Ernö Verebes

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Ernö Verebes around 1928 on a photograph by Alexander Binder

Ernö Verebes (also Ernst Verebes ; born December 6, 1902 in New York City , † June 13, 1971 in Los Angeles ) was an actor and singer who temporarily lived and worked in Hungary , Germany and the USA .

life and work

Ernö Verebes was born in New York at the beginning of the last century, but his family, who came to the USA as immigrants, returned to Hungary in 1914. After training at the Theater Academy in Budapest and appearances as a stage actor, Verebes started his career as a film actor in the film A hetedik Fatyol in 1922 . He soon became a popular protagonist in German silent films (under the name Ernst Verebes). In 1928, Verebes was a film artist in the large-format book . We represent ourselves . In an amusing contribution, he confessed: "To express elegant humor in the film, to get people to let a hearty laugh come out of their pearl-white chlorodontal teeth, I consider my job in the film."

Verebes was one of those actors who, thanks to their voice and charisma, made the transition to sound film seamlessly. In the following years he was seen in numerous music and entertainment films, including a. in Va Banque (alongside Gustaf Gründgens and Lil Dagover ), the film operetta Das Blaue vom Himmel (music by Paul Abraham , screenplay by Billy Wilder ), the comedy Mystery of the Red Cat and the operetta adaptations Countess Mariza (music by Emmerich Kálmán ), Viktoria and their hussar and the flower of Hawaii (music respectively Paul Abraham). Film followed film by 1933, when the actor had to emigrate after the handover of power to the National Socialists . He went to his native USA and was able to continue working in film under his old name Ernö Verebes, but mostly in smaller roles. It never again achieved the popularity that it enjoyed in Europe. While Verebes was often seen in the role of a nobleman or an officer in Germany and Hungary, he was now often cast as a typical German or even as an SS officer. An exception was his role as stage manager in Ernst Lubitsch's film Being or Not being .

In September 1945 Ernö Verebes received news that his mother Margit Verebes and his sister Emmy Verebes had been killed in an internment camp in Budapest during an Allied air raid in 1944. This was particularly tragic because, as American citizens, they were spared deportation.

After the Second World War, Verebes continued to shoot in entertainment films, but the roles became more and more modest. In 1952, he played a waiter in the film adaptation of the operetta The Merry Widow (music: Franz Lehár ) without being included in the list of actors. It was similar for him in 1953 in the role of Prof. Alligari in Houdini, the king of vaudeville . He drew the conclusions and withdrew from film work at the age of only 51. After all, he was able to look back on an impressive record of over 140 film roles. He spent the last years of his life, withdrawn from the film business, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles.

Filmography (selection)

literature

  • Construction reconstrucion , Volume 11, Number 38, September 21, 1945 page 18, number 39, September 28, 1945 page 17, online: .
  • Johann Caspar Glenzdorf: Glenzdorf's international film lexicon. Biographical manual for the entire film industry. Volume 3: Peit – Zz. Prominent-Filmverlag, Bad Münder 1961, DNB 451560752 , p. 1786.
  • Kay Less : The film's great personal dictionary . The actors, directors, cameramen, producers, composers, screenwriters, film architects, outfitters, costume designers, editors, sound engineers, make-up artists and special effects designers of the 20th century. Volume 8: T - Z. David Tomlinson - Theo Zwierski. Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2001, ISBN 3-89602-340-3 , p. 157.
  • Kay Less: 'In life, more is taken from you than given ...'. Lexicon of filmmakers who emigrated from Germany and Austria between 1933 and 1945. A general overview. P. 519 f., ACABUS-Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hermann Treuner (Ed.): We about ourselves. Volume 1: Film artists. Sybillen-Verlag, Berlin 1928.
  2. ^ René Geoffroy: Hungary as a place of refuge and place of work for German-speaking emigrants (1933–1938 / 39) . Frankfurt am Main: Lang 2001, p. 270
personal data
SURNAME Verebes, Ernö
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Verebes, Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Hungarian-American actor and singer
DATE OF BIRTH December 6, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 1971
Place of death los Angeles