Ferenc Zenthe

Ferenc Zenthe (born Ferenc Rameshofer; 20 April 1920. Salgóbánya – 30 July 2006, Budapest) was a Hungarian actor, honored with being chosen as an Actor of the Nation, the Kossuth Prize and the Meritorious Artist Award of Hungary. Best known from the historical series A Tenkes Kapitánya and pioneering soap opera Szomszédok, he was regarded as one of the great talents of his generation.

Life and career

Ferenc Zenthe was born on 20 April 1920 in Salgóbánya (now part of Salgótarján) as the only son of a 50-year-old mining engineer. He attended the Cistercian high school of Eger, then attended four semesters in the University of Economics in Budapest, which he left to join the Academy of Performing Arts in 1941, but ended his studies after one year because of World War II. He joined the National Theatre of Pécs in 1945, and after two seasons, the Kisfaludy Theatre of Győr (now the National Theatre of Győr). In 1949 he joined the Csokonai Theatre of Debrecen, and in 1952 the Madách Theatre of Budapest, where he stayed for the rest of his life.