Imre Sinkovits (21 September 1928 in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

– 18 January 2001 in Budapest) was a Hungarian actor.

Career

After a year in Downtown Theatre and another in Youth Theatre, in 1949 he got a job in National Theatre, where he stayed until 1956. His breakthrough role was Imre Madách's Moses, which he had played for 22 years, more than 700 times. On 23 October 1956 he recited Sándor Petőfi's

Nemzeti dal The Nemzeti dal (''"National Song"'') is a Hungarian patriotic poem written by Sándor Petőfi that is said to have inspired the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Petőfi read the poem aloud on March 15 on the steps of the Hungarian National Museum in ...

at the Petőfi Square in

in front of a crowd of 20,000 people. This was the opening act of a youth protest, which protest in a few hours became a nationwide revolt against the government. Sinkovits became a member of the Hungarian Theatre and Film Association Revolutionary Committee on 30 October. After the

revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

was crushed, Sinkovits was banned from acting for a half year for his activities, and his membership in the National Theatre was terminated. Between 1958 and 1963, he worked in the

Attila József Theatre Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...

. In 1963 he returned to the National Theatre and he became one of its dominant actors for decades. He played the leading role in a number of films and television series, and was also involved in dubbing and narration. At 4 May 1991 reburial ceremony of Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty in

Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Danu ...

, Sinkovits delivered a powerful rendition of Hungarian poet

Mihály Vörösmarty Mihály Vörösmarty (archaically English: Michael Vorosmarthy 1 December 180019 November 1855) was an important Hungarian poet and dramatist. Biography He was born at Puszta-Nyék (now Kápolnásnyék), of a noble Roman Catholic family. H ...

's poem Szózat before the 50,000 mourners in attendance. YouTube video of Mindszenty's reburial (see video at 2:12)
/ref> Szózat is considered to be a second national anthem of

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. In 2022, on the anniversary of his birthday, a star was named after him.

Personal life

In 1951, Sinkovits married Hungarian actress Katalin Gombos (b. 12 February 1929

Hódmezővásárhely Hódmezővásárhely (; also known by other alternative names) is a city with county rights in southeast Hungary, on the Great Hungarian Plain, at the meeting point of the Békés-Csanádi Ridge and the clay grassland surrounding the river Tisza. ...

; died 6 November 2012

). They had two children: Andrew Sinkovits-Vitay and Mariann Sinkovits, both of whom also became actors. Sinkovits and Gombos are buried in the Óbuda cemetery.

Selected filmography

* '' Full Steam Ahead'' (1951) * '' Storm'' (1952) * '' Fourteen Lives'' (1954) * '' Love Travels by Coach'' (1955) * '' A Strange Mask of Identity'' (1955) * '' Leila and Gábor'' (1956) * '' The Football Star'' (1957) * '' Suburban Legend'' (1957) * '' Alba Regia'' (1961) * '' Tales of a Long Journey'' (1963) * '' The Corporal and the Others'' (1965) * ''

Car Crazy A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded as ...

'' (1965) * '' And Then The Guy...'' (1966) * ''

Three Nights of Love ''Three Nights of Love'' ( it, Tre notti d'amore) is a 1964 omnibus comedy film in three segments directed by Renato Castellani, Luigi Comencini and Franco Rossi and starring Catherine Spaak, Enrico Maria Salerno and Adolfo Celi. Cast * Adolf ...

'' (1967) * '' Stars of Eger'' (1968) * ''

The Toth Family ''The Toth Family'' ( hu, Isten hozta, őrnagy úr!) is a 1969 Hungarian comedy-drama film directed by Zoltán Fábri. It was entered into the 7th Moscow International Film Festival. Cast * Zoltán Latinovits as Major (Őrnagy) * Imre Sinkovits ...

'' (1969) * '' Franz Liszt. Dreams of love'' ''()'' (1970) - as

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

Awards

Kossuth Prize The Kossuth Prize ( hu, Kossuth-díj) is a state-sponsored award in Hungary, named after the Hungarian politician and revolutionist Lajos Kossuth. The Prize was established in 1948 (on occasion of the centenary of the March 15th revolution, the ...

(1966) *

Mari Jászai Award Mari may refer to: Places *Mari, Paraíba, Brazil, a city * Mari, Cyprus, a village *Mari, Greece, a village, site of ancient town of Marius * Mari, Iran (disambiguation), places in Iran * Mari, Punjab, a village and a union council in Pakistan ...

(1955, 1962) * Kazinczy Award (198

* Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, Commander's cross with star, civilian ( :hu:A Magyar Köztársasági Érdemrend középkeresztje a csillaggal, 1998) *

Hungarian Heritage Award The Hungarian Heritage Award ( hu, Magyar Örökség díj) is a distinction awarded to Hungarian institutions or persons who have contributed to activities of Hungarian culture, economy, sports or science, to ensure the spiritual uplift of Hungar ...

( :hu:Magyar Örökség díj, 1996) * National Actor title ( :hu:A Nemzet Színésze, 2000)

References

1928 births 2001 deaths Hungarian male stage actors Hungarian male film actors Hungarian male voice actors Commander's Crosses with Star of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary (civil) Artists of Merit of the Hungarian People's Republic {{hungary-bio-stub