Ernest Vajda
Ernest Vajda, originally named Ernö Vajda, was a Hungarian-born playwright and screenwriter, born on May 27, 1887, in Komáron, Hungary. He pursued studies in electrochemistry and later obtained a doctorate in civil law, literature, and philosophy. Vajda's literary career began in earnest as he worked with the Thalia Theatre Company and contributed to various publications, ultimately gaining recognition for his plays, including "Fata Morgana." In 1924, he migrated to the United States, where he quickly transitioned to screenwriting, notably for Paramount Pictures. His collaborations with renowned director Ernst Lubitsch led to several successful films, including "The Love Parade" and "The Merry Widow." Vajda's work often centered on sophisticated romantic comedies, although he later tackled more serious themes, as seen in his film "A Woman Rebels." His contributions to cinema continued until the onset of World War II, with his final credits appearing in the early 1940s. Vajda passed away on April 3, 1954, in California, leaving behind a legacy of influential works in both theater and film.
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Ernest Vajda
Playwright
- Born: May 27, 1887
- Birthplace: Komáron, Hungary
- Died: April 3, 1954
- Place of death: Woodland Hills, California
Biography
Ernest Vajda was born Ernö Vajda on May 27, 1887, in Komáron, Hungary, the son of Lajos Vajda, an attorney and a captain in the Royal Hussars, and Terez Fischer Vajda. He received a degree in electrochemistry at the College of the Benedictine Monks in Papa, Hungary, in 1904 and a doctorate in civil law, literature, and philosophy from Peter Pazmany University in Budapest in 1908. Determined to become a playwright, Vajda then became secretary of the Thalia Theatre Company, edited the literary magazine A Het, founded and edited the newsweekly Kepes Ujag, and wrote for Hirlap.
His first play, Rozmarin Neni, was produced in 1909. His best-known drama, Fata Morgana, debuted in Denmark in 1918. When Vajda came to the United States for the play’s American production in 1924, the same year four of his plays were produced in New York, he was offered a contract by the Paramount Pictures’ production company, Famous Players-Lasky, to create stories for several silent films. The first of these films was The Crown of Lies, released in 1926. Another of his screen stories, Service for Ladies, is typical of the films he worked on; in this film, a Parisian waiter falls for an American heiress and follows her to a resort in the Swiss Alps, where he pretends to be a nobleman.
Paramount at this time was a haven for European writers, directors, and actors who created sophisticated romantic comedies set on the continent. Vajda’s Innocents of Paris introduced American audiences to Maurice Chevalier in 1929; Chevalier also starred in Vajda’s first collaboration with the director Ernst Lubitsch, The Love Parade, also released in 1929. Vajda and Lubitsch followed with the romantic comedies Monte Carlo and The Smiling Lieutenant before collaborating on the pacifist drama, The Man I Killed. Vajda cowrote The Smiling Lieutenant and The Man I Killed with Sampson Raphaelson, who succeeded him as Lubitsch’s principal screenwriter.
Vajda worked at Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer (MGM) studios from 1931 through 1938, often writing with Claudine West. With Donald Odgen Stewart, Vajda and West wrote The Barretts of Wimpole Street, about the marriage of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, starring Frederic March and Norma Shearer as Brownings. Vajda, West, and Stewart wrote another historical drama for Shearer, Marie Antoinette. Vajda rejoined Lubitsch and Raphaelson for The Merry Widow, starring Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. The most notable of Vajda’s MGM films is A Woman Rebels, cowritten with Anthony Veiller and starring Katharine Hepburn. This story of an unwed mother struggling to become a journalist in Victorian England was a failure when it was released in 1936, but it has slowly earned a reputation as one of the era’s best films about strong women.
Vajda wrote fewer screenplays as the popularity of his romantic costume comedies declined with the advent of World War II. While the 1941 anti-Nazi drama, They Dare Not Love, was his final screenwriting credit, he contributed to another 1941 film, The Chocolate Soldier, and provided the original story for Stars and Stripes Forever, the 1952 biography of composer John Philip Sousa. He received a Christopher Award for his work on the latter film.
Vajda and his wife, Barbara Ulichn, had one son, Thomas. Vajda died of a heart attack on April 3, 1954, in Woodland Hills, California, while his play Royal Suite was being performed in Helsinki, Finland.