Artists

Zsóka Fodor is a Hungarian actress and voice actress, best known for her role as Magdi Kertész in the television series Barátok közt.

Zsóka Fodor, born Erzsébet Gizella Mária Fodor, was born on May 28, 1942, in Budapest. Her father was Béla Fodor, and her mother was Róza Margit Hittaller.

Her childhood was marked by difficulties: after her parents’ divorce, she was placed with her father, who arranged for her to live with various families, while her brother emigrated to Venezuela. Due to frequent changes of schools, she had no friends, and from an early age, her passion for acting sustained her.

She studied at Kálmán Rózsahegyi’s acting school. In 1965, she graduated from the University of Theatre and Film Arts, where she was admitted on her second attempt—even without a high school diploma, which was still possible at the time. She then joined the Katona József Theatre in Kecskemét. From 1966 to 1970, she performed at the József Attila Theatre and the Literary Stage. Between 1970 and 1972, she was a member of the Jókai Theatre in Békés County, and for a year she also worked as an announcer for Hungarian Television. In 1974, she returned to the Jókai Theatre, and from 1979 she performed at the National Theatre of Szeged until 1995.

She began appearing in films in the 1960s, acting in 25 films and more than 300 stage productions, and lending her voice to 240 films. She became widely known through the TV series Barátok közt, in which she played Magdi Kertész from 1998 to 2009.

Based on an idea by Zsóka Fodor, Lajos Kulcsár wrote the play Zserbótangó, which centers on two aging actresses whose careers have declined and who are temporarily forced to share a flat. Fodor played one of the main roles, the retired actress Kamilla Szentmártoni. The premiere took place on December 3, 2013, in Békéscsaba.