Pál Jávor (actor)

Pál Jávor (21 January 1902, Arad – 14 August 1959, Budapest) was one of the best known Hungarian actors, and the country's first male movie star.

Pál Jávor (born Pál Jermann) was born 31 January 1902 in Arad, as the lovechild of Pál Jermann, a 53-year-old cashier and Katalin Spannenberg, a 17-year-old servant-maiden. His parents, who only married after his birth, had 3 children to care for, which made life hard for the family, who moved often. His mother later opened a grocery store in Arad's Kossuth street. Jávor was a student in a state operated gymnasium, but often played truant to see movies in the town's two theatres. From very early on, he wanted to break away from his homeland, and from the simple life his mother wished for him. During World War I, he ran away to serve on the front as a courier. He was caught and transported back months later by military police. In 1918, after working as a junior reporter for the Aradi Hírlap, he set out to emigrate to Denmark, so he could act in the Danish movies he idolized. As the state offered free train tickets to anyone who wished to leave the country, he willingly chose self-banishent from Romania, but his ticket was revoked in Budapest.

Jávor, now seeking to gain fame in the Hungarian capital, went to study in the Academy of Drama. Living in great poverty, and expelled from the Academy for unknown reasons, he earned his degree in the Actor's Guild school, in 1922. Jávor acted in various theatres in Budapest, Székesfehérvár and several other small towns, but his dissolute lifestyle made him hard to work with. After being banned from the Guild in 1926, he acted in small roles around the country, and later in Budapest, helped by mentors from the theatrical world, and slowly waking the interest of the critics. He was a member of the Vígszínház between 1930–35, and the National Theatre between 1935-1944.

The opportunity to appear in movies first came in 1929, when he starred in Csak egy kislány van a világon, what was to be the last Hungarian silent film. Ironically, this was also the first one to feature voice, as technicians got hold of the technology by the last days of shooting. This allowed Jávor to sing a song in one of the scenes, which, combined with the charm and temperament that became his later trademark, secured him firm employment in the country's waking film industry. He took the lead role in the first Hungarian movie with sound, Kék Bálvány, and a smaller one in the second, Hyppolit, a lakáj, which became the first real hit among the public. Jávor quickly became an idol of the 30s, appearing in numerous movies, but also remained popular on stage. The sudden fame weighed heavily on the young actor, leading to him returning to alcohol, and to frequent clashes with co-workers and the then-powerful newspaper owners, resulting in numerous scandals. His life was eased when he met and, in 1934, married the Jewish Olga Landesmann, a widow with two children, who provided him with a welcoming home and family.

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