Jan Werich
Between 1916 and 1924, Werich attended "reálné gymnasium" (equivalent to high school) in Křemencova Street in Prague (where his future business partner, Jiří Voskovec, also studied). He studied law at the Charles University Law School from 1924 to 1927, from which he made an early departure to begin his artistic career and forge one of the most important partnerships of his life. For more than 10 years he worked in theatre Jiří Voskovec and Jaroslav Ježek. Their partnership was a platform for their numerous left-wing political satires, most notably in the Osvobozené divadlo (Liberated Theatre). The trio's work took inspiration from Dada, with its love of the absurd, a reaction against bourgeois values and the horrors of World War I. In 1955 he begun working in cinema, and 1960s were a peak in his actor career. From the creation of the ABC Theatre he moved to the City Theatres of Prague and then to the Musical Theatre of Karlin and Nusle. Werich was originally cast by producer Harry Saltzman to play Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice. Upon his arrival at the Pinewood set, both producer Albert R. Broccoli and director Lewis Gilbert felt that he was a poor choice, resembling a "poor, benevolent Santa Claus".
The Emperor and the Golem
as Emperor Rudolf II / Matheus Kotrba, The BakerThe Emperor's mismanagement of his country is provoking some in his court to plot to overthrow...
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The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
as kapitán holandské lodiA 20th century man lands on the Moon and discovers that Baron Munchausen has beaten him to it,...
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The Fall of Berlin
as Hermann GoeringSurrounded by a few party officials, Alexei Ivanov, a stakhanovist smelter, is decorated by...
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When the Cat Comes
as OlivaWhile old Oliva tells a group of children about his life as a sailor and how he met Diana and...
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The 25th Hour
as Sgt. ConstantinA Romanian peasant fights to get back to his family after he's imprisoned by the Nazis.The...
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Pan Tau – der Film
as (archive footage)Pan Tau, the friend of all children, now also helps the adults. A movie producer is in trouble...
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The Cry
as Narrator (voice)While a woman is in the hospital preparing to deliver her child, her husband has all day to...
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Once Upon a Time, There Was a King...
as král Já I.A selfish self-centered widowed ruler, barely tolerated by his subjects and called appropriately...
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Jan Werich's Fimfarum
as Vypravěčfeature-length animated band on the themes of Jan Werich's book. A funny and instructive...
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The Creation of the World
as Narrator (voice)La Création du Monde is among the first animated feature films made in France. But to be exact,...
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Dog's Heads
as uncreditedDog's Heads (Czech: Psohlavci) is a 1955 Czech drama film directed by Martin Frič, based on the...
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The World Belongs to Us
as kamelotOne of the few European films of the 30s to criticize the Nazis, even if they couldn't be...
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Heave-Ho!
as uncreditedA Milk-Cannery baron, Jakub Simonides, is broken by the Canned Milk-Trust and, in his wanderings...
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Fimfarum - To the good of all
as (voice)The film contains three Jan Werich's fairy tales, each directed by one artist. The first story...
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The Good Soldier Schweik
as NarratorAdapting Jaroslav Hasek's raucous satirical novel, and also bringing Josef Lada's equally famous...
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Assignment K
as Dr. SpieglerPhilip Scott, the boss of a toy company, is secretly also the chief of a British spy...
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Fimfarum 2
as NarratorIn this antological film, four fairy tales from the book by Jan Werich, each one by a different...
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Your Money or Your Life
as TondaA czech film that focuses on an unfaithful husband who married in to money, as well as an...
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Crisis
as uncreditedA documentary about the conquest of Czechoslovakia by the Nazis just prior to World War 2.
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Two Little Frosts
as Brave Frost (voice)Two mischievous frost spirits make things chilly for a pair of travelers in this wintry comic...
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When the Oak Leaves Fall
as Narrator (voice) (archive sound)The story is a celebration of the cleverness and wit of the simple peasant Čupera, who triumphs...
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Pan Tau
as uncreditedPan Tau always had a gentle expression and a friendly smile, he was elegantly dressed in a...
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