Franciska Gaal

• Name — Franciska Gaal • Born — 1 February 1903 • Birthplace — Budapest, Austro-Hungarian Empire • Died — 13 August 1972 • Place of death — New York City, United States • Other Names — Szidónia Silberspitz, Fanny Zilverstitch • Occupation — Actress • Years Active — 1921–1946 (film) • Spouse — Sándor Lestyán (1922–?) Francis Dajkovich (1934–1965) (his death) • Illustration — 1940, Franciska Gaal as Gretchen on original program for movie The Buccaneer, playing in a local cinema in Prilep, Macedonia (Kingdom of Yugoslavia)

Born in Budapest, Gaal was the last of the 13 children of a Jewish family. She studied at the Stage Academy in Budapest in 1919, and by 1920, she appeared in theaters in this city.

Gaal debuted in film in Máté gazda és a törpék (1919). She was groomed by Joe Pasternak as a singer to become a popular stage and cabaret performer in Central Europe in the 1920s and 1930s. She made her first film appearances in some Hungarian silent films of the early 1920s, but her cinema career didn't ignite until the arrival of sound film.

After appearing in several films made in Hungary, Germany and Austria, two of which were directed by Henry Koster, she came to Hollywood to star in Cecil B. De Mille's epic adventure film The Buccaneer (1938). She followed this with the comedy The Girl Downstairs (also 1938) with Franchot Tone, a remake of her Austrian success Catherine the Last. In 1939, Gaal co-starred with Bing Crosby in the musical Paris Honeymoon.

She returned to Hungary in 1940 for unknown reasons and remained there for the duration of World War II. In 1946, she began work on the Soviet-backed Renee XIV with Johannes Heesters and Theo Lingen, but filming was halted during production and never was completed. She returned to the United States in 1947 with her husband Francis de Dajkovich (died in 1965), a Budapest-born attorney, but her return attracted little interest in Hollywood. In 1951, she replaced Eva Gabor in The Happy Time on Broadway.

Gaal died of thrombosis in New York City.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1920 — A bostonville-i kaland • 1921 — New-York express kábel — Reporter • A cornevillei harangok — Serpolette, cselédlány • 1932 — Paprika — Ilona von Takacs • 1933 — Greetings and Kisses, Veronika — Veronika • Scandal in Budapest — Eva Balogh • Romance in Budapest — Eva Balogh • 1934 — A Precocious Girl — Lucie Carell, nicknamed Csibi • Spring Parade — Marika • Peter — 17-year old Eva • 1935 — Little Mother — Marie Bonnard • 1936 — Catherine the Last — Katharina, Küchenmädchen • Fräulein Lilli — Fräulein Lilli • 1938 — The Buccaneer — Gretchen • The Girl Downstairs — Katerina Linz • 1939 — Paris Honeymoon — Manya • 1946 — Renee XIV — uncompleted