Karády, Katalin (1910-1990)

Karády, Katalin

ACTOR (HUNGARY)

BORN 8 Oct 1910, Budapest - DIED 8 Feb 1990, New York City, New York
BIRTH NAME Kanczler, Katalin
GRAVE LOCATION Budapest: Farkasrét cemetery (22/1-1-8)

Katalin Karády was born Katalin Kanczler and grew up in poor circumstances. A charity insitution enabled her to spend several years in Switzerland and the Netherlands and back home she received an education in the field of marketing.

She married customs official Reszo Varga in 1931 after her father had died. He was 30 years her senior and a divorce followed soon. She was a beautiful girl and she took acting lessons at Ilona Aczél's acting school. During the 1930s she appeared in theatres in Budapest. Her first movie part in Halálos Tavasz ("Deadly Spring", 1939) gave her instant fame. There was a lot of gossip around her person and she had an affair with István Ujszászy, the chief of the secret service.

After the Germans invaded Hungary her songs were banned from the radio and her new movie "Machita" (1944) was banned as well. In 1944 she was imprisoned for three months because she was suspected of spying for the enemy. She was tortured during her imprisonment before she was recued by friends of Ujszászy. Afterwards she protected several families and children.

In 1945 she received word that Ujszászy had died and she broke down and was in bed for nine months. The message turned out to be false, Ujszászy was still alive at that time. After the war she returned to the theatre until 1948, but the communists made life difficult for her and in from 1949 she was only allowed to work at small theatres. In 1951 she left Hungary for Salzburg and moved to Brussels and Sao Paolo (1953) where she had a fashion shop.

In 1968 she was allowed to enter the USA and in New York she opened a hat salon. When she was invited to vosit Hungary in 1980 to celebrate her 70th birthday she only sent a hat. After she died in New York her body was returned to Hungary. After a service at the St. Stephens Basilica it was buried at the Farkasréti Cemetery.

Images

The grave of Katalin Karády at the Farkasrét cemetery, Budapest.
Picture by Androom (23 Aug 2002)