It’s harder to find Bela candids. He was a very serious man, and not given overmuch to fooling around. In this as in many things, Karloff was his opposite.
I am AWFUL at recognizing faces. But damn if Bela Jr. as a baby doesn’t look exactly like Bela Jr. as an adult. (And also quite a bit like Lloyd Nolan.)
Baby Bela seems far more weirded out by Karloff’s monster than the five year-old Donnie Donagan was. Of course, I’m sure he died but days later from second hand smoke exposure.
Here’s the older Bela Jr. with Dad and Glenn Strange, presumably on the set of A&C Meet Frankenstein. Bela appeared to be in a pretty cheerful mood, maybe because he was acting in a real movie again. And, of course, the Monster was being played by Strange, not Karloff. Or by Bela, for that matter. Bela was 66 here, and only five years younger when he played the Monster. I can’t imagine it was a happy experience for anyone.
Here Bela cavorts with Moe and Shemp Howard as they give brother Curly the business.
This one seems pretty seasonal.