- Born
- Died
- Hungarian-born Lili Darvas (pronounced 'Darvash') was a major star first in Budapest, then on the German stage with Max Reinhardt's theatre company during the 1920s, touring Europe with plays by Goethe, Shakespeare, Tolstoy and Shaw. She received her education at the Budapest Lyceum and made her acting debut at the age of 20 as Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet".
In 1926, she married playwright Ferenc Molnár who wrote several plays for her, including "Olympia" and "Delilah". The following year she made her Broadway debut as Titania in "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The union was childless but happy, and lasted until Molnar's death in 1952.
Lili was of Jewish background and was forced to flee Europe after the German annexation of Austria in 1938, using her Hungarian passport to escape to Switzerland. Later, on the advice of actor Walter Slezak, she hired a tutor to perfect her English language skills. Although she was known for her fine acting range she never lost her Hungarian accent which limited her to playing women of continental background. In 1944, she became an American citizen.
In the course of the succeeding three decades she enjoyed many a success on the New York stage, including a starring role in "Waltz of the Toreadors" (1958) and as Sigmund Freud's domineering mother Amalie in "The Far Country" (1961). She was nominated for a Tony Award in one of her last roles as Best Supporting or Featured Actress in Lorraine Hansberry's "Les Blancs".
On screen, she appeared in the big budget MGM musical Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956). Following her husband's death in 1952, Lili acted increasingly in radio and early television anthology drama. On television, she was best-known for her role as the grandmother of the character played by Bill Mumy in "Long Distance Call", an episode of the iconic television series The Twilight Zone (1959).
- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis
- SpouseFerenc Molnár(June 10, 1926 - April 1, 1952) (his death)
- ParentsBerta FreibergerSándor Darvas
- Darvas's particular strength was her acting range. She combined the fetching qualities of an ingénue with the depth and mature allure of an experienced woman of the world. In 1938, she left Europe, immigrating to the United States, where she became a citizen in 1944.
- When Austria became integrated into the German Reich, Lili Darvas fled to Switzerland because she had a Jewish background. From there she went to the USA where she had good contacts thanks to her engagements in the 20s and in 1944 she got the American citizenship. There she was able to continue her work on stage and got offered thankful roles.
- Her husband Ferenc Molnar wrote some plays especially for her, among them "Olympia", "Riviera" and "The Girl from Trieste".
- In 1926, Darvas joined the acting troupe of the German impresario Max Reinhardt, even though she had learned to speak German only two years earlier, by reciting classical German verse plays for hours at a time.
- Darvas died on July 22, 1974. Theater critic Harold Clurman summed up her talent: "Lili Darvas' pulsating heartiness, a kind of paprika which flavors the dismal and obscene with the dignity of sound human instincts, is a cause for rejoicing.".
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
