Imre Sinkovits (21 September 1928 in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

– 18 January 2001 in Budapest) was a Hungarian actor.

Career

After a year in Downtown Theatre and another in Youth Theatre, in 1949 he got a job in National Theatre, where he stayed until 1956. His breakthrough role was Imre Madách's Moses, which he had played for 22 years, more than 700 times. On 23 October 1956 he recited

Sándor Petőfi Sándor Petőfi ( []; né Petrovics; ; ; 1 January 1823 – most likely 31 July 1849) was a Hungarian poet and Classical Liberalism, liberal revolutionary. He is considered Hungary's national poet, and was one of the key figures of the Hungari ...

Nemzeti dal The Nemzeti dal (''"National Song"'') is a Hungarian patriotic poem written by Sándor Petőfi that is said to have inspired the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Petőfi read the poem aloud on 15 March on the steps of the Hungarian National Museum i ...

at the Petőfi Square in

in front of a crowd of 20,000 people. This was the opening act of a youth protest, which protest in a few hours became a nationwide revolt against the government. Sinkovits became a member of the Hungarian Theatre and Film Association Revolutionary Committee on 30 October. After the

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

was crushed, Sinkovits was banned from acting for a half year for his activities, and his membership in the National Theatre was terminated. Between 1958 and 1963, he worked in the Attila József Theatre. In 1963 he returned to the National Theatre and he became one of its dominant actors for decades. He played the leading role in a number of films and television series, and was also involved in

dubbing Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...

and narration. At 4 May 1991 reburial ceremony of Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty in

Esztergom Esztergom (; ; or ; , known by Names of European cities in different languages: E–H#E, alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the righ ...

, Sinkovits delivered a powerful rendition of Hungarian poet

Mihály Vörösmarty Mihály Vörösmarty (archaically English: Michael Vorosmarthy 1 December 180019 November 1855) was a Hungarians, Hungarian poet and dramatist who lived and worked in the Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867), Kingdom of Hungary. Biography He was ...

's poem

Szózat The Szózat (; in English: "The Appeal") is a Hungarian patriotic song. De facto, it is regarded as "the second national anthem" of Hungary, beside the Himnusz, which is a constitutionally defined state symbol. The lyrics were written in 1836 ...

before the 50,000 mourners in attendance. YouTube video of Mindszenty's reburial (see video at 2:12)
/ref>

is considered to be a second national anthem of

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. In 2022, on the anniversary of his birthday, a star was named after him.

Personal life

In 1951, Sinkovits married Hungarian actress Katalin Gombos (b. 12 February 1929

Hódmezővásárhely Hódmezővásárhely (; also known by other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, on the Great Hungarian Plain, at the meeting point of the Békés-Csanádi Ridge and the clay grassland surrounding the river Tisz ...

; died 6 November 2012

). They had two children: Andrew Sinkovits-Vitay and Mariann Sinkovits, both of whom also became actors. Sinkovits and Gombos are buried in the Óbuda cemetery.

Selected filmography

* '' Full Steam Ahead'' (1951) * ''

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

'' (1952) * '' Fourteen Lives'' (1954) * ''

Love Travels by Coach ''Love Travels by Coach'' (Hungarian: ''Hintónjáró szerelem'') is a 1955 Hungarian romantic comedy film directed by László Ranódy and starring Mária Medgyesi, Ádám Szirtes, and Zoltán Makláry, ZoltánMakláry. . It was one of the most p ...

'' (1955) * ''

A Strange Mask of Identity ''A Strange Mask of Identity'' (Hungarian: ''Különös ismertetőjel'') is a 1955 Hungarian drama film directed by Zoltán Várkonyi and starring Ferenc Bessenyei, Erzsi Somogyi and Imre Sinkovits.Cunningham p.83 The plot of the movie is set i ...

'' (1955) * ''

Leila and Gábor ''Leila and Gábor'' (Hungarian: ''Gábor diák'') is a 1956 Hungarian historical musical film directed by László Kalmár and starring Ferenc Zenthe, Marianne Krencsey and Imre Sinkovits. An operetta film, it is inspired by the 1905 stage wor ...

'' (1956) * ''

The Football Star ''The Football Star'' (Hungarian: ''A csodacsatár'') is a 1957 Hungarian sports comedy film directed by Márton Keleti and starring Imre Pongracz as the football star, Kamill Feleki, László Ungváry and Manyi Kiss. It features a number of cam ...

'' (1957) * '' Suburban Legend'' (1957) * '' Alba Regia'' (1961) * '' Tales of a Long Journey'' (1963) * '' The Corporal and the Others'' (1965) * ''

Car Crazy ''Car Crazy'' (Hungarian: ''Kár a benzinért'') is a 1965 Hungarian musical comedy film directed by Frigyes Bán and starring Sándor Pécsi, Imre Sinkovits and Tamás Major. Rîpeanu p.59 It was shot at the Hunnia Studios in Budapest and on ...

'' (1965) * '' And Then The Guy...'' (1966) * '' Three Nights of Love'' (1967) * '' Stars of Eger'' (1968) * ''

The Toth Family ''The Toth Family'' () is a 1969 Hungarian comedy-drama film directed by Zoltán Fábri. It was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival. Cast * Zoltán Latinovits Zoltán Latinovits (9 September 1931, in Budapest – 4 June ...

'' (1969) * '' Franz Liszt. Dreams of love'' ''()'' (1970) - as

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...

Awards

Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize (, ) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1936, by the Hungarian National Assembly, to acknowledge outstanding personal and grou ...

(1966) * Mari Jászai Award (1955, 1962) * Kazinczy Award (198

*

Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary The Hungarian Order of Merit () is the fourth highest Order (honour), State Order of Hungary. Founded in 1991, the order is a revival of an original order founded in 1946 and abolished in 1949. Its origins, however, can be traced to the Order of ...

, Commander's cross with star, civilian ( :hu:A Magyar Köztársasági Érdemrend középkeresztje a csillaggal, 1998) *

Hungarian Heritage Award The Hungarian Heritage Award () is a distinction awarded to Hungarian institutions or persons who have contributed to activities of Hungarian culture, economy, sports or science, to ensure the spiritual uplift of Hungarian society. The award was ...

( :hu:Magyar Örökség díj, 1996) * National Actor title ( :hu:A Nemzet Színésze, 2000)

References

1928 births 2001 deaths Hungarian male stage actors Hungarian male film actors Hungarian male voice actors Commander's Crosses with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) Artists of Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic {{Hungary-actor-stub