Iván Darvas

Early life

Born as Szilárd Darvas, his father was János Darvas, and his mother, Antonina Evdokimova, was Russian. He spent his childhood in Prague, where his father worked as a journalist. He went to a German-language school, so he spoke Hungarian, Russian and German well. At home they spoke Hungarian, which he thought, was a secret language they understood only. He came to Hungary in 1939. In 1945 he worked as a military interpreter for the soviet military. In 1946 Darvas was employed in Actors' Theatre (Művész Szinház) by Zoltán Várkonyi, and he worked there until 1949.

Career

Darvas changed his given name, Szilard to Ivan in the Actors' Theatre, to differentiate himself from Szilard Darvas, a well known poet and comedian of the era. He played in the Madach Theatre between 1949 and 1956. In the revolution of 1956 he organized a revolutionary committee to free his brother from prison. For this, when the revolution was crushed he was sentenced to 22 months in prison. From 1959 to 1963 he had to worked as an unskilled laborer. In 1963 Darvas was allowed to play on stage again. From 1963 he spent some time in the Miskolc National Theatre and the Attila Jozsef Theatre. In 1965 he offered a contract in Vigszinhaz by Zoltán Várkonyi and he stayed there until 1989. In 1990 Darvas became a freelance actor. In 1972 he married Irén Morocza; they had two children. He was also a member of parliament from 1990 to 1994, in the Free Liberals' Alliance.

He carefully recreated stage characters' inner worlds and struggles. He used subtle irony and intellectual wit. He acted in numerous significant Hungarian films. One of his best appearances was in the movie Liliomfi in 1954.

The international audience could see him in these movies: Drama of the Lark (1963), Love (1971), Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999), Jakob the Liar (1999), Beresina, or the Last Days of Switzerland (1999).

Awards

Main roles