, the six ton Behemoth, although
Speaker 1: the ship itself still boasted four hundred well armed soldiers,
Speaker 1: and while Henry Every led the boarding alongside his men,
Speaker 1: the Mogul captain Ibrahim fled below decks without a leader.
Speaker 1: The Moguls buckled under the ferocity of the Pirates, Henry
Speaker 1: and his men overtook the vessel, claiming a treasure worth
Speaker 1: over six hundred thousand pounds at the time roughly ninety
Speaker 1: three million English pounds today. It is far and away
Speaker 1: the biggest heist in the history of heists, and it
Speaker 1: led to the first old wide man hunt all for
Speaker 1: the man who engineered it all, Henry Every. The raid
Speaker 1: had soured the already strained relationship between England and the moguls,
Speaker 1: with the English now fearing they may lose all of
Speaker 1: their trade opportunity with India, the only thing that would
Speaker 1: repair it was the prompt arrest of the man who
Speaker 1: had caused the whole fiesco. Only no one knew where
Speaker 1: he was or where he put the treasure. Last anyone
Speaker 1: had heard, Henry Every had docked the Fancy at Royal
Speaker 1: Island in the Bahamas in six before moving on to NASA,
Speaker 1: where he assumed a new name, Captain Bridgeman. When word
Speaker 1: reached the governing body that Bridgeman was, in fact Henry Every,
Speaker 1: they issued a warrant for his arrest, but before they
Speaker 1: could capture him, he had simply disappeared, as if by
Speaker 1: magic of his men. Only twenty four were ever found
Speaker 1: of them. Numerous stories were reported as to where Every
Speaker 1: intended to go, but no two stories ever matched stup.
Speaker 1: Either they were protecting their captain or Henry Every had
Speaker 1: told different crew members different things to purposely throw off pursuit.
Speaker 1: Whatever the case, it worked. After there is not a
Speaker 1: single record of Henry Every, nor his riches, nor the
Speaker 1: aptly named Fancy. There are some who believe that Every,
Speaker 1: in true pirate fashion, squandered his riches and died a
Speaker 1: poor man in England, although there is no evidence to
Speaker 1: back up that claim. As such, the end of Henry
Speaker 1: Every Story is still a mystery, as is the question
Speaker 1: of what happened to that massive wealth he accumulated, all
Speaker 1: from a single act of piracy. Now I'd call that fancy.
Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn
Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com.
Speaker 1: The show was created by me and Mankey in partnership
Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show
Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show,
Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the
Speaker 1: World of Lore dot com. And until next time, stay curious. Yeah,