A prominent Hungarian actor, Peter Halasz, was on Monday preparing to attend his own funeral after being diagnosed with incurable liver cancer.
”This is not at all morbid, but a nice and honourable farewell,” said Erik Novak, the event organiser and producer of Halasz’s last film, adding that the ”funeral” would be filmed for use in a biopic of Halasz.
Halasz (62), who has been told he only has a short time to live, was planning to lie in a glass coffin on Monday evening as his friends and family delivered farewell speeches and paid their respects.
Actor, director and writer Halasz founded Kassak Theatre (later Squat Theatre) in 1969, but found it banned by the ruling communist regime.
The group moved to France as political refugees in 1976 and played across Europe before departing for New York.
Halasz came back to Hungary in 1991 after the change of regime, and has since starred in several movies, including a film by Istvan Szabo, who recently admitted to spying for the communist government in the 1950s and 1960s. — Sapa-dpa