Leslie Bush-Fekete

Ladislaus Bus-Fekete first worked as a critic for the Hungarian theater magazine Színházi Élet. His review of the only (lost) opera by the operetta composer Paul Abraham (Etelkas Herz) is interesting from a musical history point of view. Later he also worked as a journalist in Vienna and reported, among other things, on the Olympic Games in 1936. Bus-Fekete celebrated success as a writer of theater comedies in Budapest, Vienna and Berlin in the 1920s and also in the early 1930s. His "birthday play. A life picture in six chapters" was later filmed by Ernst Lubitsch under the name Heaven Can Wait (German: A heavenly sinner) in Hollywood. After his play "Jean," a Hollywood film ("The Baroness and the Butler") and two television productions under the name "Jean" (1957 and 1965) were shot with his collaboration. Ladislaus Bus-Fekete was with the playwright and novelist Maria Fagyas married and worked with her on many productions. Around 1937 the couple moved to the United States, where Bus-Fekete worked successfully as a screenwriter, primarily under the name Leslie Bush-Fekete. He wrote countless story lines and scripts for Hollywood productions, including "Ein Himmlischer Sünder" by Ernst Lubitsch, "Reunion in France" by Jules Dassin (with Joan Crawford and John Wayne) and "A Woman's Heart Never Forgets" (Lydia) by Julien Duvivier (with Merle Oberon and Joseph Cotten). After the war, Fekete also wrote numerous screenplays for television films. Together with Mária Helena Fagyas, he set up the novels "Der verntreute Himmel" and "Der Abituriententag" by Franz Werfel for the stage under the name L. Bush-Fekete. Due to the three spheres of activity of his work (Hungary, German-speaking countries and the USA), Bus-Fekete varied his first and last names many times. So, depending on the occasion, he drew his works as follows: Ladislas Bus-Fekete, Ladislaus Bus-Fekete, Laszlo Bus-Fekete, Leslie Bush-Fekete, L. Bush-Fekete, Ladislaus Bush-Fekete, László Bús-Fekete, Bús Fekete László and Bús-Fekete László.