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Eva Bartok

Actress

Born: Jun 18, 1927
nationality: Hungarian

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Biography

About Eva Bartok

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Eva Bartok was a Hungarian actress whose career spanned the 1950s and 1960s. She was born in Budapest, Hungary on June 18, 1927, and died on August 1, 1998, in London, England. Her birth name was Eva Ivanova Szöke, and she stood 5′ 4″ (1.63 m) tall. Bartok's early life was marked by tragedy. Her father, a Jew married to a Catholic, disappeared during the rise of Nazism. At age 15, she was forced to marry a Nazi officer to avoid being sent to a concentration camp, a marriage that was later annulled on grounds of coercion of a minor.

After surviving World War II, Bartok found her vocation in acting but soon faced persecution under the Communist regime. Hollywood producer Alexander Paal helped her escape Hungary by marrying her and taking her to England, where she made her screen debut in A Tale of Five Women (1951), filmed in 1948 but shelved for years. She later gained support from fellow Hungarian expatriate Alexander Korda, president of MGM-England, who placed her under contract to London Films. Despite this, she went months without work. Her third husband, publicist William Wordsworth, suggested she attend premieres to gain attention. Unable to afford proper attire, she designed and made her own gowns and hats from cheap materials, which made her a local celebrity known for her hats.

The publicity caught the eye of an Italian promoter, leading to a successful vaudeville stint in Italy. Meanwhile, A Tale of Five Women finally reached theaters, impressing Burt Lancaster, who cast her in The Crimson Pirate (1952). This film brought her international fame, but her subsequent projects were often low-budget, now considered cult classics. She also appeared on London stages and in television. In 1955, she married actor-director Curd Jürgens, her fourth husband, though they divorced the following year.

Bartok's life was as dramatic off-screen as on. She had a publicized affair with David Michael Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven, which made headlines when his wife filed for divorce and named Bartok. In 1956, she turned down a Hollywood contract and faced a health crisis when diagnosed with an ovarian tumor while pregnant. An Indonesian mystic introduced her to Subud, a spiritual practice she credited with healing her; she gave birth to daughter Deana in 1957. She remained committed to Subud, making a few more films before retiring in 1967. In later years, she claimed Deana was fathered by Frank Sinatra, a claim that was ignored. She spent her last years as a paying guest in a small London hotel, with little money, and died quietly in 1998.

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Frequently asked

How did Eva Bartok escape Hungary after World War II?

She married American producer Alexander Paal, who took her to England, where she made her screen debut in A Tale of Five Women.

What role did Burt Lancaster play in her career?

He saw A Tale of Five Women and cast her in The Crimson Pirate (1952), which brought her international fame.

How did she become a local celebrity before The Crimson Pirate?

She began designing and making her own gowns and hats from cheap materials to attend premieres, which the media noticed and made her known for her hats.

What was Subud and how did it affect her life?

Subud was a spiritual practice introduced to her by an Indonesian mystic during a health crisis in 1956; she credited it with healing her and remained committed to it for the rest of her life.

What was unusual about her daughter's paternity claim?

In later years, Bartok claimed that her daughter Deana, born in 1957, was actually fathered by Frank Sinatra during a brief affair, but the claim was ignored by Sinatra and his family.

Did you know

Her body was cremated and the ashes given to her daughter Deana.
She was born at 1:00 pm CET.
Her first film in Hungary, Mezei próféta (1947), was banned by communist censorship.
She had a publicized affair with Britain's Marquess of Milford Haven, which led to his wife naming her in a divorce case.
In her last years, she lived as a permanent paying guest in a small London hotel with very little money, and according to obituaries, she would describe her career to other guests who assumed she was delusional.