Jan Werich
- Acting
- February 6, 1905 · Praha - Československo
- October 31, 1980
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 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
Filmography
- Cecílie · Voice (archive footage)
- Jan Werich: Když už člověk jednou je… · Self
- Voskovec & Werich, paralelní osudy · Self
- Fimfarum - To the good of all · Voice, Story
- Fimfarum 2 · Narrator, Story
- Tři strážníci · Self
- Jan Werich's Fimfarum · Vypravěč, Story
- RumplCimprCampr · Novel
- When the Oak Leaves Fall · Narrator (voice) (archive footage), Novel
- Mean Barbara · Narrator (voice) (archive footage), Novel
- Pan Tau – der Film · (archive footage)
- Jonáš a Melicharová · (archive footage)
- Ruffiano and Sweeteeth · Novel
- The Three Veterans · Novel
- Echoes of the Blue Room
- Přišel na večeři · Adaptation
- Královna Koloběžka první · Narrator (archive footage) (Voice), Novel
- Herecké Vánoce · Jan Werich
- Pan Tau
- Přiložte životopis · Self, Screenplay
- Co tomu říkáte, pane Werich? · Self
- Assignment K · Dr. Spiegler
- Klapzubova jedenáctka
- Czechoslovakia: Portrait of a Tragedy · Self
- King and Women · Jindřich VIII., Adaptation
- The 25th Hour · Sgt. Constantin
- Golem · Theatre Play
- Pražská strašidla · Narrator (Voice)
- Magnetické vlny léčí · léčitel Wohu
- The Dear Departed · Dědeček
- Three veterans · Story
- The Cry · Narrator (Voice)
- Uspořená libra · Sam Adams, Adaptation
- Kočár nejsvětější svátosti · Screenplay
- Tears the World Can't See · Fedor Akimič Rjebrotěsov
- When the Cat Comes · Oliva
- The Fabulous Baron Munchausen · kapitán holandské lodi
- Italienisches Capriccio · Don Marzio
- Medvěd · statkář Grigorij Stěpanovič Smirnov
- Těžká Barbora · Theatre Play
- Balada z hadrů · strážný Holofern, Theatre Play
- The Creation of the World · Narrator (Voice)
- Silvestr 1957
- To jsou Bratři v triku · Self
- The Good Soldier Svejk · Narrator, Adaptation
- Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkova budějovická anabase · Narrator (Voice)
- Jaroslav Hasek's Exemplary Cinematograph · Commentary (Voice)
- Hudba z Marsu · Nadšený divák
- Two Little Frosts · Brave Frost (Voice)
- Dog's Heads
- Once Upon a Time, There Was a King... · král Já I., Story
- Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkovy nehody ve vlaku · Narrator (Voice)
- Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Z Hatvanu na hranice Haliče · Narrator (Voice)
- Pouť noci silvestrovské
- The Secret of Blood · Screenstory
- Večer s Jaroslavem Haškem
- The Emperor and the Golem · Emperor Rudolf II / Matheus Kotrba, The Baker, Creative Producer
- Pekařův císař · Rudolf II. / Matěj Kotrba, Screenplay
- Císařův pekař · Rudolf II. / Matěj Kotrba, Screenplay
- The Golden Fish · Narrator (Voice), Story
- The Fall of Berlin · Goering
- Crisis
- The World Belongs to Us · kamelot, Theatre Play
- The Golem · Theatre Play
- Here in Kocourkov · Ferdinand Kaplan, Lyricist
- Heave-Ho! · Story, Screenplay
- Your Money or Your Life · Tonda, Screenplay
- Powder and Petrol · Story, Screenplay