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Jan Werich

Born · February 6, 1905

Died · October 31, 1980 (75 years old)

Known For: Acting

Place of Birth: Praha - Československo

Bio

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".

Known for

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen

When the Cat Comes

When the Cat Comes

The 25th Hour

The 25th Hour

The Emperor and the Golem

The Emperor and the Golem

Jan Werich: Když už člověk jednou je…

Self (archive footage)

2021

Voskovec & Werich, paralelní osudy

self · (3 episodes)

2012

Fimfarum - To the good of all

(voice)

2011

Fimfarum 2

Narrator

2006

Tři strážníci

self · (3 episodes)

2005

Jan Werich's Fimfarum

Vypravěč

2002

When the Oak Leaves Fall

Narrator (voice) (archive footage)

1991

Mean Barbara

Narrator (voice) (archive footage)

1989

Pan Tau – der Film

(archive footage)

1988

Jonáš a Melicharová

(archive footage)

1986

Královna Koloběžka první

Narrator (archive footage) (voice)

1981

Pan Tau

(6 episodes)

1970

Přiložte životopis

Self · (2 episodes)

1968

Co tomu říkáte, pane Werich?

Self · (9 episodes)

1968

Assignment K

Dr. Spiegler

1968

Klapzubova jedenáctka

(1 episode)

1968

Czechoslovakia: Portrait of a Tragedy

Self

1968

King and Women

Jindřich VIII.

1967

The 25th Hour

Sgt. Constantin

1967

Pražská strašidla

Narrator (voice)

1966

Magnetické vlny léčí

léčitel Wohu

1965

The Dear Departed

Dědeček

1964

The Cry

Narrator (voice)

1964

Uspořená libra

Sam Adams

1963

Kočár nejsvětější svátosti

1963

Tears the World Can't See

Fedor Akimič Rjebrotěsov

1963

When the Cat Comes

Oliva

1963

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen

kapitán holandské lodi

1962

Italienisches Capriccio

Don Marzio

1961

Medvěd

statkář Grigorij Stěpanovič Smirnov

1961

Balada z hadrů

strážný Holofern

1960

Těžká Barbora

druhý žoldnéř

1960

The Creation of the World

Narrator (voice)

1958

Silvestr 1957

1957

To jsou Bratři v triku

Himself

1957

The Good Soldier Schweik

Narrator

1956

Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkova budějovická anabase

Narrator (voice)

1956

Jaroslav Hasek's Exemplary Cinematograph

Commentary (voice)

1956

Hudba z Marsu

Nadšený divák

1955

Two Little Frosts

Brave Frost (voice)

1955

Dog's Heads

1955

Once Upon a Time, There Was a King...

král Já I.

1955

Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkovy nehody ve vlaku

Narrator (voice)

1955

Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Z Hatvanu na hranice Haliče

Narrator (voice)

1954

Pouť noci silvestrovské

1953

The Emperor and the Golem

Emperor Rudolf II / Matheus Kotrba, The Baker

1952

The Golden Fish

Narrator (voice)

1951

The Fall of Berlin

Hermann Goering

1950

Crisis

1939

The World Belongs to Us

kamelot

1937

Here in Kocourkov

Ferdinand Kaplan

1934

Heave-Ho!

1934

Your Money or Your Life

Tonda

1932

Powder and Petrol

1932