Vilma Bánky (January 9 1898 – March 18 1991) was a
HungarianHungarians are an ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. There are around 10 million Hungarians in Hungary . Hungarians were the main inhabitants of the Kingdom of Hungary that existed through most of the second millennium...
-born
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
silent filmA silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made practical in the late 1920s with...
actress, although the early part of her acting career began in
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...
, spreading to
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
, and
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
.
She was born
Vilma Koncsics to János Koncsics and Katalin Ulbert in
NagydorogNagydorog is a village in Tolna county, Hungary.- External links :*...
,
Austria-HungaryAustria–Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the k.u.k. Monarchy, or Dual State, was a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe...
. Her father was a bureau chief under
Franz JosephFranz Joseph I , reigned as Emperor of Austria and King of Bohemia from 1848 until 1916 and as King of Hungary and Crotia from 1848 until 1916 .-Early life:Franz Joseph was born in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the oldest son of...
's Austro-Hungarian Empire. Shortly after she was born, her father was transferred to Budapest, and the family relocated.
Vilma Bánky (January 9 1898 – March 18 1991) was a
HungarianHungarians are an ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. There are around 10 million Hungarians in Hungary . Hungarians were the main inhabitants of the Kingdom of Hungary that existed through most of the second millennium...
-born
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
silent filmA silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially spoken dialogue. The idea of combining motion pictures with recorded sound is nearly as old as film itself, but because of the technical challenges involved, synchronized dialogue was only made practical in the late 1920s with...
actress, although the early part of her acting career began in
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...
, spreading to
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
,
AustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.3 million people in Central Europe. It borders both Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west...
, and
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
.
Early life
She was born
Vilma Koncsics to János Koncsics and Katalin Ulbert in
NagydorogNagydorog is a village in Tolna county, Hungary.- External links :*...
,
Austria-HungaryAustria–Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the k.u.k. Monarchy, or Dual State, was a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe...
. Her father was a bureau chief under
Franz JosephFranz Joseph I , reigned as Emperor of Austria and King of Bohemia from 1848 until 1916 and as King of Hungary and Crotia from 1848 until 1916 .-Early life:Franz Joseph was born in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the oldest son of...
's Austro-Hungarian Empire. Shortly after she was born, her father was transferred to Budapest, and the family relocated. Vilma had two other siblings - an older brother, Gyula (who would later go on to work in Berlin as a writer and cinematographer), and a younger sister, Gisella. After graduation from secondary (high) school, Vilma took courses to work as a stenographer, but was offered a role in a film. Acting had been her interest since she was a young girl.
Vilma's first appearance was in the lost film
Im Letzten Augenblick, directed by Carl Boese in Germany in 1919. On a trip to
BudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center and is considered an important hub in Central Europe. In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants, down from a mid-1980s...
in 1925, Hollywood
film producerA film producer or movie producer is someone who creates the scenes and conditions for making movies. The producer initiates, co-ordinates, supervises and controls matters such as fund-raising, hiring key personnel and arranging for distributors...
Samuel GoldwynSamuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
discovered the violet-eyed, blonde beauty and signed her to a contract. Both her mother and father were vehemently against Vilma's acting career as was her fiancé. Regardless of their feelings on the subject, she left for the United States in March 1925, arriving to a great deal of fanfare.
Career
She was hailed as "The Hungarian Rhapsody" and was an immediate hit with American audiences.
The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
remarked in its review of her first American film,
The Dark Angel, that she "is a young person of rare beauty...so exquisite that one is not in the least surprised that she is never forgotten by Hillary Trent" (the movie's leading male character who decides to allow his family and fiancee to believe him dead rather than place what he perceives as the burden on them of a life caring for a blinded war veteran). She appeared opposite silent greats
Rudolph ValentinoRudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, sex symbol, and early pop icon. Known as the "Latin Lover", he was one of the most popular stars of the 1920s, and one of the most recognized stars from the silent film era. He is best known for his work in The Sheik and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse...
in
The EagleThe Eagle is a 1925 silent movie directed by Clarence Brown and starring Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Bánky, Louise Dresser and James A. Marcus...
(1925) and
The Son of the Sheik (1926) and
Ronald ColmanRonald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...
in a series of fantastic love stories, including
The Dark Angel and
The Winning of Barbara WorthThe Winning of Barbara Worth is a western film, released by United Artists in 1926, and starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky, and Gary Cooper . The film is based on the novel of the same name by Harold Bell Wright and was filmed in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.-Cast:* Ronald Colman * Vilma Bánky *...
. Prior to Valentino's death, he and Bánky were close friends, and although affairs were rumored throughout Hollywood, they were just that - rumors. It is commonly believed that her thick Hungarian accent cut her career short with the advent of sound; however, she began losing interest in films and wanted to settle down with
Rod La RocqueRod La Rocque was an American actor.He was born Rodrique la Rocque de la Rour in Chicago, Illinois of French and Irish descent. He began appearing in stock theater at the age of seven and eventually ended up at the Essanay Studios in Chicago where he found steady work until the studios closed...
and simply be his wife. By 1928, she had begun announcing her intention to retire in a few years.
Of her twenty four films, eight exist in their entirety (
Hotel Potemkin,
Der Zirkuskönig [aka
The King of the Circus with
Max LinderMax Linder was an influential French pioneer of silent film.-Birth and early career:Born Gabriel-Maximilien Leuvielle in Saint-Loubès, Gironde, France to a Jewish wine growing family, he grew up with a passion for the theater and as a young man joined a theater troupe touring the country...
],
The Son of the Sheik,
The EagleThe Eagle is a 1925 silent movie directed by Clarence Brown and starring Rudolph Valentino, Vilma Bánky, Louise Dresser and James A. Marcus...
,
The Winning of Barbara WorthThe Winning of Barbara Worth is a western film, released by United Artists in 1926, and starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky, and Gary Cooper . The film is based on the novel of the same name by Harold Bell Wright and was filmed in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.-Cast:* Ronald Colman * Vilma Bánky *...
,
The Night of Love,
A Lady to Love, and
The Rebel), and three exist in fragments (
Tavaszi szerelem in scattered bits, the first five reels of
The Magic Flame, and an incomplete copy of
Two Lovers).
Marriage
She married actor
Rod La RocqueRod La Rocque was an American actor.He was born Rodrique la Rocque de la Rour in Chicago, Illinois of French and Irish descent. He began appearing in stock theater at the age of seven and eventually ended up at the Essanay Studios in Chicago where he found steady work until the studios closed...
on June 26
1927, and was with him until his death on October 15 1969. They had no children.
Post-acting career
Her post Hollywood years were spent selling
real estateReal estate is a legal term that encompasses land along with anything permanently affixed to the land, such as buildings, specifically property that is fixed in location.
"Real estate" The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin...
with her husband and playing
golfGolf is a precision club-and-ball sport, in which competing players , using many types of clubs, attempt to hit balls into each hole on a golf course while employing the fewest number of strokes. Golf is one of the few ball games that does not require a standardized playing area...
, her favorite sport. In 1981, Vilma established an educational fund called the
Banky - La Rocque Foundation, which is still in operation.
Death
Vilma Bánky died on March 18 1991, of cardiopulmonary failure at the age of 93, but notice of her death was not made public until the following year. Her ashes were scattered at sea where her husband's had been.
Sources
- Unterburger, Amy L., International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Vol. 3. 3rd ed. Detroit: St. James Press, c1997. ISBN 1-55862-302-7.
External links