Ladislao Vajda (18 August 1906, Budapest – 25 March 1965, Barcelona) was a Hungarian film director who made films in Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany.

Biography

He was born in Budapest, his father being an actor and screenwriter.

Vajda started his career as editor (even though he also worked as artistic designer and writer) for different directors, such as Billy Wilder and Henry Koster. Eventually, he undertook his first directorial effort in his native country, Hungary.

Soon afterwards World War II, he became established in Italy, where he directed two movies. Finally, he moved to Spain. During the 1940s, Vajda directed several movies in Portugal, United Kingdom and, mainly, in Spain.

However, he would reach his artistic peak in the 1950s. Vajda's movies during this period are clearly influenced by German director Fritz Lang. His main works during this period are: The Miracle of Marcelino (1955), My Uncle Jacinto (1956), Afternoon of the Bulls (1956), The Man Who Wagged His Tail (1957) with Peter Ustinov, and It Happened in Broad Daylight (1958). They were acclaimed by both critics and public: The Miracle of Marcelino and My Uncle Jacinto won different prizes in Cannes Film Festival and Berlin Film Festival; Afternoon of the Bulls was nominated for the Palme d'Or and It Happened in Broad Daylight for the Golden Bear.

During the 1960s, Vajda worked on several different minor works in Germany and Spain. He died in Barcelona in 1965.