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Jan Werich

Actor

Jan Werich

Born February 6, 1905 in Praha - ČeskoslovenskoDied October 31, 198040 films

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.

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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".

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The best way into Jan Werich's work
The 25th Hour posterFirst watchThe 25th Hour19677.6as Sgt. ConstantinA Romanian peasant fights to get back to his family after he's imprisoned by the Nazis.The picture is based on real events.View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen poster7.4The Fabulous Baron Munchausen1962When the Cat Comes poster7.0When the Cat Comes1963

Filmography

40 films as actor
  1. 2011Fimfarum - To the good of all(voice)
  2. 2006Fimfarum 2Narrator
  3. 2002Jan Werich's FimfarumVypravěč
  4. 1970Herecké VánoceJan Werich
  5. 1968Assignment KDr. Spiegler
  6. 1967King and WomenJindřich VIII.
  7. 1967The 25th HourSgt. Constantin
  8. 1965Magnetické vlny léčíléčitel Wohu
  9. 1964The Dear DepartedDědeček
  10. 1964The CryNarrator (voice)
  11. 1963Uspořená libraSam Adams
  12. 1963Kočár nejsvětější svátosti
  13. 1963Tears the World Can't SeeFedor Akimič Rjebrotěsov
  14. 1963When the Cat ComesOliva
  15. 1962The Fabulous Baron Munchausenkapitán holandské lodi
  16. 1961Italienisches CapriccioDon Marzio
  17. 1961Medvědstatkář Grigorij Stěpanovič Smirnov
  18. 1960Těžká Barbora
  19. 1960Balada z hadrůstrážný Holofern
  20. 1958The Creation of the WorldNarrator (voice)
  21. 1957Silvestr 1957
  22. 1956The Good Soldier SvejkNarrator
  23. 1956Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkova budějovická anabaseNarrator (voice)
  24. 1956Jaroslav Hasek's Exemplary CinematographCommentary (voice)
  25. 1955Hudba z MarsuNadšený divák
  26. 1955Two Little FrostsBrave Frost (voice)
  27. 1955Dog's Heads
  28. 1955Once Upon a Time, There Was a King...král Já I.
  29. 1955Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkovy nehody ve vlakuNarrator (voice)
  30. 1954Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Z Hatvanu na hranice HaličeNarrator (voice)
  31. 1953Pouť noci silvestrovské
  32. 1953Večer s Jaroslavem Haškem
  33. 1951The Emperor and the GolemEmperor Rudolf II / Matheus Kotrba, The Baker
  34. 1951The Golden FishNarrator (voice)
  35. 1950The Fall of BerlinGoering
  36. 1937The World Belongs to Uskamelot
  37. 1934Here in KocourkovFerdinand Kaplan
  38. 1934Heave-Ho!
  39. 1932Your Money or Your LifeTonda
  40. 1932Powder and Petrol