Ferenc Somogyi, 31, was born and raised in a small peaceful town outside of Amsterdam.  His parents divorced when he was seven, and at the age of 15 he went to live with his dad, a radio journalist and television producer, and his "mother", an award-winning culinary stylist.  He played soccer from the age of five, windsurfed and participated in league sports from an early age. At eighteen he traveled to the US to attend Mesa Community College in San Diego for one year.  There he studied computer science, and – to overcome shyness – he took acting lessons.

Returning to the Netherlands for one year of mandatory military service (Army), Ferenc attended a general audition for the casting director of the most famous show on Dutch television, the daytime serial “Good Times, Bad Times”.  He was immediately told they would write a part for him in the show, and meantime he was invited to work for the casting agency – which Ferenc did, opening his own casting agency later on. 

When the part of Rik De Jong was written for “Good Times, Bad Times”, Ferenc began an extraordinarily successful seven year run as the Netherlands’ favorite hero. Rik was a James Dean type, macho, rebellious, and by huge contrast, also very sensitive.  The character was a bartender, boxer, ice hockey player and motorcycle racer on the show, and also, naturally, very popular with women; at least 12 women played opposite Ferenc

During the run Ferenc appeared on more than fifty talk shows; there were hundreds of prominent press cuttings, several hundred magazine interviews and a billboard campaign. His personal sponsors included Swatch, Malboro Classics, Wrangler, Bon Giorno, Immersion, YellowCab, Scotch & Soda, O' Neill, Daewoo, Heavy, KTM and Galanti.

Eventually his character married and had two children. When Ferenc emigrated to the US two years ago as a State Department approved  “Alien of Extraordinary Ability”, the character of Rik was consigned to a Thai prison to serve several life sentences on a trumped-up charge.

In addition to “Good Times, Bad Times” (Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden), Somogyi was featured in Baantjer (a police series) De Garage (comedy) Bon Bini Beach (series) and Het Glazen Huis (series).  He also made music videos with several Dutch and US production companies, and performed in one feature film “Jezus is een Palestijn.  Multi-media work includes Jong Zuid (award-winning multi-media soap) Media Republic. Ferenc’s work has taken him to Russia, Iceland, Nepal, Spain, France, Morocco, Madeira, the Canary Islands and the Caribbean.

The recipient of a number of awards for his work in the Netherlands, Somogyi was named Best Actor 1997 (Hitkrant Awards) and Most Popular Actor.  Because of his popularity he has been able to serve as spokesperson for a number of charitable causes.  He hosted two AIDS pop music festival that were eventually aired on TMF/MTV.  He has also worked with UNICEF and Foster Parents.

Somogyi competed in and won the Dutch celebrities version of “Survivor” in December 2004. During the contest, shot in the snake-infested jungles of Argentina, he was the only contestant none of the others ever voted against. 

Here in the U.S. he is currently hosting the Planet X Extreme Sports Network and working as a personal fitness trainer at one of America's most exclusive gyms.

TRAINING

Elementary Acting MESA College, San Diego 1993, Acting Academy Maastricht  1993-94, Ward Latiers (workshops) 1995-97, Ellen Rohrman(private acting lessons)  1995-98, Joe Weston(workshops)  1999, Josha Hamann(workshops)  1998-2000, Scott Rollins(voicecoach)  2000, Bob Corff(voicecoach)  2002-2003

SPORTS, SKILLS AND INTERESTS

Ten years of soccer in a Dutch league, four on celebrity teams.  Presently playing on Dreamworks soccer team in Los Angeles.  Ocean windsurfing, baseball (with pitcher training) kart racing, car racing (one year on professional team) motor cross, motor racing, trapeze (trained by Russian State Circus).  Beach volleyball, bungee jumping. horseback riding, SCUBA diving. F22 stunt plane aerial ‘dog-fighting’. And from his military service: tank driver, shooter first class (one step below sniper) some commando training.  Also some piano skill, ten finger typist and aspiring computer nerd.  

Languages include Dutch, German, French (written) and English.  Accents: Dutch, German, French, Russian.  Ferenc has co-produced two pilots in the US, and produced one.  He does multi-language voice-over work, (Testimony of the Human Spirit, Chelsea Studios, 2003) is executive producer for a movie project and writes columns for weekly magazines. 

“My biggest passion,” says Ferenc, “is motivating people, especially young people, to have dreams.  Because a person without a dream is like a boat without a tiller.  Anything is possible.”