Ferenc Molnár

Overview

Ferenc Molnár was born on January 12, 1878 in Budapest, Austria-Hungary [now Hungary]. He was a writer and actor, known for Carousel, Tales of Manhattan (1942) and I'll Be Yours (1947). He was married to Lili Darvas, Sári Fedák and Margit Vészi. He died on April 1, 1952 in New York City, New York, USA.

During the dress rehearsals for "Carousel", which is based on Molnar's "Liliom", he entered the theater to watch. Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II were terrified that he would be very disapproving of any changes they had made in the play, and especially of their new final scene. Instead, he was ecstatic about the show and declared that he liked the new ending best of all.
When composer Giacomo Puccini asked for Molnár's permission to turn his 1909 play "Liliom" into an opera he refused, fearing that it would be remembered more as a Puccini opera than a Molnár play. However, after seeing Richard Rodgers' and Oscar Hammerstein II's hit musical "Oklahoma!", he gave his consent for them to turn "Liliom" into a musical.
World-famous Hungarian playwright, somewhat more popular during the first half of the 20th century than now, though with the recent videocassette and DVD release Liliom (1934) he seems to be (as of 2004) enjoying a resurgence. His best known play, "Liliom", was popular both in Europe and the US until 1945, when it was supplanted in the US by Richard Rodgers' and Oscar Hammerstein II's hit musical version, "Carousel", which has long since become a classic of the American musical stage. Over the past year, however, Molnar's original "Liliom" has been revived again in the US.
Given name pronounced "FER-entz" (stress always falls on the first syllable in Hungarian).
Lived the last years of his life in America as a refugee from the Nazis.