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Jan Werich
Acting
Biography
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 bourg…
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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".
Biography expanded
BODY OF WORK
Jan Werich's Filmography
Select any movie to open its full Movies Mates details page.
No Poster
Cecílie
as Voice (archive footage)
Jan Werich: Když už člověk jednou je…
as Self (archive footage)
Fimfarum - To the good of all
as (voice)
Fimfarum 2
as Narrator
Jan Werich's Fimfarum
as Vypravěč
When the Oak Leaves Fall
as Narrator (voice) (archive footage)
Mean Barbara
as Narrator (voice) (archive footage)
Pan Tau – der Film
as (archive footage)
No Poster
Jonáš a Melicharová
as (archive footage)
Echoes of the Blue Room
No Poster
Královna Koloběžka první
as Narrator (archive footage) (voice)
No Poster
Herecké Vánoce
as Jan Werich
Assignment K
as Dr. Spiegler
Czechoslovakia: Portrait of a Tragedy
as Self
No Poster
King and Women
as Jindřich VIII.
The 25th Hour
as Sgt. Constantin
No Poster
Pražská strašidla
as Narrator (voice)
Magnetické vlny léčí
as léčitel Wohu
No Poster
The Dear Departed
as Dědeček
The Cry
as Narrator (voice)
Uspořená libra
as Sam Adams
Tears the World Can't See
as Fedor Akimič Rjebrotěsov
Kočár nejsvětější svátosti
When the Cat Comes
as Oliva
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
as kapitán holandské lodi
Italienisches Capriccio
as Don Marzio
Medvěd
as statkář Grigorij Stěpanovič Smirnov
No Poster
Těžká Barbora
Balada z hadrů
as strážný Holofern
The Creation of the World
as Narrator (voice)
No Poster
Silvestr 1957
No Poster
To jsou Bratři v triku
as Himself
The Good Soldier Svejk
as Narrator
No Poster
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkova budějovická anabase
as Narrator (voice)
Jaroslav Hasek's Exemplary Cinematograph
as Commentary (voice)
Hudba z Marsu
as Nadšený divák
Two Little Frosts
as Brave Frost (voice)
Dog's Heads
Once Upon a Time, There Was a King...
as král Já I.
No Poster
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkovy nehody ve vlaku
as Narrator (voice)
No Poster
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Z Hatvanu na hranice Haliče
as Narrator (voice)
No Poster
Pouť noci silvestrovské
No Poster
Večer s Jaroslavem Haškem
The Emperor and the Golem
as Emperor Rudolf II / Matheus Kotrba, The Baker
Pekařův císař
as Rudolf II. / Matěj Kotrba
Císařův pekař
as Rudolf II. / Matěj Kotrba
No Poster
The Golden Fish
as Narrator (voice)
The Fall of Berlin
as Goering
Crisis
The World Belongs to Us
as kamelot
Here in Kocourkov
as Ferdinand Kaplan
Heave-Ho!
Your Money or Your Life
as Tonda
