Karl Farkas


Karl Farkas was an Austrian actor and cabaret performer.

Biography

In accordance with the wishes of his parents, he was to study law, but decided to follow the call of the stage. After attending the Academy of Music and Acting Arts in Vienna, he debuted in Olmütz as Tsarevich, in a play by Gabryela Zapolska.
After various stage appearances in Austria and Moravia, he returned to Vienna in 1921, where he was engaged by Egon Dorn, the director of the Kabarett '. There he worked as a 'Blitzdichter', and performed together with Fritz Grünbaum in a ', a cabaret number created in Budapest and consisting of a dialogue between two actors, one of whom plays a clever and educated interlocutor while the other has the role of a blunderer.
He married Anny Hán in 1924. Under the Nazi regime in 1938, he was forced to become a refugee because of his Jewish descent, going first to Brno, then Paris and ending up in New York. There he performed for other exiles and wrote his book of poems Farkas entdeckt Amerika. Moreover, he wrote the libretto to Kálmán's operetta Marinka.
In 1946, he returned to Vienna, and from 1950 on, he performed at the Simpl again, now as its director, a role in which he remained until his death.
He also worked as a writer and director, contributing the program of all the revues together with and, who in his turn also wrote his Doppelconférences.
From 1957 onward, he appeared on a regular basis in broadcasting and later on the Austrian TV channel, ORF. Very popular were his Balances, e.g. balance of the year, balance of the month, etc.
Farkas also is the main character in the Austrian revue comic book Der Blöde und der Gscheite, released in 2014, drawn by illustrator Reinhard Trinkler and based on the classic Doppelconférences by Hugo Wiener.

Works (selection)

Libretti

  • Journal der Liebe. Revue written in 1926 together with Fritz Grünbaum to music by Egon Neumann.
  • Wien lacht wieder!. Revue written in 1926 together with Fritz Grünbaum to music by Ralph Benatzky.
  • Die Wunder-Bar. Musical comedy written in 1929 together with to music by.
  • Der Traumexpreß. Revue written in 1931 together with Fritz Grünbaum to music by Robert Katscher.
  • Hofloge. Musical comedy written in 1936, based on a story by J. M. Crawford, to music by Hans Lang.
  • Dixie. Ein Musikalischer Kriminalroman in 5 Kapiteln: Revue written in 1938 together with Adolf Schütz to music by Michael Krasznay-Krausz.
  • Marinka. Operetta written in 1945 together with George Marion Jr. to music by Emmerich Kálmán.

    Books

  • Also sprach Farkas. Heiteres von Karl Farkas. Halm & Goldmann, Vienna 1930, with drawings by Matouschek.
  • Farkas entdeckt Amerika. Funny book of poems, Triton Publishing Company, New York 1942, with drawings by Hans Burger
  • Zurück ins Morgen. Paramount Printing and Publishing Co., New York 1946, with drawings by Matouschek.

    Selected filmography

Film adaptations

  • When the Soldiers, directed by Luise Fleck and Jacob Fleck
  • By Candlelight, directed by James Whale
  • Wonder Bar, directed by Lloyd Bacon
  • , directed by
  • Land of Love, directed by Reinhold Schünzel, uncredited
  • Hofloge, directed by
  • Wunder Bar, directed by Daniele D'Anza
  • Bei Kerzenlicht, directed by
  • Hofloge, directed by
  • Bei Kerzenlicht, directed by Ferry Olsen
  • Bei Kerzenlicht, directed by Jochen Bauer

    Screenwriter

  • Lumpenkavaliere
  • Sehnsucht 202
  • *'
  • Adventures on the Lido
  • '
  • Leap into Bliss
  • Roxy and the Wonderteam
  • Boogie-Woogie Dream
  • Fregola
  • '
  • *'
  • Nothing But Coincidence
  • Theodore the Goalkeeper
  • Gruß und Kuß aus der Wachau
  • Der Fünfminutenvater
  • Shame on You, Brigitte!
  • '
  • '
  • '
  • The Sweetest Fruits
  • '
  • And Who Is Kissing Me?
  • '
  • '
  • August der Halbstarke
  • '
  • The Schimeck Family
  • '
  • '
  • Love, Girls and Soldiers
  • '
  • ''Romy und Julius''