Vilma Bánky
Encyclopedia
Vilma Bánky was a Hungarian-born American silent film
actress, although the early part of her acting career began in Budapest
, spreading to France
, Austria
, and Germany
. Banky was best known for her roles in The Eagle and The Son of the Sheik with Rudolph Valentino
and several romantic teamings with Ronald Colman
.
, Austria-Hungary
. Her father was a bureau chief under Franz Joseph
's Austro-Hungarian Empire. Shortly after her birth, her father was transferred to Budapest
, and the family relocated.
She had two siblings – an older brother, Gyula (who would later go on to work in Berlin as a writer and cinematographer), and a younger sister, Gisella. After graduation from secondary school
, Bánky took courses to work as a stenographer, but was offered a role in a film. Acting had been her interest since she was a young girl.
Her first film appearance was in the now lost film, Im Letzten Augenblick, directed by Carl Boese
in Germany in 1919. On a trip to Budapest
in 1925, Hollywood film producer
Samuel Goldwyn
discovered and signed her to a contract. Both her mother and father were vehemently against Bánky's acting career as was her fiancé; nonetheless she left for the United States in March 1925, arriving to a great deal of fanfare.
remarked in its review of her first American film, The Dark Angel
, that she "is a young person of rare beauty ... so exquisite that one is not in the least surprised that she is never forgotten by Hillary Trent" (the movie's leading male character who decides to allow his family and fiancee to believe him dead rather than place what he perceives as the burden on them of a life caring for a blinded war veteran).
She appeared opposite silent great Rudolph Valentino
in The Eagle (1925) and The Son of the Sheik (1926) It is said that Valentino was fascinated by Vilma, and it was he who chose her as the first lady in the films and Ronald Colman
in a series of love stories, including The Dark Angel and The Winning of Barbara Worth
. It is commonly believed that her thick Hungarian accent cut her career short with the advent of sound; however, she began losing interest in films and wanted to settle down with Rod La Rocque
and simply be his wife. By 1928, she had begun announcing her intention to retire in a few years.
Of her twenty four films, eight exist in their entirety (Hotel Potemkin, Der Zirkuskönig [aka The King of the Circus with Max Linder
], The Son of the Sheik, The Eagle, The Winning of Barbara Worth, The Night of Love, A Lady to Love, and The Rebel), and three exist in fragments (Tavaszi szerelem in scattered bits, the first five reels of The Magic Flame
, and an incomplete copy of Two Lovers).
with her husband and playing golf
, her favorite sport. In 1981, Bánky established an educational fund called the Banky – La Rocque Foundation, which is still in operation.
in 1927; they remained married until his death in 1969. They had no children.
Vilma Bánky died on March 18, 1991, from cardiopulmonary failure, aged 90, but notice of her death was not made public until the following year. Her ashes were scattered at sea where her husband's had been.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Vilma Bánky has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
located at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
actress, although the early part of her acting career began in 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...
, spreading to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. Banky was best known for her roles in The Eagle and The Son of the Sheik with Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
and several romantic teamings with Ronald Colman
Ronald Colman
Ronald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...
.
Early life
She was born Vilma Koncsics on January 9, 1901 to János Koncsics and Katalin Ulbert in NagydorogNagydorog
Nagydorog is a village in Tolna County, Hungary.- External links :*...
, Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. Her father was a bureau chief under Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
's Austro-Hungarian Empire. Shortly after her birth, her father was transferred to 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...
, and the family relocated.
She had two siblings – an older brother, Gyula (who would later go on to work in Berlin as a writer and cinematographer), and a younger sister, Gisella. After graduation from secondary school
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
, Bánky took courses to work as a stenographer, but was offered a role in a film. Acting had been her interest since she was a young girl.
Her first film appearance was in the now lost film, Im Letzten Augenblick, directed by Carl Boese
Carl Boese
Carl Boese was a German film director, screenwriter and producer. He directed 158 films between 1917 and 1957.-Selected filmography:* The Golem: How He Came into the World * Paprika...
in Germany in 1919. On a trip to 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...
in 1925, Hollywood film producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn
Samuel Goldwyn was an American film producer, and founding contributor executive of several motion picture studios.-Biography:...
discovered and signed her to a contract. Both her mother and father were vehemently against Bánky's acting career as was her fiancé; nonetheless she left for the United States in March 1925, arriving to a great deal of fanfare.
Career
She was hailed as "The Hungarian Rhapsody" and was an immediate hit with American audiences. The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
remarked in its review of her first American film, The Dark Angel
The Dark Angel (1925 film)
The Dark Angel is a drama, based on the play The Dark Angel, a Play of Yesterday and To-day by H. B. Trevelyan, released by First National in 1925, and starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky, and Wyndham Standing...
, that she "is a young person of rare beauty ... so exquisite that one is not in the least surprised that she is never forgotten by Hillary Trent" (the movie's leading male character who decides to allow his family and fiancee to believe him dead rather than place what he perceives as the burden on them of a life caring for a blinded war veteran).
She appeared opposite silent great Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
in The Eagle (1925) and The Son of the Sheik (1926) It is said that Valentino was fascinated by Vilma, and it was he who chose her as the first lady in the films and Ronald Colman
Ronald Colman
Ronald Charles Colman was an English actor.-Early years:He was born in Richmond, Surrey, England, the second son and fourth child of Charles Colman and his wife Marjory Read Fraser. His siblings included Eric, Edith, and Marjorie. He was educated at boarding school in Littlehampton, where he...
in a series of love stories, including The Dark Angel and The Winning of Barbara Worth
The Winning of Barbara Worth
The Winning of Barbara Worth is a silent western film, released by United Artists in 1926, and starring Ronald Colman, Vilma Bánky, and Gary Cooper . The film is based on the novel of the same name by Harold Bell Wright and was filmed in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada...
. It is commonly believed that her thick Hungarian accent cut her career short with the advent of sound; however, she began losing interest in films and wanted to settle down with Rod La Rocque
Rod La Rocque
-Biography:He was born Roderick La Rocque in Chicago, Illinois. He began appearing in stock theater at the age of seven and eventually ended up at the Essanay Studios in Chicago where he found steady work until the studios closed. He then moved to New York City and worked on the stage until he was...
and simply be his wife. By 1928, she had begun announcing her intention to retire in a few years.
Of her twenty four films, eight exist in their entirety (Hotel Potemkin, Der Zirkuskönig [aka The King of the Circus with Max Linder
Max Linder
Max Linder was an influential French pioneer of silent film.-Birth and early career:Born Gabriel-Maximilien Leuvielle in Saint-Loubès, Gironde, France to a Catholic wine-growing family, he grew up with a passion for the theatre and as a young man joined a theatre troupe touring the country...
], The Son of the Sheik, The Eagle, The Winning of Barbara Worth, The Night of Love, A Lady to Love, and The Rebel), and three exist in fragments (Tavaszi szerelem in scattered bits, the first five reels of The Magic Flame
The Magic Flame
The Magic Flame is a feature film directed by Henry King. It was based on the play Konig Harlekin by Rudolph Lothar. George Barnes was nominated at the 1st Academy Awards for Best Cinematography. The film promoted itself as the "Romeo and Juliet" of the circus upon its release...
, and an incomplete copy of Two Lovers).
Post-acting career
Her post Hollywood years were spent selling real estateReal estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
with her husband and playing golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
, her favorite sport. In 1981, Bánky established an educational fund called the Banky – La Rocque Foundation, which is still in operation.
Personal life and death
She married actor Rod La RocqueRod La Rocque
-Biography:He was born Roderick La Rocque in Chicago, Illinois. He began appearing in stock theater at the age of seven and eventually ended up at the Essanay Studios in Chicago where he found steady work until the studios closed. He then moved to New York City and worked on the stage until he was...
in 1927; they remained married until his death in 1969. They had no children.
Vilma Bánky died on March 18, 1991, from cardiopulmonary failure, aged 90, but notice of her death was not made public until the following year. Her ashes were scattered at sea where her husband's had been.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Vilma Bánky has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
located at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1919 | Im letzten Augenblick | ||
| 1921 | Veszélyben a pokol | ||
| 1921 | Tavaszi szerelem | ||
| 1921 | Galathea | ||
| 1922 | Schattenkinder des Glücks | ||
| 1922 | Kauft Mariett-Aktien | ||
| 1922 | Alternative title: Das Auge des Toten | ||
| 1923 | Alternative title: L'image | ||
| 1924 | Alternative title: King of the Circus | ||
| 1924 | Alternative title: Hotel Potemkin | ||
| 1924 | Alternative title: Das Leben des Dalai Lama | ||
| 1924 | Alternative title: The Lady from Paris | ||
| 1925 | Kitty Vane | ||
| 1925 | Soll man heiraten? | Alternative title: Intermezzo einer Ehe in sieben Tagen | |
| 1925 | Miss Mascha Troekouroff | Credited as Vilma Banky | |
| 1926 | Son of the Sheik | Yasmin, André's Daughter | Credited as Vilma Banky |
| 1926 | Barbara Worth | ||
| 1927 | Princess Marie | ||
| 1927 | The Magic Flame The Magic Flame The Magic Flame is a feature film directed by Henry King. It was based on the play Konig Harlekin by Rudolph Lothar. George Barnes was nominated at the 1st Academy Awards for Best Cinematography. The film promoted itself as the "Romeo and Juliet" of the circus upon its release... |
Bianca, the Aerial Artist | |
| 1927 | Alternative title: The Lady from Paris | ||
| 1928 | Two Lovers Two Lovers (1928 film) Two Lovers is a silent feature film directed by Fred Niblo.-Production background:The film was rereleased in the USA in 1928, with a synchronized soundtrack, after having been previously released as a silent film.-Preservation status:... |
Donna Leonora de Vargas | |
| 1928 | Marie Ducrot | ||
| 1929 | This Is Heaven | Eva Petrie | |
| 1930 | Lena Shultz | ||
| 1930 | Mizzi | ||
| 1933 | Erika Leroy |