Oscar Beregi Jr., a Hungarian-born character actor, is renowned for his captivating performances on television, often portraying Eastern European or Russian heavies. His on-screen presence was characterized by a cultured and intellectual, yet sinister, demeanor. Beregi's father, Oscar Beregi Sr., was a well-known matinee idol who appeared in Hungarian and German stage productions and films since 1919.
The younger Beregi and his father left Hungary in 1939, with the father settling in the United States and the son running a restaurant in Chile. It took several years for Beregi to secure a visa to enter the U.S., which was only possible through the intervention of then-U.S. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson.
Upon arriving in America, Beregi spoke little English and worked as a salesman for several years, learning the language before pursuing an acting career in his middle age. On the big screen, he primarily secured small supporting roles, but he made the most of the meatier parts offered to him in television.
Some of Beregi's most notable television performances include mob boss Joe Kulak in eight episodes of The Untouchables (1959),scientific criminal mastermind Farwell in Rod Serling's The Rip Van Winkle Caper (1961),and former SS concentration camp commandant Guenther Lutze in Deaths-Head Revisited (1961). He also appeared in Middle Eastern intrigue in The Third Man (1959) and parodied his evil personae in I'm Only Human (1966),Tequila Mockingbird (1969),and Young Frankenstein (1974).
In his free time, Beregi was a successful breeder of Komondors, a breed of large, white Hungarian sheep dog, which is considered a living treasure in their native country.
