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Paul Lukas in 1944

Biography

Paul Lukas

Overview

  • Born
    May 26, 1895 · Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]
  • Died
    August 16, 1971 · Tangier, Morocco (heart failure)
  • Birth name
    Pál Lukács
  • Height
    6′ 1½″ (1.87 m)

Biography

  • Oscar-winning actor Paul Lukas was born in Hungary and graduated from the School for Dramatic Arts. In 1916 he went to Kosice (Kassa) to be an actor; in 1918 he became an actor specializing in comedy. For ten years he was the most popular character player and romantic lead of the company. In 1918 he began making movies in Budapest and in the 1920s he began appearing in films in Austria as well. He journeyed to Hollywood in 1927, where he finally settled down. He wasn't untrue to the stage--he played Dr. Rank to Ruth Gordon's Nora in Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House" in the Morosco Theatre in New York in 1937--but concentrated on films until 1948. In the '50s he started appearing on stage more and more, and worked in films and on TV only sporadically.
    - IMDb mini biography by: A. Nonymous

Family

  • Spouses
      Annette M. Driesens(November 7, 1963 - August 16, 1971) (his death)
      Gizella "Daisy" Benes(1927 - 1962) (her death)
      ?(1916 - 1917) (divorced)
  • Parents
      Adolf Munkácsi
      Mária Zilahy

Trivia

  • Died in Tangier, Morocco, while searching for a place to spend his retirement years.
  • Became a U. S. Citizen in 1933 and won the Academy Award 1943 for Watch on the Rhine (1943).
  • On August 29, 2019, he was honored with a day of his film work during the Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars.
  • Gossip columnist Sheilah Graham reported in 1941 that he was an extremely serious tennis player. During a game of doubles with Charles Butterworth, Lukas reportedly asked bystanders to stop talking because their chatter was very "dis-attracting".
  • Sings Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's song "None But the Lonely Heart" (English title) in Little Women (1933).

Quotes

  • [on his role in Watch on the Rhine (1943), which he originally played on Broadway] The writing is so right you don't have to learn the part. It sticks to you. I amuse myself by changing a gesture occasionally.

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