Background
Ferenc Molnár was born in Budapest on January 12, 1878 to Dr. Mór Neumann, a prosperous and popular gastroenterologist, and Jozefa Wallfisch.
Ferenc Molnár was born in Budapest on January 12, 1878 to Dr. Mór Neumann, a prosperous and popular gastroenterologist, and Jozefa Wallfisch.
As was usual among the Hungarian upper class, he was educated by private tutors until the age of nine. He then entered a Calvinist secondary school, where he printed his own periodicals and staged his first play at the age of fourteen. Upon completion of secondary school in 1895, Molnar studied law at the University of Budapest and at the Swiss University in Geneva. During this period he published articles in Hungarian newspapers and wrote his first novellas and short stories.
Molnár served as a proud and jingoistic supporter of the Austro-Hungarian Empire while working as a war correspondent during the First World War. So positive were his war reports that he was decorated by the Habsburg Emperor, but criticized by some of his pacifist peers. He later wrote Reflections of a War Correspondent, describing his experiences.
Ferenc's most popular plays are Liliom, later adapted into the musical Carousel; The Guardsman, which served as the basis of the 1931 film of the same name, which starred Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne; and The Swan. His 1918 film, The Devil, was adapted three years later for American audiences, starring George Arliss in his first nationally released film. The 1956 film version of The Swan was Grace Kelly's penultimate film, and was released on the day of her wedding to Prince Rainier.
Molnár's play The Good Fairy was adapted by Preston Sturges and filmed in 1935 with Margaret Sullavan, and subsequently turned into the 1947 Deanna Durbin vehicle, I'll Be Yours.
Quotes from others about the person
Molnár's long and turbulent life was one of hard and incessant work. For over fifty years he transposed his inner conflict in his literary work; writing was his oxygen, elixir, and self-therapy.
In 1906 Ferenc married Margit Veszi, but they divorced in 1910. Then he married an actress Sari Fedak in1922, but they also divorced in 1924. In 1926 he married Lili Darvan, but they separated in 1932. He had a longtime domestic partnership with Wanda Bartha, which ended with her suicide in 1947. He had one daughter from the first marriage.