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Paul Lukas

Paul Lukas (May 26, 1887 - August 15, 1971) was a Hungarian actor. Born Pál Lukács in Budapest, he arrived in Hollywood in 1927 after a successful stage and film career in Hungary, Germany and Austria where he worked with Max Reinhardt. He made his stage debut in Budapest in 1916 and film debut in 1917. At first, he played elegant, smooth womanizers, but increasingly he became typecast as a villain. He was very busy in the 1930s, but his major role came in 1943's Watch on the Rhine, when he played a man working against the Nazis (he had played the same role on Broadway in 1941). He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.

In the 1940s, Lukas was a charter member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideas, a conservative lobbying group opposed to alleged Communist influence in Hollywood.

The remainder of his career moved from Hollywood to the stage to television. He died in Tangier, Morocco.

Lukas has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6841 Hollywood Blvd.

Last updated: 09-03-2005 18:37:12