Eva Bartok

Short Biography

Born Eva Szoeke in Hungary on June 18, 1927, actress Eva Bartok was born to a Jewish father and a Catholic mother. During World War II, to escape imprisonment in a concentration camp, she was forced to marry a Nazi officer to save herself and her mother. The marriage was eventually annulled on the grounds of coercion of a minor. Taking up acting following her horrific childhood, she married producer Alex Paal, who took her to London in 1948 to study acting. Bartok met famed director Alexander Korda, who put the young actress under salary and changed her name to Bartok. It took her a few years to be cast in a credited role, which finally came in the mystery A Tale of Five Women (1951; with Gina Lollobrigida), lensed in Berlin. During the following year, she was cast in the big-budget Warner Bros. adventure The Crimson Pirate (1952; with Burt Lancaster, Dana Wynter, and Christopher Lee). Starring roles in several British films, including Spaceways (1953; with Howard Duff), the noir thriller Norman Conquest (1953; with Tom Conway), and Front Page Story (1954; with Jack Hawkins), got Bartok noticed by many producers. Yet her personal life was not as successful. She and Paal parted ways in 1950, and a brief marriage to public relations wizard William Wordsworth ended after four years. She met fourth husband, actor Curd Jurgens, while co-starring with him in the German film The Last Waltz (1953). The couple worked together often, also starring in Circus of Love (1954) and several other films, but again Bartok's marriage was short-lived. Bartok earned another big break, this time in Hollywood, when she was cast in Ten Thousand Bedrooms (1957; with Dean Martin, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Dewey Martin), which was shot in Italy. Through her association with Dean Martin, Bartok met many Hollywood celebrities, including Frank Sinatra. An unexpected pregnancy following her divorce from Jurgens resulted in the 1957 birth of her daughter, Deana. In later years, Bartok claimed that Deana's father was Sinatra. While Bartok continued in her acting career with some success, she began to grow disenchanted with the profession and the roles offered her. Audiences today best know Bartok from her starring role in the Mario Bava horror flick Blood and Black Lace (1964; with Cameron Mitchell. Two years after the release of this film, she walked away from acting.In 1966, Eva Bartok quit her acting career at age 39, instead spending years studying with the Pak Subuh sect near Jakarta, Indonesia. In the 1970s, Bartok taught Subuh philosophy in a school she opened in Hawaii. After a lifetime of globetrotting, during her final years she retreated to London. Eva Bartok passed away on August 1, 1998, at the age of 72. She was survived by her daughter, Deana, and two grandchildren.