Jan Werich

infobox actor
name = Jan Werich


caption =
birthname =
birthdate = birth date|1905|02|06
birthplace = Prague, Czechoslovakia
deathdate = death date and age|1980|10|31|1905|02|06
deathplace = Prague
occupation = actor, playwright and writer
yearsactive = Jan Werich (IPA2|ˈjan ˈvɛrɪx) (born 6 February, 1905, Prague - died 31 October, 1980, Prague) was a Czechoslovak actor, playwright and writer.Between 1916 to 1924 he attended "reálné gymnasium" (equivalent to high school) in Křemencová Street in Prague (where his future partner, Jiří Voskovec, also studied). He studied law at the Law School of Charles University 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.

They opened on April 19, 1927 with Vest Pocket Revue in Umělecká beseda on Malá Strana in Prague. July 1, 1929, Jan Werich married Zdenka Houskova. 1929 - first show "Líčení se odročuje" of Osvobozené divadlo theatre in main location "U Nováků Palace". In this location they continued until the very end of their theatre in 1938.

His collaboration with theatrical talent Jiří Voskovec and musical legend Jaroslav Ježek lasted for more than 10 years between the two world wars. Their partnership was a platform for their numerous lively left-wing political satires.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. The two intellectual clowns attacked the inanities of totalitarianism as well as the mistakes of democracy.

In the bitter reality leading to the Second World War and the closure of Czechoslovak theatres Werich, Voskovec and Ježek were forced into exile in the United States in 1938, where Voskovec and Ježek remained for the rest of their lives. But Jan Werich returned to his homeland five years later. Upon his return to Czechoslovakia he started a partnership with Miroslav Horníček and also worked with famous puppeteer Jiří Trnka to write modern fairy tales. With his new partner Miroslav Horníček at his side, he re-mounted many of the plays he had created with Voskovec in the 30s but integrated political content specific to the time.

Jan Werich made his debut in film and television. Movies he starred in have kept their mythic status in Czech popular culture to this day. They include "Byl jednou jeden král" (English: "Once upon a Time There Was a King"), which was released in 1955, and made many political compromises to appease the communist censors. Although Czechs saw the caricatures in the film as nothing more than communist propaganda, the film was colourful and had all the ingredients of a good fairy tale. The 1960s were a peak in Werich's 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.He was the original choice to play the villain Blofeld in the James Bond film "You Only Live Twice" released in 1967, but after several scenes were shot, Werich fell ill and was replaced by Donald Pleasance. In the TV documentary Best Bond the director of the film explained that they had to replace Werich because of his poor English and his benign appearance that made people think of him as Santa Claus. Jan Werich signed the pro-reform manifesto 2000 Words in 1968. After the Soviet invasion of 1968, he and his wife immediately fled to Vienna along with many other Czechs at the time. After long deliberations he realized he had to go back, saying that his "home was his castle" and realizing that if he stayed abroad he would never work again. He returned to Czechoslovakia in early 1969. Werich met with Voskovec for the very last time in Vienna, Austria in 1974. He had limited opportunities to perform in public until his death in 1980. His last public appearance was in Prague's Lucerna in 1977.

He did not sign the Charter 77 proclamation, organized by Václav Havel, but in the end he succumbed to pressure from the communist authorities and in order to be able to work again, publicly proclaimed his full loyalty to the regime, by attending "Anti-charta77" meetings and even signing a petition denouncing Charter 77. He later claimed he was tricked into signing and that he did not really know what his signature was for, as the original attendance document signed open entry was potentially substituted for a later "declaration of faith".

Since Jan Werich's death in 1980, he has remained immensely popular, and many of his most famous lines has gone down into popular legend.

Works

Theatre

* Vest pocket revue

* Sever proti jihu (north against the south)

* Golem

* Ostrov Dynamit

* Fata morgana

* Smoking revue

* Premiéra skafandr

* Caesar – 1932

* Osel a stín – 1933 (donkey and the shadow)

* Kat a blázen – 1934 (executioner and madman) and anti-fascist work and critique

(the German Embassy protested that this play insulted their head of state, and as a result, Werich and Voskovec were expelled from the theatre "U Nováků")

* Balada z hadrů – 1935, (balade from rags) draws from the works of Francois Villon .

* Nebe na Zemi (heaven on Earth)

* Rub a líc (averse and obverse)0

* Těžká Barbora – (Heavy Barbora) depicts a conflict between two fictional noble houses,Eidamští ("Eidams") and Yberlandští ("Yberlands"), the later attacking the former,the former then employ two soldiers (Werich and Voskovec),that build a cheese canon (Těžká Barbora)

* Svět za mřížemi (world behind bars)

* Pěst na oko – (fist on the eye) humans refuse to take a leson from history and constatnly repeat the same mistake

* Divotvorný hrnec- (wondermaking pot) a musical comedy based on Finian's Rainbow from 'Yip' Harburg and Fred Saidy

Movies

* Pudr a benzín – 1931 (Powder and gas)

* Peníze nebo život – 1932 ((your)money or (your)life) (name based on the Czech version of a robber stating that if he will not receive money he shall kill)

* U nás v Kocourkově – 1932 (By us at Kocourkov)

* Hej rup – 1934 (name is an exclamation or command to pull)

* Svět patří nám – 1937 (The world belongs to Us)

* Pád Berlína (The fall of Berlin)- 1949 - he played a role of Hermann Goering - USSR-made film

* Císařův pekař a pekařův císař – 1951 (The Emperor and the Golem)

* Tajemství krve – 1953 (The secret of blood)

* Byl jednou jeden král – 1954 (There was once a King)

* Vzorný kinematograf Haška Jaroslava – 1955

* Hudba z Marsu – 1955, vedlejší role, seděl pouze v publiku (just one of the people sitting in the audience)

* Stvoření světa – 1957 (The Making of the world,the famous animated film spoken by Werich,in Rhymes)

* Baron Prášil – 1961

* Šest otázek pro Jana Wericha – 1964 (six quetions for Jan Werich)

* Až přijde kocour – 1968 (When the Cat Arrives)

* Pan Tau a Claudie – 1970 (Mister Tau and Claudia)

* Muž, který rozdával smích – 1970 (The man who gave laughter)

* Pan Tau a cesta kolem světa – 1972 (Mister Tau and the Journey around the world)

* Hledá se pan Tau – 1972 (Mister Tau is missing(Mister Tau is being looked for,being the word-to-word translation))

* Dva mrazíci

Television works

* Medvěd – 1961 (the bear)

* Slzy, které svět nevidí – 1962 (The tears that the world sees not)

* Kočár nejsvětější svátosti – 1962

* Uspořená libra – 1964 (Saved Pound)

*Král a žena – 1967 (The King and wife)

*Magnetické vlny léčí (magnetical waves cure)

Literary works

*Fimfárum

* Italské prázdniny (Italian Holliday)

*Potlach

*Falstaffovo babí léto

*Lincoln 1933

*Povídky nejen O Psech - published posthumunously, a revival of his former wish to write a story book about dogs. There were not enough stories however and so it was renamed and other stories were added - some of them has been previously published and some are originals, from manuscripts and letters.

External links

* [http://www.werich.cz/ Werichovci - fan club website]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97QRvUPYl8c] Jan Werich about Alexander Dubček (1968, in Czech)