Oscar Beregi (24 January 1876 – 18 October 1965)

Oscar Beregi was a theater and movie actor. He is mostly known as Isadora Duncan's boyfriend, whom she named in her autobigraphy as  Romeo (later he became top-Sheakspearean actor).In English resources not much was written about him. But here what I have found out. He was born  on  24 Janaury, 1876, in Budapest. From the young age he was gifted with acting talent, that's why,as a teen, he was hired to the theatre by the director of the country's finest troupe. At school he was a bad student, but  was a good athlet. In 1899 he became a member of the National Theatre in Budapest. He studied in University of Budapest on the philosophical faculty. In 1919  left  Hungary becuse of the revolutionary events and went to Vienna. 

Oscar Beregi and Norma Talmadge on a poster "Camille"

   In 1925 he arrived to Hollywood and stayed there for four years. During that time the actor  was filmed in several silent pictures. The most famous was "Camille"(1926), where his partner was Norma Talmadge. In 1930  became a member of the Hungarian Theatre, but has performed  in several other theaters in Budapest. During the World War II from 1930 to 1946, beacuse of his origin he could not play on the stage. In 1946 emigrated to South America and then to Los Angeles, where he stayed untill his death. He has died on October 18, 1965 in Hollywood, California, USA. His body was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery, Santa Monica.

 

Oscar Beregi with his daughter Lea

He was twice married and had two children: daughter Lea and son Oscar Beregi Jr., who became an actor too. Beregi also wrote his autobiography, but it wasn't pulished and the manuscript  is preserved in the national library's Theatre Department. The fragment of his autobiography you could read in Peter Kurth's book "Isadora: A Sensational Life".