Victor Varconi

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Victor Varconi

Victor Varconi , in the German-language film Michael Varkonyi , (born: Mihály Várkonyi ; born March 31, 1891 in Kisvárda , Hungary ; † June 6, 1976 in Santa Barbara , California , USA ) was an American film and theater actor , as well as a film director and screenwriter of Hungarian origin.

Life

Victor Varconi was born as the son of farmers on the border between Hungary and Ukraine , but grew up in Budapest . After training as a businessman, he took acting lessons and then took on his first engagements in theaters in the Transylvania region . Later he worked at the Hungarian National Theater in Budapest.

Varconi's acting career began in 1913 when he starred in a supporting role in Félix Vanyl's silent film Sárga csikó . In 1920 Varconi directed the short film A Számüzött for the first and only time in his life , where he also played the leading role. After around 10 films in which he worked in Hungary, Varconi moved to Vienna and Berlin around 1920 , where he played roles as Michael Varkonyi in a number of German and Austrian feature films, including the 1922 film adaptation of the Bible by director Michael Curtiz, Sodom and Gomorrah .

In 1924 he was called to Hollywood , where the US-American director Cecil B. DeMille Michael Varkonyi, who now called himself Victor Varconi, for his film Triumph occupied . His most famous feature film, however, would once again be a Bible film - King of Kings from 1927, again directed by DeMille - in which Varconi was seen as Pontius Pilate . In the 1930s and 1940s, the zenith of Varconi's filmmaking, he was in front of the camera mostly in southern or often German-language character roles, including the film comedy Roberta, produced in 1935 and nominated for an Oscar . Mention should also be made of the 1944 film The Hitler Gang , one of the first films about National Socialism , in which Varconi played Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess . In one of his last films, Varconi slipped into biblical garb again when he starred in a supporting role in the film Samson and Delilah in 1949 - again directed by his sponsor Cecil B. DeMille.

After Varconi retired as a film actor at the end of the 1950s, he concentrated more on the theater, and so stood in Shakespeare plays such as Hamlet , Romeo and Juliet or Richard III. on stage.

Little is known about Varconi's personal life. He was married twice; it is not known whether he had children. His denomination was Roman Catholic . He died of a heart attack in June 1976 at the age of 85 .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Victor Varconi  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Varconi, Victor
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Várkonyi, Mihály
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and filmmaker of Hungarian origin
DATE OF BIRTH March 31, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Kisvárda , Hungary
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 1976
Place of death Santa Barbara , California , USA