Éva Ruttkai

Éva Ruttkai (born Éva Russ) was born on 31 December 1927, in Budapest, as the sixth child (though only she, and her brothers Iván and Ottó reached adulthood). The family had hard time to make a living. The two brothers already worked as child actors, with Ruttkai following them from age 2. With her brother Iván she worked in the Vígszínház theatre, then in the children theatre of Artúr Lakner, where Ruttkai could work together with well-known actors like Lili Darvas or Artúr Somlay. Gaining the attention of Dániel Jób, director of the Vígszínház, she was contracted at age 16, playing there until her death (except for 1948–51, playing in the National Theatre). She married Miklós Gábor in 1950, giving birth to a daughter, Júlia, two years later. Meeting Zoltán Latinovits in 1960 during rehearsals, they lived together until Latinovits's death.

In 1984, Ruttkai was diagnosed with breast cancer. Half a year after her last stage appearance, she died on 27 September 1986.

During her four decade of career, Éva Ruttkai became one of the most versatile actress of her time, gaining critical acclaim in both classical and modern, native and foreign stage roles, and a wide range of movies and television films. She won the Kossuth Prize in 1960.

• Gábor, Szigethy. Ruttkai. Budapest: Budapest Terra, 1987. ISBN 963-205-207-2
• Gábor, Szigethy. Parancsolj, tündérkirálynőm!. Budapest: Zeneműkiadó, 1989. ISBN 963-330-684-1
• Attila, Deák. Ruttkai Éva: Kortársaink a filmművészetben. Budapest: Múzsák Közművelődési Kiadó, 1986. ISBN 978-963-564-277-9
• Éva Ruttkai in the Hungarian Theatrical Lexicon (György, Székely. Magyar Színházművészeti Lexikon. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1994. ISBN 978-963-05-6635-3), freely available on mek.oszk.hu

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Éva Ruttkai.

• A fansite dedicated for Éva Ruttkai
• Éva Ruttkai on filmkatalogus.hu
• Éva Ruttkai at IMDb