Paul Lukas
Paul Lukas | |
|---|---|
 Lukas in 1950 | |
| Born | Pál Lukács May 26, 1894 |
| Died | August 15, 1971 (aged 77) Tangier, Morocco |
| Resting place | Cementerio de Benalmádena, Andalucia, Spain |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1916–70 |
| Spouse(s) | Gizella "Daisy" Benes (1927–1962; her death) Annette M. Driesens (1963–1971; his death) |
Paul Lukas (born Pál Lukács; May 26, 1894 – August 15, 1971) was a Hungarian actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film Watch on the Rhine (1943), reprising the role he created on the Broadway stage.
Biography
Lukas was born Pál Lukács in Budapest into a Jewish family,[1][2] the son of Adolf Munkácsi and Mária Schneckendorf. He was later adopted by Mária (née Zilahy) and János Lukács, an advertising executive.[3][4]
Lukas made his stage debut in Budapest in 1916 and his film debut in 1917. At first, he played elegant, smooth womanizers, but increasingly he became typecast as a villain. He had a successful stage and film career in Hungary, Germany, and Austria, where he worked with Max Reinhardt. He arrived in Hollywood in 1927 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1937.
He was busy in the 1930s, appearing in such films as the melodrama Rockabye, the crime caper Grumpy, Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes, the comedy Ladies in Love, and the drama Dodsworth. He followed William Powell and Basil Rathbone portraying the series detective Philo Vance, a cosmopolitan New Yorker, once in The Casino Murder Case (1935).
His major film success came in Watch on the Rhine (1943), where he played a man working against the Nazis, a role he originated in the Broadway premiere of the play of the same name in 1941.[5] His portrayal of Kurt Mueller, a German émigré with an American wife, played by Bette Davis, was universally lauded by critics. Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times, wrote, "As the enemy of fascism, Mr. Lukas' haggard, loving, resourceful determination becomes heroic by virtue of his sincerity and his superior abilities as an actor."[6] He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role. He also received the New York Film Critics Award for his performance.[6]
In 1943, he guest starred as the eponymous character in an episode of the radio program Suspense, "Mr. Markham, Antique Dealer".[7], as well as the character of a blind composer in the episode "A World of Darkness".[8] On April 2, 1944, he starred in "The Steadfast Heart" on Silver Theater.[9] In the 1940s, Lukas was a charter member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals, a conservative lobbying group opposed to possible Communist influence in Hollywood.
Modern viewers also remember Lukas for his role as Professor Aronnax in Walt Disney's film version of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954).
Lukas' film career continued into the 1960s with nine films, including Fun in Acapulco with Elvis Presley in 1963 and Lord Jim with Peter O'Toole in 1965. His final film, The Challenge, was released in 1970.
The remainder of his career moved from Hollywood to the stage to television. His only singing role was as Cosmo Constantine in the original 1950 Broadway stage version of Irving Berlin's Call Me Madam, opposite Ethel Merman for over 600 performances (although he is heard singing a song in the 1933 film Little Women, displaying a pleasant voice).[10]
Lukas died August 15, 1971, in Tangier, Morocco,[11] reportedly while searching for a place to spend his retirement years. He is buried in Spain.
Recognition
Lukas was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard on February 8, 1960.[12]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Boccaccio | Boccaccio | |
| 1922 | Samson and Delilah | Ettore Ricco, tenor | |
| 1923 | The Unknown Tomorrow | ||
| 1928 | Three Sinners | Count Dietrich Wallentin | Lost film |
| Manhattan Cocktail | Boris Renov | Lost film | |
| The Woman from Moscow | Vladimir | Incomplete film | |
| Loves of an Actress | Doctor Durande | Lost film | |
| Two Lovers | Don Ramon de Linea | Incomplete film | |
| Hot News | James Clayton | Lost film | |
| Night Watch | Captain Corlaix | ||
| The Shopworn Angel | Bailey | Incomplete film | |
| 1929 | The Wolf of Wall Street | David Tyler | |
| Illusion | Count Fortuny | ||
| Half Way to Heaven | Nick Pogli | ||
| 1930 | Behind the Make-Up | Boris | |
| Slightly Scarlet | Malatroff | ||
| Young Eagles | Von Baden | ||
| The Benson Murder Case | Adolph Mohler | ||
| The Devil's Holiday | Dr Reynolds | ||
| Grumpy | Berci | ||
| Anybody's Woman | Gustave Saxon | ||
| The Right to Love | Eric | ||
| 1931 | City Streets | Big Fellow Mashal | |
| Unfaithful | Colin Graham | ||
| Working Girls | Doctor Joseph Von Schrader | ||
| Women Love Once | Julien Fields | ||
| The Beloved Bachelor | Michael Morda | ||
| Strictly Dishonorable | Gus | ||
| The Vice Squad | Stephen Lucarno | ||
| 1932 | No One Man | Dr Karl Bemis | |
| Tomorrow and Tomorrow | Doctor Nicholas Faber | ||
| Thunder Below | Ken | ||
| Downstairs | Albert, the Baron's Butler | ||
| A Passport to Hell | Lt. Kurt Kurtoff | ||
| Rockabye | Antonie de Sola | ||
| 1933 | Grand Slam | Peter Stanislavsky | |
| The Kiss Before the Mirror | Walter Bernsdorf | ||
| Sing Sinner Sing | Phil Carida | ||
| Secret of the Blue Room | Captain Walter Brink | ||
| Captured! | Colonel Carl Ehrlich | ||
| Little Women | Professor Bhaer | ||
| By Candlelight | Josef | ||
| 1934 | The Countess of Monte Criso | Rumowski | |
| Glamour | Victor Banki | ||
| I Give My Love | Paul Vadja | ||
| Gift of Gab | The Corpse | ||
| Father Brown, Detective | Flambeau | ||
| The Fountain | Rupert von Narwitz | ||
| Affairs of a Gentleman | Victor Gresham | ||
| 1935 | The Casino Murder Case | Philo Vance | |
| Age of Indiscretion | Robert Lenhart | ||
| The Three Musketeers | Athos | ||
| I Found Stella Parish | Stephan Norman | ||
| 1936 | Dodsworth | Arnold Iselin | |
| Ladies in Love | John Barta | ||
| 1937 | Brief Ecstasy | Professor Paul Bernardy | |
| The Mutiny of the Elsinore | Jack Pethurst | ||
| Espionage | Anton Kronsky | ||
| Dinner at the Ritz | Baron Philip de Beaufort | ||
| 1938 | The Lady Vanishes | Dr Hartz | |
| 1939 | Confessions of a Nazi Spy | Dr. Kassell | |
| Captain Fury | Francois Dupre | ||
| 1940 | Strange Cargo | Hessler | |
| The Chinese Bungalow | Yuan Sing | ||
| The Ghost Breakers | Parada | ||
| A Window in London | Zoltini | Released as Lady in Distress in USA | |
| 1941 | The Monster and the Girl | W. S. Bruhl | |
| They Dare Not Love | Baron von Helsing | ||
| 1943 | Hostages | Rheinhardt | |
| Watch on the Rhine | Kurt Muller | Won Academy Award for Best Actor | |
| 1944 | Uncertain Glory | Inspector Marcel Bonet | |
| Address Unknown | Martin Schulz | ||
| Experiment Perilous | Nick Bederaux | ||
| 1946 | Deadline at Dawn | Gus Hoffman | |
| Temptation | Sir Meyer Isaacson | ||
| 1947 | Whispering City | Albert Frederic | |
| Don't Be a Sucker | The Refugee | Produced by the US War Department | |
| 1948 | Berlin Express | Dr Bernhardt | |
| 1950 | Kim | Lama | |
| 1954 | 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea | Prof. Pierre Aronnax | |
| 1958 | The Roots of Heaven | Saint Denis | |
| 1960 | Scent of Mystery | Baron Saradin | |
| 1962 | Tender Is the Night | Dr. Dohmler | |
| Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse | Karl von Hartrott | ||
| 1963 | 55 Days at Peking | Dr. Steinfeldt | |
| Fun in Acapulco | Maximillian Dauphin | ||
| 1965 | Lord Jim | Stein | |
| 1968 | Sol Madrid | Capo Riccione | |
| 1970 | The Challenge | Dr Nagy | TV movie, (final film role) |
See also
References
- ^ Brode, D. (2009). Multiculturalism and the Mouse: Race and Sex in Disney Entertainment. University of Texas Press. p. 103. ISBN 9780292783300. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- ^ Central Conference of American Rabbis (1988). Journal of Reform Judaism. Vol. 35. Central Conference of American Rabbis. ISSN 0149-712X. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- ^ H.W. Wilson Company (1942). Current Biography Yearbook. H. W. Wilson Company. ISSN 0084-9499. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- ^ "Marriage entry, Budapest 7th district, 26 March 1918". familysearch.org. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
- ^ Watch on the Rhine at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ a b Bower, Ronald; Unterburger, Amy L. ed. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers: Actors and Actresses, St. James Press (1997) p. 740
- ^ "Internet Archive".
- ^ Blackstone Audio 'Suspense' Vol.2 issued 2015
- ^ "Sunday Highlights". The Nebraska State Journal. April 2, 1944. p. 28. Retrieved 31 March 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ None But The Lonely hearts by Paul Lukas, retrieved 2019-12-04
- ^ Obituary Variety, August 18, 1971, p. 55.
- ^ "Paul Lukas". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
External links
- Works by or about Paul Lukas at the Internet Archive
- Paul Lukas at IMDb
- Paul Lukas at the Internet Broadway Database
- Paul Lukas at Find a Grave
- Paul Lukas at Virtual History
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1894 births
- 1971 deaths
- American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent
- Austro-Hungarian Jews
- Best Actor Academy Award winners
- Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners
- Hungarian emigrants to the United States
- Hungarian male silent film actors
- 20th-century Hungarian male actors
- Jewish American male actors
- Jewish Hungarian actors
- Male actors from Budapest
- 20th-century American male actors