Biography

Carroll Borland was born on February 25, 1914 in San Francisco, California, USA. She was an actress, known for Mark of the Vampire (1935), Biohazard (1985) and Scalps (1983). She was married to Vernon John Parten. She died on February 3, 1994 in Arlington, Virginia, USA.

Allegedly she was fascinated by Bela Lugosi when saw him as Dracula at the Fulton Theater in Oakland, she wrote a novel called "Countess Dracula" and sent it to Lugosi. He called her to play Lucy, Dracula's favorite victim, on stage. Later, he gave her the role of Luna Mora in Mark of the Vampire (1935).

She retired from acting in 1953, and became a college professor.

A picture of her in her role as Luna Mora from Mark of the Vampire (1935) graces the CD booklet cover of a compilation of gothic music called Vampire Themes.

Her daughter Anne Carroll Parten was an attorney in Virginia.

I saw Bela Lugosi last on a late afternoon in 1948 or 1949. I was waiting for the light to change at the corner of Santa Monica and Sunset, when a car stopped with Bela in the passenger seat. He looked up and saw me, reached out his hand, as I did, but the light changed. His driver pulled away before we made contact, and although he turned and said something, I never saw him again alive. Years later, at his funeral, the King of the Vampires lay wrapped in his cape. With the passing of Lugosi, I felt as if I was present in a darkened theatre. The lights were out; the play was over. I have never visited his grave. I like to think he might not really be there. The best of Bela Lugosi is in my memory. I keep that alive.

Let me admit with no apology that to me Dracula is Bela Lugosi, and Lugosi is Dracula. There is no separation of the two. Many have donned his nocturnal cloak, and some, like Christopher Lee, have presented most creditable representations of the great undead Count - but can never be Dracula. If not for Technicolor, I could say they are only pale imitations.