Lajos Bíró

For the Hungarian zoologist, see Lajos Bíró (zoologist).

The native form of this personal name is Bíró Lajos. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.

Lajos Bíró
Bíró c. 1931
Born	Lajos Blau (1880-08-22)22 August 1880 Nagyvárad, Austria-Hungary (now Oradea, Romania)
Died	9 September 1948(1948-09-09) (aged 68) London, England, UK
Occupation	Writer
Years active	1917–1948
Spouse	Jolán Vészi[1]
Children	Vera Hollander[2]^[better source needed]

The grave of Lajos Bíró, Hampstead Cemetery, London

Lajos Bíró (IPA: [ˈlɒjoʒ ˈbiːroː];^[a] born Lajos Blau;^{[needs IPA]} 22 August 1880 – 9 September 1948) was a Hungarian novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who wrote many films from the early 1920s through the late 1940s.

Life

He was born in Nagyvárad, Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Oradea, Romania) and eventually^{[clarification needed]} moved to the United Kingdom where he worked as a scenario chief for London Film Productions run by Alexander Korda, collaborating on many screenplays with Arthur Wimperis.^[3] He died in London on 9 September 1948 of a heart attack. He is buried in the northern section of Hampstead Cemetery in north London.

In 1929, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Writing for The Last Command, but lost to Ben Hecht for Underworld, the only other nomination in this category.^[4]

Novels

• A Serpolette (The Serpolette, 1914)^[5]
• A bazini zsidók (The Jews of Bazin; 1921).

Plays

• Szinmü négy felvon (Hotel Imperial) (1917)
• Gods and Kings, six one-act plays (English translation 1945)^[6]

Partial filmography

• The Prince and the Pauper (1920)
• A Vanished World (1922)
• The House of Molitor (1922)
• Tragedy in the House of Habsburg (1924)
• Forbidden Paradise (1924) (play)
• Eve's Secret (1925)
• A Modern Dubarry (1927)
• The Heart Thief (1927)
• Hotel Imperial (1927) (play)
• The Way of All Flesh (1927)
• The Last Command (1928) (story)
• Yellow Lily (1928)
• Night Watch (1928)
• The Haunted House (1928)
• Women Everywhere (1930)
• Michael and Mary (1931)
• Service for Ladies (1932)
• The Golden Anchor (1932)
• The Faithful Heart (1932)
• Strange Evidence (1933)
• The Ghost Train (1933)
• The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933)
• Catherine the Great (1934) (play)
• The Private Life of Don Juan (1934)
• The Scarlet Pimpernel (1934)
• Sanders of the River (1935)
• The Ghost Goes West (1935)
• Rembrandt (1936)
• The Man Who Could Work Miracles (1936)
• Dark Journey (1937)
• Knight Without Armour (1937)
• The Divorce of Lady X (1938)
• The Drum (1938)
• Flower of the Tisza (1939)
• The Four Feathers (1939)
• The Thief of Bagdad (1940)
• Five Graves to Cairo (1943) (play)
• A Royal Scandal (1945) (play)
• An Ideal Husband (1947)
• Storm Over the Nile (1955)

Notes

1. In isolation, Lajos is pronounced [ˈlɒjoʃ].

References

1. "1948. szeptember 9-én hunyt el Bíró Lajos író, újságíró, forgatókönyvíró". Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
2. "Jolán Biró (Vészi)". 8 August 1888.
3. Kulik, Karol. Alexander Korda: The Man Who Could Work Miracles. Virgin Books, 1990. ISBN 9780870003356
4. "The 1st Academy Awards (1929) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
5. Biró, Lajos (1914). The Serpolette. Budapest: Athenaeum Literature and Printing R.-T.
6. Saturday Review of Literature – Volume 28, Part 2 – Page 92 1945 – The New Yorker GODS AND KINGS by Lajos Biro "Six witty and sportive one-act plays, all of which are among the best issued in recent years." —Herald Tribune Books "Unified by wit, skill, and a querying philosophical irony. All the plays ..

External links

• Works by or about Lajos Bíró at the Internet Archive
• Works by Lajos Bíró at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
• Lajos Bíró at IMDb
• Lajos Bíró biography and filmography at the BFI's Screenonline