Péter Halász (August 20, 1943 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 ...

– March 9, 2006 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) was a Hungarian actor, director and playwright. In 1993 he won the Hungarian Film Critics Awards for Best Actor. He founded several theater companies in Budapest and New York City including the Kassák Haz Studió, the "appartement theatre",

Squat Theatre Squat Theatre (1977–1991) was a Hungarian theatre company from Budapest which left Hungary for Paris and then New York City, where they performed experimental theatre. History Living in Paris in 1977, a friend of the company, Tamas Szentjoby, s ...

, Love Theatre and Varosi Szinhaz. As a film actor he appeared

Fat Man and Little Boy ''Fat Man and Little Boy'' (released in the United Kingdom as ''Shadow Makers'') is a 1989 epic historical war film directed by Roland Joffé who co-wrote the script with Bruce Robinson. The story follows the Manhattan Project, the secret Alli ...

(1989),

Sunshine (1999 film) ''Sunshine'' is a 1999 historical drama film directed by István Szabó and written by Israel Horovitz and Szabó. It follows five generations of a Hungarian Jewish family, originally named Sonnenschein (german: "sunshine"), later changed to Sor ...

(1999), and The Breed, among others. In February, 2006 his terminal liver cancer led to his final performance: lying in an open coffin in a Budapest art museum. He died a month after at the age of 62. He had four children: Judith Halasz, Cora Fisher, Gabor Halasz, and David Halasz.

Plays

* 1972 The Puppet Theatre of Péter Halász * 1975 Guido and Tyrius, a play by Eva Buchmuller and Péter Halász. * 1975-79 Three Sisters by

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

* 1977 Pig, Child, Fire!, a play in five parts. The first, a drama based on the confessions of Nikolai Stavrogin in

Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky (, ; rus, Фёдор Михайлович Достоевский, Fyódor Mikháylovich Dostoyévskiy, p=ˈfʲɵdər mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪdʑ dəstɐˈjefskʲɪj, a=ru-Dostoevsky.ogg, links=yes; 11 November 18219 ...

Demons A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, anime, ...

. The second is inspired by 1940s American

Gangster film A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The ...

s. The third is a comic act. * 1978

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...

's ''Last Love'',

Ulrike Meinhof Ulrike Marie Meinhof (7 October 1934 – 9 May 1976) was a German left-wing journalist and founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF) in West Germany, commonly referred to in the press as the "Baader-Meinhof gang". She is the reputed author ...

meets

in 3 acts: ''Aliens on the Second Floor'', ''An Imperial Message'' and ''Interview With the Dead.'' * 1981 Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free, film and live show in a storefront, 1981. * 1981 The Battle of Sirolo. Open air version of ''Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free.'' Premiere at

Polverigi Polverigi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Ancona in the Italian region Marche, located about southwest of Ancona. Polverigi borders the following municipalities: Agugliano, Ancona, Jesi, Offagna, Osimo, Santa Maria Nuova Sant ...

Festival (Inteatro Festival, Polverigi. * 1982 The Golden Age of Squat Theatre. A retrospective of three Squat Theatre plays : ''Pig, Child, Fire!,'' ''Andy Warhol's Last Love'' and ''Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free.'' * 1987 Ambition. by Péter Halász.

Films

* 1975 Minotaur in a Sand Mine 20 minutes, B&W,

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, educ ...

Biennale de Paris The ''Biennale de Paris'' (English: Paris Biennale) is a noted French art festival. History The 'Biennale de Paris' was launched by Raymond Cogniat in 1959 and set up by André Malraux as he was Minister of Culture to present an overview of young ...

. * 1975 Don Juan von Leporello. 60 minutes, B&W,

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. * 1977 Pig, Child, Fire! 1981, 60 min, color, sound,

* 1978 Andy Warhol's Last Love, ''An Imperial Message,'' 2nd part of play. 1978-81, 60 min, b&w and color, sound, 16mm. Directed by

Stephan Balint Stephan Balint (born ''Bálint István'' 11 July 1943 in Budapest, died 11 October 2007 in Budapest) was a writer, actor, theatre director, and playwright. Balint was co-founder of New York's Squat Theatre where he wrote, acted, and directed '' ...

and Péter Halász, Performance Camera: Larry Solomon. 'An Imperial Message' camera: Michel Auder. Michael Mooser, cinematography. Editor: Roughcut Studio. Music:

Blondie (band) Blondie is an American Rock music, rock band co-founded by singer Debbie Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the American New wave music, new wave scene of the mid-1970s in New York. Their first two albums contained strong ...

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

. Appearance by Kathleen Kendel as the White Witch. * 1981 Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free. 43 minutes, color, 16mm. Part of the play, Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free exhibited separately,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Abaton Cinema,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

. Künstlerhaus;

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

. Directed by

and Péter Halász. Péter Halász, cinematography. * 1982 A Matter of Facts by Eric Mitchell * 1982 A Matter of Facts 1982 by Eric Mitchell w/ Squat Theatre (Archival) 17 minutes, 45 seconds, color, 16mm. Starring

, Klara Palotai, Boris Major, Péter Halász, Peter Berg, Eric Daillie, Anna Koós,

Eszter Balint Eszter Balint (born 7 July 1966) is a Hungarian-American singer, songwriter, violinist, and actress. Biography Eszter Balint was born in Budapest, Hungary, to Marianne Kollar and Stephan Balint. She was living with the avant-garde Squat Theatre ...

, Vince Pomilio, Phillipe Pagasky and

Arto Lindsay Arthur Morgan "Arto" Lindsay (born May 28, 1953) is an American guitarist, singer, record producer and experimental composer. He was a member of the pioneering 1970s no wave group DNA, which featured on the 1978 compilation ''No New York''. In ...

. Mr. Dead & Mrs. Free. * 1983 Tscherwonez. Directed by Gabor Altorjay. With

, Peter (Breznyik) Berg, Péter Halász and Eva Buchmuller of Squat Theatre. * 1989

(a.k.a. Shadow Makers in the UK) is a 1989 film that reenacts the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

, the secret

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

endeavour to develop the first

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The film is named after the weapons

Little Boy "Little Boy" was the type of atomic bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 during World War II, making it the first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The bomb was dropped by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress ''Enola Gay'' p ...

and

Fat Man "Fat Man" (also known as Mark III) is the codename for the type of nuclear bomb the United States detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the fir ...

that were detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. The film was directed by

Roland Joffé Roland Joffé (born 17 November 1945) is a British director and producer of film and television, known for the Academy Award-winning films ''The Killing Fields'' and '' The Mission''. He began his career in television, his early credits includ ...

and written by Joffe and

Bruce Robinson Bruce Robinson (born 2 May 1946) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and novelist. He wrote and directed the cult classic ''Withnail and I'' (1987), a film with comic and tragic elements set in London in the late 1960s, which drew on hi ...

. * 1993 Senkifoldje. Directed by Andras Jeles. * 1999

is a

historical History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

István Szabó István Szabó (; born 18 February 1938) is a Hungarian film director, screenwriter, and opera director. Szabó is one of the most notable Hungarian filmmakers and one who has been best known outside the Hungarian-speaking world since the la ...

and written by

Israel Horovitz Israel Horovitz (March 31, 1939 – November 9, 2020) was an American playwright, director, actor and co-founder of the Gloucester Stage Company in 1979. He served as artistic director until 2006 and later served on the board, ex officio an ...

and Szabó. It won three

European Film Awards The European Film Awards (or European Film Academy Awards) have been presented annually since 1988 by the European Film Academy to recognize excellence in European cinematic achievements. The awards are given in 19 categories, of which the most ...

, including

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

for Fiennes, and three Canadian

Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

, including Best Motion Picture. * 1999 Simon the Magician Directed by Ildikó Enyedi. * 2004 A Mohacsi Vesz Directed by Miklós Jancsó. * 2006 Herminafield: Apparitions. Director, Producer, Screenwriter Péter Halász.

Notes

:1.The name ''Squat-Love Theater'' as it appears in Mel Gussow's October 4, 1987

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

article, ''"Theater: 'Ambition, By Halasz,"'' was legally contested as breach of copyright by

. The name of Halász theatre was changed to ''Love Theatre''.

References

External links

*
Péter videó-életrajza (részlet) VideoBio

Plays

Films

Notes

References

External links

Further reading