Victor Varconi (born Mihály Várkonyi; March 31, 1891 – June 6, 1976) was a Hungarian actor who initially found success in his native country, as well as in Germany and Austria, in

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s, before relocating to the United States, where he continued to appear in films throughout the sound era. He also appeared in British and Italian films.

Biography

Born in

Kisvárda Kisvárda (; , ) is a town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, in the Northern Great Plain region of eastern Hungary near the border of Slovakia and Ukraine. It is the 3rd largest town in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg after Nyíregyháza and Mátészalka ...

, Austria-Hungary, Varconi was the first known Hungarian actor to make a film in the United States. He was educated at a commercial school in Hungary, after which he worked for an insurance company as a solicitor. After he developed an interest in acting, he attended the Actor Art High School in Budapest, from which he progressed to acting with the National Theatre in Budapest. While there, he performed in works that included Shakespearean plays and Molnar's ''Liliom'' and ''The Wolf''. He went on to act with a Hungarian film company and in U.F.A. films in Berlin. He worked under contract to

Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; August 12, 1881January 21, 1959) was an American filmmaker and actor. Between 1914 and 1958, he made 70 features, both silent and sound films. He is acknowledged as a founding father of American cinema and the most co ...

, and played

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

in DeMille's 1927 production of '' The King of Kings''. That same year, he played Amos Hart, husband of murderess

Roxie Hart Roxanne "Roxie" Hart is a fictional character. She is the main character of the 1926 play ''Chicago'' and its various remakes and derivatives. Development The playwright, reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, was inspired by the trials, both of which ...

, in the first film version of ''Chicago''. Owing in part to his Hungarian accent, Varconi's popularity reportedly waned with the advent of sound films and he was cast in smaller parts, often playing Hispanic characters. He worked on the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

stage and wrote for radio.

Death

He died from a heart attack in Santa Barbara, California on June 6, 1976, at the age of 85, survived by his second wife, Lilliane. He was interred at the Calvary Cemetery, East Los Angeles, California.

Selected filmography

*''Márta'' (1913) - A doktor *'' The Yellow Foal'' (1914) - Laci, Csorba fia *''

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'' (1915) - Miklós *''

Bánk Bán Bánk is a village and municipality in the comitat of Nógrád, 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 nor ...

'' (1915) - Ottó herceg *''Tetemrehívás'' (1915) *''Éjféli találkozás'' (1915) - Sugár Laci, pásztor *''Havasi Magdolna'' (1915) - Juon, a parasztlegény *''Az ezüst kecske'' (1916) - János, medikus *''A gyónás szentsége'' (1916) - A meggyilkolt fiatalember *''A Nagymama'' (1916) - Kálmán *'' Miska the Magnate'' (1916) - Baracs *''Farkas'' (1917) - Szabó Gyuri *''Csaplárosné'' (1917) - Betyár *''A csikós'' (1917) - Andris, a csikóslegény * '' The Schoolmistress'' (1917) - ifjabb Nagy István *''Mágia'' (1917) - Pál *'' St. Peter's Umbrella'' (1917) - Wibra Gyuri *''A Gyurkovics leányok'' (1917) *''A riporterkirály'' (1917) - Toll Ákos, az ifjú riporter *''Az utolsó éjszaka'' (1917) *''A megbélyegzett'' (1917) - Lévai Kálmán, titkár *''Ciklámen'' (1918) - Lehotai, a férj barátja *''Petöfi dalciklus'' (1918) *'' A 99-es számú bérkocsi'' (1918) - Herr mit vielen Namen *''

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'' (1918) - Száki János, festõmüvész *''Sergius Panin'' (1918) - Sergius Panin *''Hotel Imperial'' (1918) - Almássy fõhadnagy *''A szerzetes'' (1918) - Majthényi László gróf *''

A skorpió I. ''A skorpió I.'' is a 1918 Hungarian film directed by Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz (; born Manó Kaminer; from 1905 Mihály Kertész; ; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the mos ...

'' (1918) - Jean Morell *'' Magic Waltz'' (1918) - Niki hadnagy *''A Métely'' (1918) - George Dupont, a beteg *''

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'' (1919) - Robert de Chanceroy *''Sappho'' (1919) - Jean Gaussin *''

White Rose The White Rose (, ) was a Nonviolence, non-violent, intellectual German resistance to Nazism, resistance group in Nazi Germany which was led by five students and one professor at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, University of Munich ...

'' (1919) - Halil Patrona *''Kutató Sámuel'' (1919) - Sámuel *''A Legnagyobb bün'' (1919) *''A víg özvegy'' (1920) - Danilo *''Die sieben Todsünden'' (1920) *''Der Mann mit den drei Frauen'' (1920) *''A számüzött'' (1920) *'' The Asian Sun'' (1921) - Sekretär *''Aus den Tiefen der Großstadt'' (1921) *''Junge Mama'' (1921) - Prinz Egon *''Nachtbesuch in der Northernbank'' (1921) *'' The Red Peacock'' (1921) - Alfred Germont *''Serpolette'' (1922) - Péter herceg *''

The Blood The Blood may refer to: * The Blood of Christ * The Blood (band), an English punk rock band * The Blood (Seinfeld), an episode of the American sitcom Seinfeld * The Blood (album), a 2007 album by Kevin Max * The Blood (film), a 1922 German silen ...

'' (1922) - Dr. Robert Kargert, Advokat *'' Masters of the Sea'' (1922) - Captain Scott *'' A Vanished World'' (1922) - Matrose Vannoni *'' Sunken Worlds'' (1922) *''

Sodom and Gomorrah In the Abrahamic religions, Sodom and Gomorrah () were two cities destroyed by God for their wickedness. Sodom and Gomorrah are repeatedly invoked throughout the Hebrew Bible, Deuterocanonical texts, and the New Testament as symbols of sin, di ...

'' (1922) - Priester des Lyzeums - Engel des Herrn *'' Der Junge Medardus'' (1923) - Medardus Klähr *'' Die Lawine'' (1923) - George Vandeau *'' Namenlos'' (1923) - Jean Moeller *'' Poisoned Paradise: The Forbidden Story of Monte Carlo'' (1924) - Dr. Bergius *'' Triumph'' (1924) - William Silver *'' Changing Husbands'' (1924) - Oliver Evans *'' Feet of Clay'' (1924) - Bookkeeper *'' Worldly Goods'' (1924) - Clifford Ramsay *''L'uomo più allegro di Vienna'' (1925) - William * '' Ballettratten'' (1925) - Intendant Holberg *'' Dancing Mad'' (1925) - Edmund Chauvelin *''

The Last Days of Pompeii ''The Last Days of Pompeii'' is a novel written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. The novel was inspired by the painting '' The Last Day of Pompeii'' by the Russian painter Karl Briullov, which Bulwer-Lytton had seen in Milan. It culminates in ...

'' (1926) - Glauco *'' The Volga Boatman'' (1926) - Prince Dimitri *'' Silken Shackles'' (1926) - Tade Adrian * '' For Wives Only'' (1926) - Dr. Rittenhaus * '' Fighting Love'' (1927) - Gabriel Amari * '' The Little Adventuress'' (1927) - George La Fuente *'' The King of Kings'' (1927) - Pontius Pilate - Governor of Judea *'' The Angel of Broadway'' (1927) - Jerry Wilson *'' The Forbidden Woman'' (1927) - Colonel Gautier *''

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

'' (1927) - Amos Hart *'' Tenth Avenue'' (1928) - Bob Peters *'' Sinner's Parade'' (1928) - Al Morton *''

The Divine Lady ''The Divine Lady'' is a 1928 American pre-Code synchronized sound historical drama film. While the film has no audible dialog, it was released with a synchronized musical score with sound effects using the sound-on-disc Vitaphone process. It ...

'' (1929) - Horatio Nelson *'' Eternal Love'' (1929) - Lorenz Gruber *'' Kult ciala'' (1930) - Czeslaw *''

You'll Be in My Heart "You'll Be in My Heart" is a song by English drummer and singer Phil Collins from the 1999 Disney animated feature ''Tarzan''. It appeared on '' Tarzan: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack'' as well as various other Disney compilations. ...

'' (1930) *'' The Citadel of Warsaw'' (1930) *'' Doctors' Wives'' (1931) - Dr. Kane Ruyter *'' The Black Camel'' (1931) - Robert Fyfe *'' Men in Her Life'' (1931) - Count Ivan Karloff *'' Safe in Hell'' (1931) - General Emmanuel Jesus Maria Gomez *'' Doomed Battalion'' (1932) - Artur Franchini *'' The Rebel'' (1932) - Kapitän Leroy, Oberkommandant von St. Vigil *'' The Song You Gave Me'' (1933) - Karl Linden *'' Menace'' (1934) - Stephen Ronsart *''

Roberta Roberta is a feminine version of the given names Robert and Roberto. It is a Germanic name derived from the stems *hrod meaning "famous", "glorious", "godlike" and *berht meaning "bright", "shining", "light". People with the name *Roberta Achtenbe ...

'' (1935) - Prince Ladislaw *'' Mister Dynamite'' (1935) - Jarl Dvorjak *'' A Feather in Her Hat'' (1935) - Paul Anders *'' The Three-Cornered Hat'' (1935) - The Miller *''

Dancing Pirate ''Dancing Pirate'' is a 1936 American musical comedy film directed by Lloyd Corrigan. It is the List of three-strip Technicolor films, third film shot in the Technicolor#Three strip Technicolor, three strip Technicolor process and the first music ...

'' (1936) - Don Balthazar *''

The Plainsman ''The Plainsman'' is a 1936 American Western film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Gary Cooper and Jean Arthur. The film presents a highly fictionalized account of the adventures and relationships between Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity J ...

'' (1936) - Painted Horse *'' Trouble in Morocco'' (1937) - Kamaroff *'' Men in Exile'' (1937) - Colonel Emanuel Gomez *'' Big City'' (1937) - Paul Roya *''

King of the Newsboys ''King of the Newsboys'' is a 1938 American drama film directed by Bernard Vorhaus. Plot Jerry Flynn's girlfriend leaves him for a gangster with power and money, in order to show her that she made a mistake, Jerry starts his newspaper distrib ...

'' (1938) - Wire Arno *''

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'' (1938) - Victor Hugo *''

Submarine Patrol ''Submarine Patrol'' is a 1938 film directed by John Ford. The screenplay was by Rian James, Darrell Ware, and Jack Yellen. The film starred Richard Greene, Nancy Kelly and Preston Foster. The supporting cast features George Bancroft, Eli ...

'' (1938) - Vanzano - Italian Naval Chaplain *''

The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle ''The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle'' is a 1939 American biographical musical comedy film directed by H.C. Potter. The film stars Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edna May Oliver, and Walter Brennan. The film is based on the stories ''My Husband' ...

'' (1939) - Grand Duke *'' Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation'' (1939) - Paul Borodoff *''

Disputed Passage ''Disputed Passage'' is a 1939 American drama war film directed by Frank Borzage and starring Dorothy Lamour, Akim Tamiroff, John Howard, Judith Barrett and William Collier Sr. Set in war-torn China, the film was described by ''The New York Ti ...

'' (1939) - Dr. LaFerriere *'' Everything Happens at Night'' (1939) - Cavas *'' The Man from Dakota'' (1940) - Colonel Kuragen (uncredited) *'' Strange Cargo'' (1940) - Fisherman *'' The Sea Hawk'' (1940) - General Aguirre *'' Federal Fugitives'' (1941) - Otto Lieberman aka Dr. Frederic Haskell *''

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'' (1941) - Hendrick Van Deuren *''

Reap the Wild Wind ''Reap the Wild Wind'' is a 1942 American adventure film produced and directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Ray Milland, John Wayne, and Paulette Goddard, with a supporting cast featuring Raymond Massey, Robert Preston (actor), Robert Pres ...

'' (1942) - Lubbock *''

My Favorite Blonde ''My Favorite Blonde'' is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Sidney Lanfield and starring Bob Hope and Madeleine Carroll. Based on a story by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama, the film is about a vaudeville performer who gets mixed up with Br ...

'' (1942) - Miller *'' They Raid By Night'' (1942) - Colonel Otto von Ritter *''

For Whom the Bell Tolls ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'' is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American volunteer attached to a Republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As a dynamiter, he is assigned ...

'' (1943) - Primitivo *''

Undercover A cover in foreign, military or police human intelligence or counterintelligence is the ostensible identity and role or position in an infiltrated organization assumed by a covert agent during a covert operation. Official cover In espionage, a ...

'' (1943) - Enemy Security Officer (uncredited) *'' The Hitler Gang'' (1944) - Rudolph Hess *''

The Story of Dr. Wassell ''The Story of Dr. Wassell'' is a 1944 American World War II film set in the Dutch East Indies, directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and starring Gary Cooper, Laraine Day, Signe Hasso and Dennis O'Keefe. The film was based on a book of the same name by ...

'' (1944) - Captain of the 'Janssen' (uncredited) *'' Scotland Yard Investigator'' (1945) - Jules *'' Dakota'' (1945) - Frenchman (uncredited) *''

Unconquered Unconquered or The Unconquered may refer to: Films * ''Unconquered'' (1917 film), a drama film by Frank Reicher * ''Unconquered'' (1947 film), an adventure film by Cecil B. DeMille * ''The Unconquered'' (documentary) or ''Helen Keller in Her Sto ...

'' (1947) - Captain Simeon Ecuyer *''

Where There's Life ''Where There's Life'' is a 1947 American thriller comedy film directed by Sidney Lanfield.''Harrison's Reports'' film review; October 11, 1947, page 162. The film's title derives from a line in ''Don Quixote'' ("Where there's life, there's hope" ...

'' (1947) - Finance Minister Zavitch *'' Pirates of Monterey'' (1947) - Captain Cordova *'' Samson and Delilah'' (1949) - Lord of Ashdod *''

The Man Who Turned to Stone ''The Man Who Turned to Stone'' (a.k.a. ''The Petrified Man'') is a 1957 American black-and-white horror film, horror science fiction film directed by László Kardos and starring Victor Jory, Ann Doran and Charlotte Austin. The screenplay was wr ...

'' (1957) - Dr. Myer *''

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...

'' (1958) (Season 3 Episode 22: "The Return of the Hero") - Count d'Auberge *'' The Atomic Submarine'' (1959) - Dr. Clifford Kent (final film role)

References

External links

* * * *
Photographs and literature
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varconi, Victor 1891 births 1976 deaths People from Kisvárda Hungarian male silent film actors 20th-century Hungarian male actors American male film actors American male silent film actors American male television actors Hungarian emigrants to the United States Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States 20th-century American male actors Burials at Calvary Cemetery (Los Angeles)