The Most Famous

ACTORS from Hungary

This page contains a list of the greatest Hungarian Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 28 of which were born in Hungary. This makes Hungary the birth place of the 28th most number of Actors behind Pakistan, and South Africa.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Hungarian Actors of all time. This list of famous Hungarian Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Hungarian Actors.

1. Zsa Zsa Gabor (1917 - 2016)

With an HPI of 64.49, Zsa Zsa Gabor is the most famous Hungarian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 59 different languages on wikipedia.

Zsa Zsa Gabor (, Hungarian: [ˈɡaːbor ˈʒɒʒɒ]; born Sári Gábor [ˈɡaːbor ˈʃaːri]; February 6, 1917 – December 18, 2016) was a Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were socialites and actresses Eva Gabor and Magda Gabor. Gabor competed in the 1933 Miss Hungary pageant, where she placed as second runner-up, and began her stage career in Vienna the following year. She emigrated from Hungary to the United States in 1941, and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style." She was considered to have a personality that "exuded charm and grace". Her first film role was a supporting role in Lovely to Look At, released in 1952. The same year, she appeared in We're Not Married!, and played one of her few leading roles in Moulin Rouge, directed by John Huston. Huston later described Gabor as a "creditable" actress. Outside her acting career, Gabor was known for her extravagant Hollywood lifestyle, her glamorous personality, and her many marriages. In total, Gabor had nine husbands, including hotel magnate Conrad Hilton and actor George Sanders. She once stated, "Men have always liked me and I have always liked men. But I like a mannish man, a man who knows how to talk to and treat a woman—not just a man with muscles."

2. Cornel Wilde (1912 - 1989)

With an HPI of 61.76, Cornel Wilde is the 2nd most famous Hungarian Actor. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Cornel Wilde (born Kornél Lajos Weisz; October 13, 1912 – October 16, 1989) was a Hungarian-American actor and filmmaker. Wilde's acting career began in 1935, when he made his debut on Broadway. In 1936 he began making small, uncredited appearances in films. By the 1940s he had signed a contract with 20th Century Fox, and by the mid-1940s he was a major leading man. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in 1945's A Song to Remember. In the 1950s he moved to writing, producing and directing films, and still continued his career as an actor. He also went into songwriting during his career.

3. Michu Meszaros (1939 - 2016)

With an HPI of 57.13, Michu Meszaros is the 3rd most famous Hungarian Actor. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Mihaly "Michu" Meszaros (Hungarian: Mészáros Mihály; 1 October 1939 – 12 June 2016) was a Hungarian and American actor, circus performer/entertainer, and stuntman. He was 2 feet 9 inches (0.84 m) tall and weighed 25 pounds. He was best remembered as a performer with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and for his role in the NBC sitcom ALF in 1986. He appeared in several films in the late 1980s and early 1990s and also appeared opposite pop singer Michael Jackson in a Pepsi commercial in 1992. His last appearance was in Death to Cupid in 2015.

4. Paul Lukas (1894 - 1971)

With an HPI of 55.93, Paul Lukas is the 4th most famous Hungarian Actor. His biography has been translated into 48 different languages.

Paul Lukas (born Pál Lukács; 26 May 1894 – 15 August 1971) was a Hungarian actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the first Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, for his performance in the film Watch on the Rhine (1943), reprising the role he created on the Broadway stage.

5. Marta Eggerth (1912 - 2013)

With an HPI of 55.56, Marta Eggerth is the 5th most famous Hungarian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Marta Eggerth (17 April 1912 – 26 December 2013) was a Hungarian actress and singer from "The Silver Age of Operetta". Many of the 20th century's most famous operetta composers, including Franz Lehár, Fritz Kreisler, Robert Stolz, Oscar Straus, and Paul Abraham, composed works especially for her.

6. Mickey Hargitay (1926 - 2006)

With an HPI of 53.58, Mickey Hargitay is the 6th most famous Hungarian Actor. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Miklós Károly Hargitay (January 6, 1926 – September 14, 2006), was an Hungarian-American actor and the 1955 Mr. Universe. Born in Budapest, Hargitay moved to the United States in 1947 and eventually became a U.S. citizen. He was married to actress Jayne Mansfield and is the father of actress Mariska Hargitay. During their marriage, Hargitay and Mansfield made four movies together: Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), The Loves of Hercules (1960), Promises! Promises! (1963), and Primitive Love (1964).

7. Catherine Schell (b. 1944)

With an HPI of 52.89, Catherine Schell is the 7th most famous Hungarian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Catherine Schell (born Katherina Freiin Schell von Bauschlott, 17 July 1944) is a Hungarian-born British actress who came to prominence in British film and television productions from the 1960s. Her notable roles include the Bond girl Nancy in On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Lady Claudine Litton in The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), Countess Scarlioni in the Doctor Who serial City of Death (1979), and a regular role as Maya in Year Two of the television series Space: 1999 (1976-1977).

8. Julio Baghy (1891 - 1967)

With an HPI of 52.36, Julio Baghy is the 8th most famous Hungarian Actor. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Julio Baghy (13 January 1891, Szeged – 18 March 1967, Budapest; in Hungarian Baghy Gyula) was a Hungarian actor and one of the leading authors of the Esperanto movement. He is the author of several famous novels but it is particularly in the field of poetry that he proved his mastery of Esperanto.

9. Vilma Bánky (1901 - 1991)

With an HPI of 52.21, Vilma Bánky is the 9th most famous Hungarian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Vilma Bánky (born Vilma Koncsics; 9 January 1901 – 18 March 1991) was a Hungarian-American silent film actress. Although her acting career began in Budapest, and she later worked in France, Austria, and Germany, Bánky was best known for her roles in the American films The Eagle and The Son of the Sheik with Rudolph Valentino, and for several romantic teamings with Ronald Colman.

10. Eva Gabor (1919 - 1995)

With an HPI of 51.82, Eva Gabor is the 10th most famous Hungarian Actor. Her biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Eva Gabor ( AY-və gə-BOR, -⁠ GAH-bor; February 11, 1919 – July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian-American actress and socialite. Gabor voiced Duchess and Miss Bianca in the Disney animations The Aristocats (1970), The Rescuers (1977), and The Rescuers Down Under (1990). She was popular in her role on the 1965–1971 television sitcom Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character Oliver Wendell Douglas. Gabor was an actress in film, on Broadway, and on television. She was also a businesswoman, marketing wigs, clothing, and beauty products. Her elder sisters, Zsa Zsa and Magda Gabor, were also actresses and socialites.

People

Pantheon has 31 people classified as Hungarian actors born between 1883 and 1982. Of these 31, 6 (19.35%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Hungarian actors include Catherine Schell, László Szabó, and Eva Henger. The most famous deceased Hungarian actors include Zsa Zsa Gabor, Cornel Wilde, and Michu Meszaros. As of April 2024, 4 new Hungarian actors have been added to Pantheon including Zoltán Latinovits, Franciska Gaal, and Violetta Ferrari.