Victor Varconi
Victor Varconi | |
---|---|
![]() Varconi in trailer for Roberta (1935) | |
Born | Mihály Várkonyi 31 March 1891 |
Died | 6 June 1976 | (aged 85)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1913—1959 |
Spouse(s) | Anna Aranyosy (m. 1919–1949) (her death) Lilliane Varconi (m. ?–1976)[1] |
Victor Varconi (31 March 1891 – 6 June 1976) was a highly successful silent film star in Hungary. Born Mihály Várkonyi in Kisvárda, Austria-Hungary, he was the first Hungarian actor to make a film in the United States. His normal speaking accent sounded almost exactly like that of Transylvanian Bela Lugosi.
He worked under contract to Cecil B. DeMille, and played Pontius Pilate in DeMille's 1927 production of The King of Kings.
Varconi's popularity waned with the advent of sound films- because of his accent he was cast in smaller parts, often playing Hispanic characters. He worked on the New York City stage and wrote for radio.
He died from a heart attack in Santa Barbara, California on June 6, 1976 at the age of 85. He was interred at the Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles, California, USA.
Selected filmography
- The Yellow Foal (1913)
- Bánk Bán (1914)
- Miska the Magnate (1916)
- St. Peter's Umbrella (1917)
- A 99-es számú bérkocsi (1918)
- White Rose (1919)
- Masters of the Sea (1922)
- A Vanished World (1922)
- The Blood (1922)
- Sodom and Gomorrah (1922)
- Der Junge Medardus (1923)
- Die Lawine (1923)
- Namenlos (1923)
- Triumph (1924)
- Changing Husbands (1924)
- Feet of Clay (1924)
- Dancing Mad (1925)
- The Last Days of Pompeii (1926)
- Silken Shackles (1926)
- The Volga Boatman (1926)
- The King of Kings (1927)
- The Angel of Broadway (1927)
- Chicago (1927)
- The Divine Lady (1929)
- Eternal Love (1929)
- Doctors' Wives (1931)
- The Black Camel (1931)
- Men in Her Life (1931)
- Safe in Hell (1931)
- The Rebel (1932)
- The Song You Gave Me (1933)
- Menace (1934)
- Roberta (1935)
- A Feather in Her Hat (1935)
- Dancing Pirate (1936)
- Big City (1937)
- Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939)
- The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
- Everything Happens at Night (1939)
- Strange Cargo (1940)
- The Sea Hawk (1940)
- Federal Fugitives (1941)
- They Raid By Night (1942)
- For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
- The Hitler Gang (1944)
- Scotland Yard Investigator (1945)
- Unconquered (1947)
- Where There's Life (1947)
- The Atomic Submarine (1959)
References
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- 1891 births
- 1976 deaths
- People from Kisvárda
- Hungarian male silent film actors
- American male film actors
- American male silent film actors
- American male television actors
- Hungarian emigrants to the United States
- Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States
- American people of Hungarian descent
- 20th-century American male actors
- Burials at Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles