Hanna Hertelendy
Encyclopedia
Hanna Hertelendy aka Hanna Landy (1919-2008) was an Hungarian-American
film and television actress.
She was born as Ilona Zimka near Budapest
on October 5, 1919, and married Istvan Hertelendy in 1940. She became a successful stage actress in Budapest, essaying such roles as Ophelia (Hamlet
), Irina (Chekhov's Three Sisters
), in Molnar's
Liliom
and in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
.
Hanna Hertelendy starred in several Hungarian movies at the end of World War II
. In 1945 she married American consul Ernst Polutnik, who helped many Hungarians to obtain visas and passage to the United States. She came to New York City
and, in 1947, became a life-long member of the Actors Studio.
and was featured in many television dramas in the 1950s under her American stage name, Hanna Landy, including one of the first General Electric Theaters (1954), the Kraft Television Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, the Alcoa Hour, Ford Television Theatre, et al.
She continued to act on television in such series as Peter Gunn
, Perry Mason
, Barnaby Jones
, Ironside
, Marcus Welby, M.D.
, The Fugitive
, Dr. Kildare
, and Columbo. She changed her name back to Hanna Hertelendy in the mid-1970s and acted in films and television until the 1990s, including featured roles on Matlock
, Hill Street Blues
, Remington Steele
, Family Ties
, St. Elsewhere
, Magnum, P.I.
, and Cannon
.
Notable films in which she appeared include Rosemary’s Baby, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Girl from Petrovka
, Two-Minute Warning
, Being There
and Christmas Lilies of the Field
.
and with the North Hollywood-based Theater West.
, whom she married on July 27, 1949. Walker died at the age of 32 in 1951 reportedly due to an allergic reaction to a drug administered by his psychiatrist. Hertelendy was also married three times; her last husband was the Hungarian-American actor Stephen Bekassy.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film and television actress.
She was born as Ilona Zimka near Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
on October 5, 1919, and married Istvan Hertelendy in 1940. She became a successful stage actress in Budapest, essaying such roles as Ophelia (Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
), Irina (Chekhov's Three Sisters
Three Sisters (play)
Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...
), in Molnar's
Liliom
Liliom
Liliom is a 1909 play by the Hungarian playwright Ferenc Molnár. It was very famous in its own right during the early to mid-20th century, but is best known today as the basis for the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Carousel.- Plot :...
and in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls
An Inspector Calls is a play written by English dramatist J. B. Priestley, first performed in 1945 in the Soviet Union and 1946 in the UK. It is considered to be one of Priestley's best known works for the stage and one of the classics of mid-20th century English theatre...
.
Hanna Hertelendy starred in several Hungarian movies at the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In 1945 she married American consul Ernst Polutnik, who helped many Hungarians to obtain visas and passage to the United States. She came to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and, in 1947, became a life-long member of the Actors Studio.
Career
She worked for Radio Free EuropeRadio Free Europe
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is a broadcaster funded by the U.S. Congress that provides news, information, and analysis to countries in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East "where the free flow of information is either banned by government authorities or not fully developed"...
and was featured in many television dramas in the 1950s under her American stage name, Hanna Landy, including one of the first General Electric Theaters (1954), the Kraft Television Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, the Alcoa Hour, Ford Television Theatre, et al.
She continued to act on television in such series as Peter Gunn
Peter Gunn
Peter Gunn is an American private eye television series which aired on the NBC and later ABC television networks from 1958 to 1961. The show's creator was Blake Edwards...
, Perry Mason
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, a defense attorney who was the main character in works of detective fiction authored by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason was featured in more than 80 novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial...
, Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones
Barnaby Jones is a television detective series starring Buddy Ebsen and Lee Meriwether as father- and daughter-in-law who run a private detective firm in Los Angeles. A spin-off from Cannon, the show ran on CBS from January 28, 1973 to April 3, 1980, beginning as a midseason replacement...
, Ironside
Ironside (TV series)
Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the...
, Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Marcus Welby, M.D. is an American medical drama television program that aired on ABC from September 23, 1969, to July 29, 1976. It starred Robert Young as a family practitioner with a kind bedside manner, and was produced by David Victor and David J. O'Connell...
, The Fugitive
The Fugitive (TV series)
The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
, Dr. Kildare
Dr. Kildare
Dr. James Kildare is a fictional character, the primary character in a series of American theatrical films in the late 1930s and early 1940s, an early 1950s radio series, a 1960s television series of the same name and a comic book based on the TV show, and a short-lived 1970s television series...
, and Columbo. She changed her name back to Hanna Hertelendy in the mid-1970s and acted in films and television until the 1990s, including featured roles on Matlock
Matlock (TV series)
Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar...
, Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
, Remington Steele
Remington Steele
Remington Steele is an American television series, co-created by Robert Butler and Michael Gleason. The series, starring Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan, was produced by MTM Enterprises and first broadcast on the NBC network from 1982 to 1987. The series blended the genres of romantic...
, Family Ties
Family Ties
Family Ties is an American sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, from 1982 to 1989. The sitcom reflected the move in the United States from the cultural liberalism of the 1960s and 1970s to the conservatism of the 1980s. This was particularly expressed through the relationship between young...
, St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series is set at fictional St. Eligius, a decaying urban teaching hospital in Boston's South End neighborhood...
, Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I.
Magnum, P.I. is an American television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from 1980 to 1988 in first-run broadcast on the American CBS television network....
, and Cannon
Cannon (TV series)
Cannon is a CBS detective television series produced by Quinn Martin which aired from March 26, 1971 to March 3, 1976.The primary protagonist was the title character, Frank Cannon, played by William Conrad....
.
Notable films in which she appeared include Rosemary’s Baby, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Girl from Petrovka
The Girl from Petrovka
The Girl from Petrovka is a 1974 feature film starring Goldie Hawn and Hal Holbrook, based on the novel by George Feifer.-Cast:* Goldie Hawn as Oktyabrina* Hal Holbrook as Joe* Anthony Hopkins as Kostya* Grégoire Aslan as Minister...
, Two-Minute Warning
Two-Minute Warning
Two-Minute Warning is a 1976 suspense and action film directed by Larry Peerce and starring Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, Martin Balsam, Beau Bridges, Jack Klugman, Gena Rowlands, and David Janssen. It was based on the novel of the same name written by George La Fountaine, Sr...
, Being There
Being There
Being There is a 1979 American comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby. Adapted from the 1971 novella written by Jerzy Kosinski, the screenplay was coauthored by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A...
and Christmas Lilies of the Field
Christmas Lilies of the Field
Christmas Lilies of the Field is a 1979 made-for-TV sequel to the classic film Lilies of the Field. In this sequel, directed by Ralph Nelson, Homer Smith returns to the Arizona desert where he had built the chapel for the nuns. This time Smith is played by Billy Dee Williams instead of Sidney Poitier...
.
Affiliations
She was active for more than 40 years with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and SciencesAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
and with the North Hollywood-based Theater West.
Family
Hanna Hertelendy was the third and last wife of film star Robert WalkerRobert Walker
-Creative arts:*Robert Walker , American actor*Robert Walker , English portrait painter*Rob Walker , Australian poet*Robert Joseph Walker , Australian Aboriginal poet*Robert W...
, whom she married on July 27, 1949. Walker died at the age of 32 in 1951 reportedly due to an allergic reaction to a drug administered by his psychiatrist. Hertelendy was also married three times; her last husband was the Hungarian-American actor Stephen Bekassy.