Paul Lukas
| Paul Lukas | |
|---|---|
Lukas in 1950
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| Born |
Pál Lukács May 26, 1894 Budapest, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | August 15, 1971 (aged 77) Tangier, Morocco |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1916–70 |
| Spouse(s) | Gizella "Daisy" Benes (1927–1962; her death) Annette M. Driesens (1963–1971; his death) |
| Parent(s) | Mária Zilahy Janos Lukacs |
Paul Lukas (May 26, 1894 – August 15, 1971) was a Hungarian actor. He won the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in the film Watch on the Rhine (1943).
Lukas was born Pál Lukács in Budapest into a Jewish family, the son of Adolf Munkácsi and Mária Schneckendorf. He was later adopted by Mária (née Zilahy) and János Lukács, an advertising executive.
Lukas made his stage debut in Budapest in 1916 and his film debut in 1917. At first, he played elegant, smooth womanizers, but increasingly he became typecast as a villain. He had a successful stage and film career in Hungary, Germany, and Austria, where he worked with Max Reinhardt. He arrived in Hollywood in 1927 and became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1937.
He was busy in the 1930s, appearing in such films as the melodrama Rockabye, the crime caper Grumpy, Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes, the comedy Ladies in Love, and the drama Dodsworth. He followed William Powell and Basil Rathbone portraying the series detective Philo Vance, a cosmopolitan New Yorker, once in The Casino Murder Case (1935).
His major film success came in Watch on the Rhine (1943), where he played a man working against the Nazis, a role he originated in the Broadway premiere of the play of the same name in 1941. His portrayal of Kurt Mueller, a German émigré with an American wife, played by Bette Davis, was universally lauded by critics. Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times, wrote, "As the enemy of fascism, Mr. Lukas' haggard, loving, resourceful determination becomes heroic by virtue of his sincerity and his superior abilities as an actor." He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role, winning out over luminary efforts as Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca, Gary Cooper in For Whom the Bell Tolls, Walter Pidgeon in Madame Curie, and Mickey Rooney in The Human Comedy. He also received the New York Film Critics Award for his performance.
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