Actor, theatre director, film director, writer of specialty literature.
He was born in Csongrád. He graduates from the high-school at Szeged, then enrols for the Drama Academy in Budapest. He starts his career in the company of Krecsányi Ignác in 1903, and performs in Budá and Timisoara. After a period of time spent in Pécs and Bratislava, he completes a contract with Janovics Jenő, therefore he goes to Cluj, where he runs and acts main roles from 1911 to 1922. In 1922 he is the director of the Theatre in Targu Mures.
During the period of time reflecting the chaos produced by the First World War, the revolutions, the numerous military invasions, which kept succeeding each other in Timisoara, he is an example on the stage acting heroic roles at the Hungarian Theatre run by Sebestyén Géza. In the hard years succeeding the burning of the theatre (1920), Róna Dezső keeps visiting Timisoara with his theatre company from Arad, more or less constantly, and performs a number of theatre plays in the improvised large hall of the „Városi Vigadó.” Fekete Mihály is the one who obtains the concession of the Theatre in Timisoara in 1924. He provides the public with attractive and diversified programs, by offering both elevated dramas and plays, and popular operettas. They act in the large hall of the „Városi Vigadó”, yet they also act in other towns: they organise performances at The Factory Beer House and in the halls of Novotny, „Vízkeleti” and „Forgács”.
As he feels the trust and love of the public from Timisoara, he constantly returns to the capital of Banat together with his theatre company during the decades between the two World Wars. He is eager to contribute in the development of the Hungarian Theatre from Banat as a director, actor, writer and organiser, by approaching all his knowledge and skills.
In 1926, according to the Romanian Theatres’ legal regulations, the Romanian Theatres’ tax is diminished while they double the tax of the Minority Theatres. The Hungarian Theatre from Transylvania experiences the crises. The theatre’s context is shaken, and Fekete Mihály accepts a management function in order to search for solutions. He proposes the setting-up of an organisational structure, the Alliance of the Actors from Transylvania and Banat (Erdély-Bánsági Színészek Szövetsége, 1935). This could have been the reason he did not obtain the concession when in the Romanian capital they discussed about the theatres’ concession.
He had acted at the Theatre in Cluj from 1930 until the end of his life. In 1941, because of the anti-Semite laws, he has to give up the stage of the National Theatre. The unemployed Jewish actors – following the example of their colleagues from Berlin and Budapest – found Jewish theatres at Cluj and Fekete Mihály is its leader. In autumn 1944, for a short period of time, he manages the Hungarian Theatre in Cluj. In 1959 he retires.
He is especially efficient in classical and modern dramas, he is a versatile actor, and his style is defined by a moderate pathos. There is also evidence regarding his organisational abilities and artistic knowledge. He initiates and promotes outstanding actors (Tőkés Anna, Zilahy Irén, Dajka Margit). As Janovics Jenő’s co-worker, he belongs to the group of those, who were special in the films’ production.
His relevant roles: Cyrano de Bergerac (Rostand); Petzur (Katona József: Bánk bán); Ádám, Lucifer (Madách Imre: Az ember tragédiája – The Tragedy of Mankind); Pecsenyegov (Gorkij: Ellenségek – Enemies). Outstanding productions: Lear király – King Lear, Éjjeli menedékhely Night Asylum. His films: A vén bakancsos és fia a huszár – The Old Man and his Son, the Soldier (Transylvania, 1918); Akik életet cseréltek Those who have Changed their Lives (Transylvania, 1918); A métely – The Poison (Transylvania, 1918); Gyurkovics lányok – The Gyurkovics Girls (Transylvania, 1918); Nehéz szerep – Difficult Role (Transylvania, 1918); Orvosok – Doctors (Transylvania, 1918); Szibéria -Siberia (Transylvania, 1918); Tisztítótűz – The Purgatory (Transylvania, 1918). His dramas: Temesvár megvétele (1911); Bakócz Tamás (1913); Csodák éjszakája – The Night of Wonders (with Szabó Imre, 1935). His volumes: A temesvári színészet története – The History of Drama in Timisoara (Timisoara, 1911); Faluról falura – From Village to Village (Lugoj, 1935).
He dies in Cluj in 1960.
