Ilona Massey (born Ilona Hajmássy, June 16, 1910 – August 20, 1974) was a Hungarian-American film, stage and radio performer.

Early life and career

She was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary (now in Hungary). Billed as "the new Marlene Dietrich, Dietrich", she acted in three films with Nelson Eddy, including ''Rosalie (film), Rosalie'' (1937), and with Lon Chaney Jr. in ''Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man'' (1943) as Baroness Frankenstein. In 1943, she appeared in the Ziegfeld Follies. In 1947, she starred with Eddy in ''Northwest Outpost'', a musical film composed by Rudolf Friml. In 1949, she starred in ''Love Happy'' with the Marx Brothers. She played Madame Egelichi, a ''femme fatale'' spy, and her performance inspired Milton Caniff in the creation of his ''femme fatale'' spy, Madame Lynx, in the comic strip "Steve Canyon". Caniff hired Massey to pose for him. In 1950, Massey was one of the stars of the NBC Red Network, NBC spy show ''Top Secret'' on radio. In 1952 she began starring in ''Rendezvous (1952 TV series), Rendezvous'' on American Broadcasting Company, ABC television. The program was described in a magazine article as "a mystery-drama with plenty of glamour thrown in." Beginning on November 1, 1954, she hosted DuMont Television Network, DuMont's ''The Ilona Massey Show'', a weekly musical variety show in which she sang songs with guests in a nightclub set, with music provided by the Irving Fields, Irving Fields Trio.Terrace, Vincent (2011). ''Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 496. The series ended January 3, 1955, after 10 episodes.

Recognition

Massey has a star at 1623 Vine Street on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It was dedicated February 8, 1960.

Politics

Becoming an American citizen in 1946, she remained strongly anti-communist for what she saw as the destruction of her native country, at one point picketing the United Nations during the 1959 visit of Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev. A registered Republican Party (United States), Republican, she supported the campaign of Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1952 United States presidential election, 1952 presidential election.''Motion Picture and Television Magazine'', November 1952, page 34, Ideal Publishers

Death

Massey died of cancer in Bethesda, Maryland, and is buried in Virginia's Arlington National Cemetery near her last husband, Donald Dawson, who had served in the United States Air Force Reserve as a major general.

References

Filmography

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Massey, Ilona 1910 births 1974 deaths American film actresses American radio actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Deaths from cancer in Maryland Hungarian emigrants to the United States People from Bethesda, Maryland Actresses from Budapest Burials at Arlington National Cemetery 20th-century American actresses California Republicans Maryland Republicans