Imre Soós
| Imre Soós | |
|---|---|
| Born |
12 February 1930 Balmazújváros, Hungary |
| Died | 20 June 1957 (aged 27) Budapest, Hungary |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1948–1956 |
Imre Soós (12 February 1930 – 20 June 1957) was a Hungarian actor, mostly known for his roles in communist Propaganda films during the 1950s. He played the leading role in the 1956 film Körhinta.
Imre Soós was born on 12 February 1930, in Balmazújváros, as the eighth child of a peasant family living in great poverty. Like every member of his family, some of which were illiterate, his time was mostly consumed working in the fields, until he tried his luck by presenting himself to a travelling casting team in 1948. Fuelled by their praise, and the growing want to travel, he went to Budapest to enter the Academy of Drama, where he was admitted after the first hearing. The young boy, only turning 18, was overwhelmed with the buzzing life of the capital, as he rarely even travelled to the county seat before. Soós entered a class filled with talent, including Irén Psota, Józsa Hacser, and Teri Horváth. As later documents showed, his teachers praised him with high words, partially influenced by his forced political involvement, that left a strong mark on his later career.
He began filming in 1948, to complement his livelihood. Getting a minor role in Talpalatnyi föld, he filled his role of a chanting peasant boy with past memories, gaining instant, albeit unintentional attention. The true success comes with his leading role in 1949's Lúdas Matyi, the first Hungarian color film, in which his life-filled folk-tale character gained success all over the country, and abroad - he became the best male actor on the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival of 1950, the highest ranking prize in socialist countries of the era. As the political climate pressed filmmakers for more realistic presentation of young peasants, workers, Soós seemed ideal to fill this role, especially as he was "raised from poverty", and achieved a lot compared to his comrades. This ideological background haunted his later life.
As his fame grew potentially, Soós's self-estimation shrank with it. Aware of his shortcomings, he became more and more closed to others, and humble, studying extensively to make up for his missing high school graduation. He works in films all along the academy years, finishing in 1952. After graduation, he gets an offer to work in the Madách Theatre, but is denied by the authorities, and is sent to the Csokonai Imre Theatre of Debrecen with the intention to serve as an example in his home. He spends 3 years commuting between filming in the capital and Debrecen, where surrounded by fear and bad reputation of being a poster boy of the communists. In 1955 he was finally allowed to work in Madách Theatre, however, he was not allowed to play certain roles. By 1955 he finishes Körhinta, a film that becomes one of the most acclaimed piece of Hungarian cinema.
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