Jan Werich
Born
February 6, 1905
Died
October 31, 1980 (75 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Praha - Československo
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
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