Franciska Gaal (born Franciska Silberspitz, 1 February 1903[4] – 13 August 1972) was a Hungarian cabaret artist and film actress of Jewish heritage. Gaal starred in a popular series of European romantic comedies during the 1930s. After attracting interest in Hollywood she moved there and made three films.
Franciska Gaal | |
|---|---|
 Franciska Gaal | |
| Born | 1 February 1903 |
| Died | 13 August 1972 (aged 69)[1] New York City, United States |
| Other names | Szidónia Silberspitz, Fanny Zilverstitch |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1921–1946 (film) |
| Spouse(s) | Sándor Lestyán (1922–?)[2] Francis Dajkovich (1934–1965) (his death)[3] |
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Early years
editBorn in Budapest, Gaal was the last of the 13 children of a Jewish family. She studied at the Stage Academy in Budapest in 1919, and by 1920, she appeared in theaters in this city.[5]
Early career
editGaal debuted in film in Máté gazda és a törpék (1919).[5] She was groomed by Joe Pasternak as a singer to become a popular stage and cabaret performer in Central Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. She made her first film appearances in some Hungarian silent films of the early 1920s, but her cinema career didn't ignite until the arrival of sound film.
Hollywood
editAfter appearing in several films made in Hungary, Germany and Austria, two of which were directed by Henry Koster, she came to Hollywood to star in Cecil B. De Mille's epic adventure film The Buccaneer (1938). She followed this with the comedy The Girl Downstairs (also 1938) with Franchot Tone, a remake of her Austrian success Catherine the Last. In 1939, Gaal co-starred with Bing Crosby in the musical Paris Honeymoon.[6]
Later life
editShe returned to Hungary in 1940[6] for unknown reasons[7][8] and remained there for the duration of World War II.
In 1946, she began work on the Soviet-backed Renee XIV with Johannes Heesters and Theo Lingen, but filming was halted during production and never was completed. She returned to the United States in 1947 with her husband Francis de Dajkovich (died in 1965), a Budapest-born attorney,[4] but her return attracted little interest in Hollywood.[9] In 1951, she replaced Eva Gabor in The Happy Time on Broadway.
Death
editGaal died of thrombosis[5] in New York City.
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | A bostonville-i kaland | ||
| 1921 | New-York express kábel | Reporter | |
| A cornevillei harangok | Serpolette, cselédlány | ||
| 1932 | Paprika | Ilona von Takacs | |
| 1933 | Greetings and Kisses, Veronika | Veronika | |
| Scandal in Budapest | Eva Balogh | ||
| Romance in Budapest | Eva Balogh | ||
| 1934 | A Precocious Girl | Lucie Carell, nicknamed Csibi | |
| Spring Parade | Marika | ||
| Peter | 17-year old Eva | ||
| 1935 | Little Mother | Marie Bonnard | |
| 1936 | Catherine the Last | Katharina, Küchenmädchen | |
| Fräulein Lilli | Fräulein Lilli | ||
| 1938 | The Buccaneer | Gretchen | |
| The Girl Downstairs | Katerina Linz | ||
| 1939 | Paris Honeymoon | Manya | |
| 1946 | Renee XIV | uncompleted |
References
edit- ^ "Színház - Gaál Franciska színésznő". Archivum.mtva.hu. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ [1] [dead link]
- ^ "Francis Dajkovich". Myheritage.com. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ a b "May 1947 Passenger list listing her age 44". Ancestry.com.
- ^ a b c Bock, Hans-Michael; Bergfelder, Tim (2009). The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema. Berghahn Books. p. 144. ISBN 9780857455659. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ a b Waldman, Harry; Slide, Anthony (1996). Hollywood and the Foreign Touch: A Dictionary of Foreign Filmmakers and Their Films from America, 1910-1995. Scarecrow Press. pp. 113–114. ISBN 9780810831926. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ Hales, Barbara; Weinstein, Valerie (2020). Rethinking Jewishness in Weimar Cinema. Berghahn Books, Incorporated. p. 201. ISBN 9781789208733.
- ^ Bock, Hans-Michael, ed. (2009). The Concise Cinegraph: Encyclopaedia of German Cinema. Berghahn Books. p. 144. ISBN 9781571816559.
- ^ Bock & Bergfelder, p. 144.
Bibliography
edit- Bock, Hans-Michael & Bergfelder, Tim. The Concise CineGraph. Encyclopedia of German Cinema. Berghahn Books, 2009.