József Sándor Éles (15 June 1936 – 10 September 2002), sometimes credited simply as Sándor Éles, was a Hungarian actor. He started his career in theatre, but was best known latterly for TV and film work.

Early life

Born in Tatabánya, 60 km from

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 ...

, Éles was

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

ed during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and emigrated to Britain during the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 4 November 1956; ), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was an attempted countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the policies caused by ...

Career

He began his acting career on stage, and went on to appear in a host of television roles, the majority on ITV. These included the ITC series '' The Avengers'', ''

Danger Man ''Danger Man'' (retitled ''Secret Agent'' in the United States for the revived series, and ''Destination Danger'' and ''John Drake'' in other overseas markets) is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again ...

'', '' The Baron'', '' The Saint'', ''

Timeslip ''Timeslip'' is a British children's television series, children's science fiction television series made by Associated TeleVision, ATV for the ITV (TV network), ITV network, and broadcast in 1970 and 1971. It was first shown on Monday evenings ...

'' and '' Jason King''. He appeared as a storyteller on the BBC children's programme ''

Jackanory ''Jackanory'' was a BBC children's television series which was originally broadcast between 1965 and 1996. It was designed to stimulate an interest in Reading (activity), reading. The programme was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, and the ...

'' in ten episodes between 1970 and 1972, and he also made appearances in '' The Avengers'', '' The Professionals'', '' Strange Report'' and '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. Often cast in generic 'foreigner' roles (diplomats, waiters, desk clerks), he most often played Frenchmen. Éles became a British citizen on 10 January 1977. One of his most memorable film roles was as the mysterious Paul in the

Brian Clemens Brian Horace Clemens (30 July 1931 – 10 January 2015) was an English screenwriter and television producer. He worked on the British TV series '' The Avengers'' and created '' The New Avengers'' and '' The Professionals''. Early life Clemen ...

thriller '' And Soon the Darkness'' (1970). He also had major roles in the

Hammer Horror Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

movies '' Countess Dracula'' (1971) and '' The Evil of Frankenstein'' (1964) as well as appearing for four years in the 1980s as the scheming restaurant manager, Paul Ross, in the British TV

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

'' Crossroads''. In 1996, Éles returned to his cultural roots, appearing as the narrator in the Bartók

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

, ''

Bluebeard's Castle ''Duke Bluebeard's Castle'' (, literally ''The Blue-Bearded Duke's Castle'') is a one-act Symbolism (movement), Symbolist opera by composer Béla Bartók to a Hungarian libretto by his friend and poet Béla Balázs. Based on the French folk legen ...

''. The concert performances, given by the

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

under

Bernard Haitink Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (; 4 March 1929 – 21 October 2021) was a Dutch conductor and violinist. He was the principal conductor of several international orchestras, beginning with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1961. He moved to Lond ...

, were recorded for CD.

Death

Éles died in

Kilburn, London Kilburn is an area in North West London, North West London, in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Brent, Brent and the City of Westminster. Kilburn High Road railway station lies 3.5 miles (5.6 km) n ...

on 10 September 2002, aged 66, apparently from a heart attack.''Obituaries in the Performing Arts''
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Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eles, Sandor 1936 births 2002 deaths British male film actors British male television actors British male stage actors Hungarian male film actors Hungarian emigrants to England Male actors from Budapest Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom