Charles Korvin

Charles Korvin born Géza Korvin Kárpáthy was an American film television and stage actor He was also a professional still and motion picture photographer and master chef The Hungarian actor moved to Paris around 1930 He studied at the Sorbonne and during his ten years living in France he was hired by Yvon the famous French postcard company shooting on location all over the country In 1937 he was hired for a CBC documentary film project about the renowned Canadian medical doctor Norman Bethune Entitled Heart of Spain Korvin photographed and codirected the antiFranco film which was shot on the front lines during the Spanish Civil War Moving to the United States in 1940 Korvin studied acting and stagecraft at the Barter Theater in Abingdon Virginia As Géza Korvin he made his Broadway stage debut in 1943 playing a Russian nobleman in the play Dark Eyes After signing a movie contract with Universal Pictures he changed his stage name to Charles Korvin He worked steadily through the 1940s including appearing in three films with actress Merle Oberon He was blacklisted around 1952 refused to testify before the HUAC and his film career was halted Turning to the newly burgeoning and much less political field of broadcast television Korvin starred in early productions for Playhouse 90 Studio One and US Steel Hour He played The Eagle for six contiguous episodes on Disneys Zorro and played Latin dance instructor Carlos on The Honeymooners episode Mama Loves Mambo In 1960 he starred as Inspector Duval in the UKUS television series Interpol Calling produced by J Arthur Rank During these years Korvin returned to offBroadway theater starring as the king in Rodgers and Hammersteins The King and I with runs at the Westbury Music Fair and the St Louis Municipal Opera He was back on Broadway in the mid1960s starring as the upstairs neighbor in Neil Simons Tony Award winning play Barefoot in the Park In 1964 he returned to Hollywood to play the ships captain in Stanley Kramers Academy Award winning film Ship of Fools Remaining active in later years he was the voice of the Red Baron for eight years on television and radio ads for Lufthansa Airlines For more than 25 years Korvin with his wife Anne were partoftheyear residents in Klosters Switzerland where he enjoyed skiing cooking and entertaining with friends and fellow part time residents Irwin and Marion Shaw Greta Garbo Salka Viertel Deborah Kerr Robert Ricci John Fairchild and Gaetan de Rosnay among others Korvin claimed to have been Greta Garbos last dance partner Julia Child another long time friend was interviewed in 1978 by Dick Cavett on his PBS television show When he asked her to name her favorite amateur chef Child replied Charles Korvin