Vilmos Gyimes

Vilmos Gyimes , also Wilhelm Gyimes and William Gyimes (born March 21, 1894 in Budapest , Austria-Hungary , † March 3, 1977 in Los Angeles , USA ) was a Hungarian actor , director and theater maker.

Life

Gyimes was a professional footballer at a young age and was a member of the Hungarian national team after the First World War. He then moved to Vienna and worked there as an actor and theater director. He made a name for himself among other things with Vienna's Ronacher and as operator of the tiny Viennese revue theater Femina . In 1935 he directed the German-speaking Hungarian emigrant production Dschainah, the girl from the dance house, which was never performed in German-speaking countries . Gyimes took on a role there, alongside various colleagues ostracized in Germany for racial reasons ( Rose Barsony , Annemarie Sörensen , Fritz Steiner , Walter O. Stahl ).

As a Jew, Gyimes had to flee immediately after the annexation of Austria . He fled to France via Zurich in April 1938 . Over the next two years, Gyimes tried a variety of activities. According to reports, he was planning to open a wine tavern in Paris , a cabaret in London and, just before the outbreak of war in 1939, another location in the Montmartre district of Paris . In February 1940 he and his wife managed to leave for New York. After a short stay in Argentina , the couple finally settled in New York in September 1940. In Hollywood , Gyimes, who now Anglicized his first name in William, tried himself at the beginning of 1942 as the operator of a restaurant called 'The Goulash Pot', specializing in Hungarian and Austrian dishes. Shortly afterwards he also took on tiny emigrant roles in anti-Nazi (propaganda) films. A US citizen since 1947, Gyimes concentrated in the following decade on the production of off-Broadway theater performances such as The Lady From the Sea (1956), Fools Are Passing Through and The Egg and I (both 1958), and Don Juan in Hell (1960). As a director, Gyimes directed The Lady From the Sea in 1956 and The Hole in 1961 . William Gyimes was considered to be the discoverer of the actress Sandy Dennis .

Filmography

as an actor, unless otherwise stated

• 1935: Dschainah, the girl from the dance house (also director)
• 1943: Sahara
• 1944: In Our Time
• 1948: A Foreign Affair (A Foreign Affair)

literature

• 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. ACABUS Verlag, Hamburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-86282-049-8 , p. 579.

Web links

• Vilmos Gyimes in the Internet Movie Database (English)