Hollywood Studio Magazine (July 1972)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

Ilona Massey as she appears today. Born Ilona Hajmassy of Hungarian peasant parents, she worked in the chorus in Budapest’s leading opera house as a young girl. The association she had with so many famous singers made her all the more ambitious to become an opera singer. Rebuffed whenever she attempted to sing, Ilona took lessons secretly and later went to Vienna to further her career. Here she was given small roles in one of the city’s less pretentious theatres and doubled as an understudy to the leading lady. When that actress suddenly became ill, Ilona stepped into the part and did so well that she was offered a contract by the manager of the Vienna Opera House. She was carefully coached in minor roles, but her big chance came when Maria Nemeth, who was to have starred in “The Empress Josephine” at the Varosi Szinhaz, Budapest’s finest theatre, was forced to relinquish her role two days before the play was to open. Miss Nemeth suggested Ilona for the part, and after several days of frantic rehearsals, she made her debut as an opera singer. She sang magnificently and her success was instantaneous. Immediately she was offered the star role in a modernized version of Offenbach’s “La Belle Helene” to be produced in Vienna. But Fate has a strange way of stepping in and changing one’s way of life. In the audience the night Ilona was making her auspicious debut was Benjamin Thau, a Metro-Goldwyn- Mayer executive. He was so impressed by her beauty and ability that he signed her immediately to a long-term contract. Although Ilona had never appeared on the screen she was given an important role the very first day she arrived on the studio lot. She made her screen debut as Brenda, Eleanor Powell’s companion, in “Rosalie,” which co-starred Miss Powell and Nelson Eddy. Soon after she was starred with Mr. Eddy in “Balalaika” and followed this with roles in “New Wine” and “International Lady.” After appearing in several unimportant films she made her last screen appearance in 1959 in “Jet Over the Atlantic,” a film she would just as soon forget. Even though Ilona only made thirteen pictures she endeared herself to many fans who have remained faithful to her throughout the years. When there seemed to be few decent roles for her to accept in motion pictures Ilona turned to television and made appearances in several “Studio One” and “Lux Video Theatre” presentations. She continued to take occasional jobs in television and also appeared in summer stock. She interested herself in the problems of the Hungarian refugees and during this time had an interview with then President Harry S. Truman. This meeting was arranged by General Donald S. Dawson, who was at that time a “Truman adviser.” Several years later she and the General were married. Today Ilona is very active in social circles in and around the nation’s capital. She is definitely not a “middle of the road” advocate. She speaks her own mind and never lets a day go by without doing something constructive. She still enjoys seeing her old movies on the late, late show but feels strongly that Hollywood has lost most of its glamour. She is saddened to see the countryside deteriorate and advocates cleaner streets, rivers and people. During a recent speech Ilona made at a civic affair in Trenton, New Jersey, she interjected these thoughts: “What happened to US Americans? I am an American by choice. Not so long ago we were the first nation, admired and envied by the World. The greatest dream of any youngster anywhere in the world was to be part of America, to immigrate and start a new life in this land of plenty. This is not true today. Where did we go wrong? Was it too much too soon? Is it because in our schools the Lord’s Prayer is forbidden? Is it because our National Anthem is optional, and our flag is publicly burned? ... at least we can in our own ways be leaders for the good things in our communities and in our homes ... we can be the servants in rebuilding America to the dream that was the faith of our Fathers ... no job is too big, or too little for us. Our spirit should and can move the Universe, if we will only accept the responsibility.” So, there you have Ilona Massey. Don’t you agree she is a beautiful soul? Were there only more like her. *** 7