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- Stunningly beautiful and charismatic blonde Barbara Bouchet was born Barbel Goutscherola on August 15th, 1943 in Liberec, Czechoslovakia, known as Reichenberg, during the German occupation. Her father, Fritz, was a war photographer.
Her family was forced to leave the country when Barbara was a little girl and her name was changed to Barbara Gutscher. They got separated, but ended up getting together again. They migrated in December 1956 and settled in San Francisco, California, where Barbara attended the prestigious Galileo High School, a polytechnic school with commercial and industrial branches. Bouchet speaks English, German and Italian with equal fluency. In an interview to Shock Cinema (Number 44), Barbara Bouchet says her name had been changed again to Bouchet at the start of her career, because it sounded like her German name.
Barbara was inspired to be a screen actress after seeing the work of German actress Christine Kaufmann in Der schweigende Engel (1954) ("The Silent Angel").
In 1959, her father submitted a photo of her to the "Miss Gidget" beauty contest, and she won. The contest was held by the local television station KPIX-TV, based on the character of what has been considered the first "beach party movie" in Hollywood history, Gidget (1959). The prize included a date with James Darren the famous star of that movie, and a screen test. The screen test never materialized.
Barbara was featured as a dancer on the teen-targeted rock'n'roll TV show, The KPIX Dance Party, from 1959 to 1962.
Bouchet began a career of teen model that led to her extensive magazine cover model (35 covers). In October 1983, at age 40, Bouchet did a nude pictorial for the Italian edition of "Penthouse" magazine.
Barbara acted in TV commercials. She made her film debut with an uncredited bit part in the comedy What a Way to Go! (1964). Bouchet soon became known for openly flaunting her spectacularly curvaceous figure in several pictures: clad in alluring silk harem robes in John Goldfarb, Please Come Home! (1965), cavorting nude on the beaches of Pearl Harbor in the World War II epic In Harm's Way (1965), and wearing a bikini for the bulk of her screen time in Agent for H.A.R.M. (1966). She also portrayed "Ursula" in Bob Fosse's outstanding musical Sweet Charity (1969), made for a nicely sultry "Miss Moneypenny" in the tongue-in-cheek 007 outing Casino Royale (1967), and had guest spots on such TV series as The Virginian (1962), Star Trek (1966), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964), and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964).
In 1970, fed-up with being typecast as a mindless sexpot in Hollywood fare, she moved to Italy. She soon became one of Italy's top actresses, carving out a fruitful niche for herself in sex comedies, giallo murder mysteries and gritty crime thrillers. Among her most memorable roles in these Italian features are the brazen spoiled rich lady "Patrizia" in Lucio Fulci's disturbing Don't Torture a Duckling (1972) ("Don't Torture A Duckling"), prostitute "Francine" in The French Sex Murders (1972) ("The French Sex Murders"), modeling agency choreographer "Kitty" in The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972) ("Red Queen Kills 7 Times"), saucy love interest "Scilla" in the splendidly sleazy The Mean Machine (1973), and enticing stripper "Anny" in Death Rage (1976) ("Death Rage"). Bouchet had an unforgettably steamy lesbian love scene with Rosalba Neri in Amuck! (1972) ("Amuck"). Barbara Bouchet appeared alongside fellow Bond girls Barbara Bach and Claudine Auger in Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971) ("The Black Belly of the Tarantula"). Barbara Bouchet continues to act in both films and TV shows, alike, made in Italy. Barbara popped up in a small role (as the wife of giallo star David Hemmings) in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002).
Barbara married producer Luigi Borghese in 1976. They had two sons: Alessandro Borgese (b. 1974), a chef hosting a show on the Italian cable TV; and Massimiliano Borghese (b. 1989), a bartender. During the shooting of Diamond Connection (1984) in Istanbul, there was mention of a separation in the Turkish language "New World Video & Magazine" of September 1984, but the divorce happened much later.
In 1985, Bouchet started her own production company, opened her own health club in Rome, and launched her own line of fitness books and videos.
[based on woodyanders] - Director
- Writer
- Actor
Milos Forman was born Jan Tomas Forman in Caslav, Czechoslovakia, to Anna (Svabova), who ran a summer hotel, and Rudolf Forman, a professor. During World War II, his parents were taken away by the Nazis, after being accused of participating in the underground resistance. His father died in Mittelbau-Dora, a sub camp of Buchenwald, and his mother died in Auschwitz, at which Milos became an orphan very early on. He studied screen-writing at the Prague Film Academy (F.A.M.U.). In his Czechoslovakian films, Black Peter (1964), Loves of a Blonde (1965), and The Firemen's Ball (1967), he created his own style of comedy. During the invasion of his country by the troops of the Warsaw pact in the summer of 1968, to stop the Prague spring, he left Europe for the United States. In spite of difficulties, he filmed Taking Off (1971) there and achieved his fame later with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) adapted from the novel of Ken Kesey, which won five Oscars, including one for best direction. Other important films of Milos Forman were the musical Hair (1979) and his biography of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Amadeus (1984), which won eight Oscars.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Paulina Porizkova was born on 9 April 1965 in Prostejov, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress and director, known for Thursday (1998), Her Alibi (1989) and Arizona Dream (1993). She was previously married to Ric Ocasek.- Vladimir Kulich is known for his work in The Equalizer, Vikings, 13th Warrior, Smoking' Aces, Ironclad,The X Files, and as the voice of Ulfric Stormcloak in one of the most successful video games of all time, Skyrim-The Elder Scrolls. He has given memorable performances opposite academy award winners and nominees including Denzel Washington, Christopher Plummer, Max Von Sydow, Paul Giamatti, John Savage and Antonio Banderas. Vladimir was born in Prague and began his training at the State Theatre of Czechoslovakia. Today he lives in a little cabin, surrounded by 'Silicon Beach' mansions, in Venice, California.
- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Herbert Lom was born on September 11, 1917 as Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchacevich ze Schluderpacheru into an aristocratic family living in genteel poverty. His incredibly long surnames led him to select the shortest surname he could find extant ("Lom") and adopt it as his own, professionally. He made his film debut in the Czech film Woman Below the Cross (1937) and played supporting and, occasionally, lead roles. His career picked up in the 1940s and he played, among other roles, Napoleon Bonaparte in The Young Mr. Pitt (1942) and in War and Peace (1956). In a rare starring role, Lom played twin trapeze artists in Dual Alibi (1947). He continued into the 1950s with roles opposite Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers in The Ladykillers (1955), and Robert Mitchum, Jack Lemmon and Rita Hayworth in Fire Down Below (1957). His career really took off in the 1960s and he got the title role in Hammer Films' production of The Phantom of the Opera (1962). He also played "Captain Nemo" in Mysterious Island (1961) and landed supporting parts in El Cid (1961) and an especially showy role in Spartacus (1960) as a pirate chieftain contracted to transport Spartacus' army away from Italy.
The 1960s was also the decade in which Lom secured the role for which he will always be remembered: Clouseau/Peter Sellers' long-suffering boss, Commissioner Charles Dreyfus, in the "Pink Panther" films, in which he pulled off the not-inconsiderable feat of stealing almost every scene he and Sellers were in--a real accomplishment, considering what a veteran scene-stealer Sellers was. However, Lom did not concentrate solely on feature films. He became a familiar face to British television viewers when he starred as Dr. Roger Corder in The Human Jungle (1963). He moved into horror films in the 1970s, with parts in Asylum (1972) and And Now the Screaming Starts! (1973). He played Prof. Abraham Van Helsing opposite Christopher Lee in Count Dracula (1970), matching wits against the sinister vampire himself.
Lom appeared as one of the victims in Ten Little Indians (1974), the drunken Dr. Edward Armstrong. His career continued into the 1980s, a standout role being that of Christopher Walken's sympathetic doctor in The Dead Zone (1983). He also played opposite Walter Matthau in Hopscotch (1980) and returned to the murder mystery Ten Little Indians (1989), this time playing The General. Lom has been taking it easy since then, though he returned to his familiar role of Dreyfus in Son of the Pink Panther (1993). He was always a reliable and eminently watchable actor, and unfortunately did not receive the stardom he should have.
Herbert Lom died in his sleep at age 95 on September 27, 2012, in London, England.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Karel Roden is an internationally known actor who was most recently seen in the United States in director Jaume Collet-Serra's "Orphan," starring Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard, and in Guy Ritchie's "RocknRolla," opposite Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson and Thandie Newton. His work can also be seen in such films as the hit comedy "Mr. Bean's Vacation," starring Rowan Atkinson; Wayne Kramer's "Running Scared," opposite Paul Walker and Vera Farmiga; Paul Greengrass' wildly successful "The Bourne Supremacy," the second film in the franchise starring Matt Damon; Guillermo del Toro's comics-based action thrillers "Hellboy" and "Blade II"; "Bulletproof Monk," starring Chow Yun-Fat and Seann William Scott; and "15 Minutes," starring Robert De Niro and Edward Burns.
Roden has been nominated several times and recently won a prestigious Czech Lion Award for Best Actor for his work in the film "Guard No. 47," produced in his native country, the Czech Republic. He has acted in numerous Czech films, including "Jménem krále"; "The Eye"; "Holka Ferrari Dino"; "Bathory"; "Little Girl Blue"; "Bestiar"; "Vaterland - Lovecký deník"; and "Wild Flowers." Roden has also acted in a variety of films produced throughout Europe, including France's "Largo Winch," from director Jérôme Salle and starring Kristin Scott Thomas; Spain's "The Abandoned," Poland's "Summer Love"; and the UK's "Shut Up and Shoot Me" and "The Last Drop." He appeared as himself in Jan Nemec's documentary "Late Night Talks with Mother."
On the small screen, Roden has appeared in the US series "The Philanthropist," the UK series "MI-5" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel," and in countless Czech productions, including the series "Trapasy" and the telepic "A Christmas Tale."
A graduate of the Prague Dramatic Academy of Fine Arts, Roden hails from a long tradition of Czech actors: his younger brother, Marian, is also an actor, and both men followed in the footsteps of their father and grandfather. Roden's upcoming films include the horror thriller "Andrassy Street 60.," opposite Talia Shire and Barry Corbin; the German period drama "Habermann"; and "Alois Nebel," an animated feature from the Czech Republic.- Actress
- Writer
Barbora Kodetová was born on 6 September 1970 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress and writer, known for Children of Dune (2003), Dune (2000) and Tristan + Isolde (2006). She has been married to Pavel Sporcl since 1 May 2015. They have two children.- Karolina Kurkova is a supermodel best known for her work as a Victoria's Secrets lingerie model. She has appeared in nine Victoria's Secret Fashion shows between 2000 and 2010 and was named a Victoria's Secret Angel in 2005. She has graced the covers of such notable fashion magazines as Vogue, Elle, Vanity Fair, and Esquire among others. In 2002, she was named Model of the Year at the VH1/Vogue Fashion Awards. She also has worked as an actress in movies such as G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra and TV series, Chuck, 30 Rock and Person of Interest. She was born on February 28, 1984 in Deçín Czech Republic. She married Archie Drury in 2009 and the couple have two children together. She was discovered at age fifteen when a friend sent picture of her to a Prague modeling agency.
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Jan Rubes was born in Volyne, Czechoslovakia, to Ruzena (Kellnerová) and Jan Rubes. After graduating in 1945 from the Conservatory of Music in Prague, he went on to join the Prague Opera House as their youngest basso singer. He also performed at the Pilsen Opera House in leading roles in his early years. By 1948, he was chosen to represent Czechoslovakia at the International Music Festival held in Geneva and won first prize in his category. He emigrated to Canada on New Year's Eve 1948 with hopes of creating a greater musical career. As a member of the Canadian Opera Company, he achieved recognition for his roles, as Boris in "Boris Godunov", Schigolch in "Lulu" and as Mephisto in "Faust". He also served as the company's director of touring and program development. Branching out into radio and, eventually, TV, he wrote and hosted from 1975-83 TVOntario's "Guess What?" and acted in many TV dramas, later receiving the Earle Grey Award for lifetime work in Canadian television. Most moviegoers would recognize Jan Rubes in Witness (1985) (a Harrison Ford film), where he portrayed an Amish patriarch. He lived in Toronto with his wife, actor/director Susan Douglas Rubes. They had three children.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Karel Dobry, born 1969, is an award winning Czech film and stage actor. He has been critically acclaimed for his portrayals of complex characters. Karel was awarded the Czech Lion in 2019 for best leading actor. He was raised in Prague and spent part of his childhood in Syria. He is fluent in English, Czech, Russian and German. In 2014 he won the Alfred Radok award for Best Actor, the Theater News Award for Best Actor, and also garnered a nomination for a Czech Thalie as Best Actor.He has embodied more than 90 roles in film and TV.His recent credits include Genius-Einstein for Fox, directed and produced by Ron Howard, as well as The Catcher Was a Spy acting opposite Paul Rudd. Other interesting credits are Glass Room, Milada, Child 44 and Mission Impossible. He is an avid horseman who has been trained in driving and weaponry and performs many of his own stunts.- Actor
- Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Prague born, Vancouver raised, David Nykl arrived in Canada at age two when his family emigrated from Czechoslovakia after the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact invasion of what was then Czechoslovakia.
David started early as an actor in Vancouver: community theater, small TV parts, and classes in dance and music. He graduated University of British Columbia with an Major in English Literature and Theater.
Post graduation David began appearing in Vancouver theater production at Bard on the Beach, Pacific Theatre, and the Gateway Theatre. He soon toured with a production of "Waiting for Godot" to Prague - where he remained for almost a decade - where he co-founded the famous English language theater company Misery Loves Co. as well as appeared in several local Czech companies such as divadlo na zabradli, kaspar, and divadlo v dlouhe.
Since his return to Canada in the late nineties, David has appeared in dozens of film and TV projects including Stargate: Atlantis (2004), Arrow (2012), Supernatural (2005), Fringe (2008), Eureka (2006), Continuum (2012), Tomorrowland (2015), HBO's The Sleepers (2019), and, since 2019, Carnival Row (2019). He lives in Vancouver with his family.- Actress
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Ivana Marie Trump was a Czech-American businesswoman, media personality, fashion designer, author, and model. Trump lived in Canada in the 1970s before relocating to the United States and marrying Donald Trump in 1977. She held key managerial positions in The Trump Organization as vice president of interior design, as CEO and president of Trump's Castle casino resort, and as manager of the Plaza Hotel.
Ivana and Donald were prominent figures in New York society throughout the 1980s. The couple's divorce, granted in 1990, was the subject of extensive media coverage. Following the divorce, she developed her own lines of clothing, fashion jewelry, and beauty products which were sold on QVC London and the Home Shopping Network. Ivana wrote an advice column for Globe called "Ask Ivana" from 1995 through 2010 and published several books including works of fiction, self-help, and the autobiography Raising Trump.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Tereza Srbova was born in Prague, Czech Republic. She holds a Master's degree in culture anthropology. During her studies she worked as a model in Paris and featured in high-end brand campaigns such as Dior. In 2007 she effortlessly transitioned from modeling to acting with her first audition, landing the part of Kirilenko in David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises starring Viggo Mortensen and Vincent Cassel. In the following years she has appeared in films St. Trinian's, Inkheart and Eichmann. In 2010, Srbova played the lead role of Silka in the Lionsgate horror Siren. In this film she performed the song Elephants by Warpaint. In 2013 Srbova portrayed the agent Major Nina Pirogova in the acclaimed Cinemax/HBO series Strike Back, starring Philip Winchester and Sullivan Stapleton. In 2015 she reprized her role in Strike Back: Legacy. In 2018 she portrayed the enigmatic Sonya Galich in Red Joan, a feature film based on a best-selling book and directed by Trevor Nunn. Srbova co-stars opposite Judi Dench, Sophie Cookson and Tom Hughes. In 2022 Srbova plays Jana Breza opposite John Krasinski and Nina Hoss in four episodes of season 3 of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. Next to acting she writes and directs short films. In 2021 she wrote a graphic novel which was published in her home country.- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Czech actor/producer/director/author George Voskovec was born Jirí Wachsmann on June 19, 1905, the son of Jirina Valentina Marie (nee Pinkasová) and Vilem Eduard Voskovec (Wachsmann). His ancestry was Czech, German, and French. Prior to George's birth, the spelling of the family name was Vaksman (Russian). By the time he was born, which was shortly after their return to Bohemia--then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire--it had been changed to Wachsmann. In 1920, the family again changed the name from Wachsmann to Voskovec, a Czech translation, and his father changed his name to Václav Voskovec. George received his education at Lycée Carnot in Dijon and Charles University (School of Law) in Prague. He made his stage début in Prague in 1927 in "Vest Pocket Revue" and subsequently formed a solid partnership with fellow actor/lyricist Jan Werich. For the next 11 years they wrote, produced and performed 26 productions for the avant-garde Liberated Theatre of Prague, Osvobozene divadlo. He also established himself in Czech comedy films as both performer and writer in tandem with Werich.
In the late 1930s, he left his homeland following the German invasion and emigrated to America. Rebuilding his status as a performer/writer/director, he débuted at the Cleveland Playhouse in 1940 in "Heavy Barbara" and "The Ass and the Shadow," again in collaboration with Werich. During the war years he and Werich wrote and broadcast a host of radio programmes for the "Voice of America". He also made his Broadway début in "The Tempest" in 1945. He returned to Prague after the war in 1946 and worked for a time in the theatre before traveling to Paris, where he first worked for UNESCO, later founded the American theatre of Paris in 1949 and served as producer/director.
Upon his return to America in 1950, he was detained for 11 months on Ellis Island on suspicion of being a communist sympathizer. After he was allowed to enter USA, Voskovec appeared in New York with "The Love of Four Colonels," which he later toured. He went on to accumulate a formidable list of theatre credits including "The Seagull," "Festival" and, notably, "Uncle Vanya" for which he won an Obie award in the title role. He made his London stage début as Otto Frank in "The Diary of Anne Frank" in 1956, and was a continued presence on the 1960s Shakespearean stage with "Caesar and Cleopatra" (as Caesar) and John Gielgud's production of "Hamlet" as the Player King, the latter play was filmed.
In films, he played supporting roles in the U.S. from 1952. Affair in Trinidad (1952), The Iron Mistress (1952), The 27th Day (1957), The Bravados (1958), BUtterfield 8 (1960), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) and The Boston Strangler (1968) all benefited from his imposing presence and professional stature. He also played one of the jurors in the classic drama 12 Angry Men (1957) alongside Lee J. Cobb and Henry Fonda. Voskovec was indeed a vital ethnic presence during the "Golden Age of Television" during the 1950s and in episodic 1960s TV. Voskovec was also a songwriter, being the lyricist of some 300 popular songs over his career. He continued to thrive in all three mediums throughout the 1970s practically until his death in 1981 at age 76. One of his final theatrical highlights was in Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days" in which he shared the stage with Irene Worth. This was followed by regular TV stints on Skag (1980) and Nero Wolfe (1981).
Divorced from his first wife and the widower of his second, Broadway stage actress Anne Gerlette, Voskovec later wed poet/journalist Christianne McKeown. He was survived by his third wife and two daughters from his second marriage: Victorie (adopted, born in 1954) and Georgeanne (adopted, born in 1956). He never returned to Prague.- Actress
- Composer
- Music Department
Markéta Irglová was born on 28 February 1988 in Valasské Mezirící, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress and composer, known for Once (2007), The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012) and The Simpsons (1989). She was previously married to Tim Iseler.- Writer
- Script and Continuity Department
- Producer
Tom Stoppard was born on 3 July 1937 in Zlín, Czechoslovakia [now in Czech Republic]. He is a writer and producer, known for Shakespeare in Love (1998), Brazil (1985) and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990). He has been married to Sabrina Guinness since 2014. He was previously married to Miriam Stoppard and Jose Ingle.- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Stunts
While studying in Prague, Ladislav turned out to be a brilliant dancer and choreographer. After appearing various dancing shows, musicals and stage plays since 1991, he made the step to acting and choreographing zombie-, dancing- and animal movements in movies.
In 2001 he had his first big project which would soon be followed by the ultra-cool Blade II in which he acted and choreographed. Ladislav's biggest break came as the scaring and convincing Kroenen in Hellboy, for which he again worked with Guillermo del Toro.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Born in interwar Prague as Miroslava Stanclová, her father died and she was adopted by a Jewish doctor, the psychoanalyst Dr. Oskar Leo Stern (1900-1972) who married her mother, Miroslava (née Becka; 1898-1945). Dr. and Mrs. Stern had a son, Ivo (1931-2011), the actress's half-brother. The family was, at one point, interned in a concentration camp after they fled their native Czechoslovakia in 1939. They sought refuge in various Scandinavian countries before emigrating to Mexico in 1941.
After winning a beauty contest in Mexico City, young Miroslava spent some time in Los Angeles studying acting. Due to her European features and accent, she rarely found roles other than mysterious women or foreign beauties. She was eventually offered a role in what would become her last and most remembered film: Luis Buñuel's The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955).
Soon after the film wrapped, she committed suicide reportedly because the man she loved married another woman. In a macabre coincidence, the premiere of The Criminal Life of Archibaldo de la Cruz (1955), in which a mannequin in her likeness is incinerated, was released during her own cremation in a Mexican graveyard. Her short, tragic life inspired a short story in 1990, and a film, Miroslava (1993).- Dagmar Lassander was born on 16 June 1943 in Prague, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Devil Fish (1984), Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970) and I racconti fantastici di Edgar Allan Poe (1979).
- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Klára Issová is a Czech actress with Syrian roots. She has starred in more then 80 films and TV series. Her biggest international role was in the Fox/TNT series "Legends" playing the lead love interest opposite Sean Bean and in the National Geographic drama series "Genius: Einstein" where she portrayed Marie Curie.
She won the Shooting Star Award at the Berlinale Film Festival and has been nominated three times for the Czech Lion Film Award, winning the award once.
Klára worked as a stage actor for 15 years including two productions she managed to produce as well as star in. Some of the most important roles she portrayed on stage were: Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire Alice in Closer Catherine in A View From The Bridge Lady Anne in Richard the Third
Klára graduated from Prague's Conservatory of Dramatic Art. She worked with the acting and English language coach Joe Weintraub for two years and work-shopped with Bernard Hiller, another acting coach, while staying in Los Angeles. She also participated in several physical workshops such as pantomime, improvisation, and dance flow to extend her knowledge of working with the body and follow its impulses. Recently she has been working with voice teacher Ivana Vostárková.
Klára always works to extend her skills to achieve authenticity and a deeper impression from her roles. She brings sincerity, openness, and joy to her work and finds satisfaction in preparing extensively to embody her characters.
She likes to spend time in nature taking long walks, enjoys salsa dance lessons, and personal fitness training. Klára also takes care of her garden where she grows her fruit and vegetables.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Georg Wilhelm Pabst is considered by many to be the greatest director of German cinema, in his era. He was especially appreciated by actors and actresses for the humane way in which he treated them. This was in contrast to some of his contemporaries, such as Arnold Fanck, who have been characterized as martinets.- Director
- Writer
- Production Designer
After studying at the Institute of Industrial Arts and the Marionette Faculty of the Prague Academy of Fine Arts in the 1950s, Jan Svankmajer started working as a theatre director, chiefly in association with the Theatre of Masks and the Black Theatre. He first experimented with film-making after becoming involved with the multimedium productions of Prague's Lanterna Magika Theatre. He began making short films in 1964, and continued working in the same medium for over twenty years, when he finally achieved his long-held ambition to make a feature film based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland (Alice (1988)). He has also exhibited his drawings, collages and 'tactile sculptures', many of which were produced in the mid-1970s, when he was temporarily banned from film-making by the Czech authorities. He has been a card-carrying member of the Prague Surrealist Group since 1969.- Producer
- Actor
- Writer
Director/writer/producer/actor
Petr Jákl was born on September 14th 1973 in the Czech Republic and got a master degree at the Faculty of Physical Education and Sport at the Charles University in Prague. From his childhood Petr devoted himself to sports and he became the Champion of the Czech Republic in judo 10 times. His sport career culminated during the Olympic games in Sydney in 2000, where he was representing the Czech Republic. Since 1992 he is also active in film industry. He started as an actor and a stuntman in Czech movies and later he was casted into many big Hollywood productions. Shooting with directors Luc Besson (Joan of Arc) and Rob Cohen (xXx) were important turning points in his film career, as they both helped Petr to develop his acting career further. Later on Petr started producing, writing and directing. After his debut thriller Kajínek, which was the highest grossing Czech thriller in the history, he directed a horror movie Ghoul, which was the highest grossing horror in the Czech history. In 2022 his film Medieval with Michael Caine and Ben Foster was distributed worldwide.- Marek Vasut was born on 5 May 1960 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He is an actor, known for Mission: Impossible (1996), xXx (2002) and Blade II (2002).
- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Hana Vagnerová was born on 21 February 1983 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress and writer, known for Borders of Love (2022), Za vshím hledej zenu (2022) and Villa Lucia (2023).- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Libuse Safránková was born on 7 June 1953 in Brno, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. She was an actress, known for Kolya (1996), Bájecná léta pod psa (1997) and Three Wishes for Cinderella (1973). She was married to Josef Abrhám. She died on 9 June 2021 in Prague, Czech Republic.- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Publicist
Born in 1976 in Prague, this prolific actress debuted before the cameras at the early age of 14. Also a top model, Anna Geislerová already has an impressive career behind her (110 films, TV films or series episodes in early 2013!) and has received several awards for her remarkable performances, notably in Sasa Gedeon's 1999 "Návrat idiota" (Le retour de l'idiot), Ondrej Trojan's Zelary (2003) and Bohdan Sláma's 2005 "Stestí" (Something Like Happiness), a sensitive work in which she breaks the viewer's heart as a depressed single mother.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Lída Baarová was born on 14 September 1914 in Prague, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary [now in Czech Republic]. She was an actress, known for Die Fledermaus (1937), Virginity (1937) and Jsem devce s certem v tele (1933). She was married to Kurt Lundwall and Jan Kopecky. She died on 28 October 2000 in Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria.- Actress
- Camera and Electrical Department
Zina Blahusova is a Czech actress/ singer/ musician/ artist and animal activist living in Prague -Shanghai-Los Angeles.
She is known for her dramatic and action roles in Khepri Cockroach Tide (2020), Unstoppable (2022), The Monkey is Back (2021), Hostel (2005), Psych Hunter (2020), Fox Hunting (2020) and Moscow Mission (2023).
She can speak English, Chinese, Czech, Japanese and Russian, besides having consistent acting, martial arts, and dance training. She is currently training with The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute online, as well as actively being involved in various Shanghai productions that include theatre plays, variety shows, musical performances, and commercials.
Zina scripts and produces several short videos every week since she has 15 million followers on social media platforms, such as Chinese Tiktok (Douyin), Kwaishou, Red, Weibo, Instagram, YouTube etc.
She plays violin, bass, Chinese instrument Erhu, musical saw, and she sings and writes songs.
Coming from a mother who has had years of classic theatre training and a well received acting career, Zina has inherited only the passion for acting, but also the right attitude and dedication for all the necessary training. Besides her training with the Lee Strasberg technique, she had also trained at Ivana Chubbuck Theatre School, Czech Conservatory of art-Teplice, and with acting coach Zinaida Blagouch Bobricheva.
Instagram: Zinapunx- Actress
- Additional Crew
- Sound Department
Edita Brychta was born in Prague but grew up in London, having fled with her family from the 1968 Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. Her parents, Jan and Lida Brychta, are renowned artists who have exhibited all over the world, and her brother Alex Brychta MBE is a worldwide published book illustrator.
Edita began acting as a small child in the Czech film Kinoautomat, the world's first interactive movie, which was presented at the 1967 Expo in Montreal. It wasn't until the age of 16, when she joined London's National Theatre Youth Workshop, that she abandoned her dream of being an ornithologist and decided to pursue an acting career.
She trained at LAMDA and was swiftly signed by leading agent Ken McReddie. In the UK, Edita went on to play Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, Ophelia in Hamlet, Desdemona in Othello and Marguerite in the world premiere of Vaclav Havel's Largo Desolato, directed by Tom Stoppard. She played Sybil Burlington in the award-winning West End production of Daisy Pulls It Off, produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Starring roles in TV series such as Maelstrom, Gentleman and Players, Lovejoy and Taggart followed, as well as the award winning The Escape (Border in the UK) and the BAFTA nominated The Britoil Affair.
Flying In The Branches was created for Edita to play the leading role of a Czech girl trying to make her escape from communist occupied Czechoslovakia.
The highly publicized role of Princess Diana in NBC's Behind The Palace Doors brought Edita to the USA. She continued to work in diverse roles alongside Julia Roberts in Conspiracy Theory, Jim Carrey in Man On The Moon, James Garner in The Rockford Files and Angela Lansbury in Murder She Wrote. She also acted alongside Stellan Skarsgard and Lena Olin in the Swedish film, Friends.
She worked with directors Ronald Neame, Milos Forman, Richard Donner, and in Mark Rydell's Crime Of The Century for HBO with Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea.
In the Czech Republic, Edita played in her native language in two films, notably the leading role in Jan Sverak's Akumulator 1. With her language skills, she also starred in a French TV series, Cinq Filles à Paris.
Her knowledge of languages, accents and dialects makes her much in demand for voiceover work in national campaigns, together with animated films such as Ice Age: Continental Drift, Cosmos and The Bunbury Tails, and numerous features including The Bourne Identity, Pirates Of The Caribbean and Man of Steel, as the voice of the mother ship.
Among many video games featuring her voiceover talents are Ming Xiao in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. She has featured in radio plays for the BBC, including the critically acclaimed Me, Cheeta: My Life in Hollywood with John Malkovich.
Edita has voiced many audio books including Jane Goodall's Seeds of Hope and was nominated for an Audie for the trilogy, This Man. She performed a live narration for Leonard Bernstein's The Kaddish at Royce Hall in Los Angeles.
For LA Theatre Works, she featured in Daniel Deronda, A Room With a View, Watch on the Rhine and the Tony-award-winning Oslo.
Edita is married to producer David Ladd and has one daughter, Lauren Cassidy, by a previous marriage.
Her passion is open water swimming and she has completed four swims from Alcatraz Island, the length of the Golden Gate Bridge three times and the 10K distance from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge twice, winning numerous medals.
Updated Jan 11, 2020- Tereza Voriskova is a Czech actress. She has played in more than thirty films and series for Czech and international productions; e.g. in director Steve Shil's US series The Missing, starring Ashley Judd, Sean Bean and Cliff Curtis; in Paul Donova's Canadian series Clay's P.O.V., starring Guy Falkner and Beate Malkus, and in the British series The Borgias. She played leading roles in a lot of Czech films, e.g. Po strnisti bos (Barefoot over the Stubble Field) directed by Oscar winning director Jan Sverak, Zivot je zivot directed by Milan Cieslar, etc.; in film series - Terapie (Therapy II.) starring Karel Roden, or Dabing Street directed by Petr Zelenka, among the others. Tereza has been nominated for the most prestigious film award Czech Lion.
Tereza is also known as a theatre actress. She has performed in the Divadlo Komedie (The Comedy Theatre in Prague). Her current theatre role is Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, directed by SKUTR at the very much respected Shakespeare Summer Festival 2017 in the Prague Castle.
Tereza graduated from Prague Conservatory and has been a dancer in the folk ensemble since her childhood. She speaks fluent English, is a skilled dancer, and loves horse riding. Tereza is patroness of the Mental Power Prague Film Festival - the unique film festival of mentally handicapped persons. - Actress
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Dana Morávková was born on 29 July 1971 in Písek, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Van Helsing (2004), The Loves of Kafka (1988) and Nemá tajemství (2023). She has been married to Petr Malásek since 18 October 1996. They have one child.- Actor
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Michal Dlouhý was born on 29 September 1968 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He is an actor, known for Cerní baroni (1992), Circus Bukowsky (2013) and Kapitán Exner (2017).- Actress
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Eva Herzigová is a Czech supermodel and actress. She began her modeling career after winning a modeling beauty contest in Prague in 1989, at the age of sixteen. She was a member of Thomas Zeumer's Metropolitan Models. After arriving in Paris, her popularity increased. Her first important appearance was as the model for the first Wonderbra campaign. In 1994, advertising executive Trevor Beattie, working for TBWA/London, developed an ad for Sara Lee's "Hello Boys" Wonderbra campaign. It featured a close-up image of Herzigová wearing a black Wonderbra. The ad used only two words: "Hello boys." The influential poster was featured in an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and it was voted in at number 10 in a "Poster of the Century" contest. The Canada-based lingerie fashion label wanted the ad campaign to motivate women to see the Wonderbra "as a cosmetic and as a beauty enhancer rather than a functional garment". The billboard was voted in 2011 as the most iconic outdoor ad during the past five decades by the Outdoor Media Centre. She was also featured in Guess? jeans campaigns, the Victoria's Secret catalog and Sports Illustrated. Herzigová has featured in a variety of international fashion magazines, gracing the covers of Vogue (France, Britain, Spain, Germany, Japan, Australia, Mexico, Poland, Turkey, Thailand), Harper's Bazaar (Britain, Spain, Ukraine, Italy, Australia) as well as Elle, Marie Claire, Numéro and Allure. She has also walked for designers including Louis Vuitton, Benedetta Dubini, Giles Deacon, Emilio Pucci and Versace.
Amongst her most recent projects, Herzigová also starred in a fashion art film by Imagine Fashion, called Decadent Control with Roberto Cavalli. It featured fashions by Agent Provocateur and H&M. Herzigová posed for the August 2004 edition of Playboy. In 2006, she portrayed Venus at the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. In 2016, Herzigová featured in campaigns for Giorgio Armani and Dior Beauty.- Olga Schoberová was born on 15 March 1943 in Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Lucrezia (1968), The Vengeance of She (1968) and Le calde notti di Poppea (1969). She was previously married to John Calley and Brad Harris.
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Frantisek Lederer was born on November 6th, 1899, in Czechoslovakia. His father was a leather merchant, and young Frantisek began his working life as a department store delivery boy in Prague. He fell in love with acting from a young age, and was soon on stage touring Moravia and then all over Central Europe with people like Peter Lorre.
Lederer was easily lured into film by German actress Henny Porten and her producer husband. And it wasn't long before he was starring in the legendary German silent movie Pandora's Box (1929).
Whilst Lederer, who was using the German name of Franz, shifted from silents to talkies easily and was fast becoming one of Germany's top stars, he hadn't yet learned to speak any English.
By 1934, Lederer, (now using Francis), had begun working in America. And he was getting top billing too. Irving Thalberg had planned to make Lederer "the biggest star in Hollywood" but Thalberg's untimely death put a stop to that. But Lederer continued successfully in film and TV for many years.
After two brief marriages his third lasted 59 years. He invested in property well and made a fortune in the Canoga Park, California area. He founded the National Academy of Performing Arts on which his close friend Joan Crawford was on the Advisory Board. He loved to teach.
Lederer was still teaching the week before he died in 2000, aged 100 years.- Jana Kaderabkova was born on 15 January 1982 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Hostel (2005), The Division and Hostel Dissected (2006).
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After achieving modest fame as an ice skater in her native Czechoslovakia, Vera Hruba was brought to the United States by Republic Pictures head Herbert J. Yates, who hoped to turn her into the next Sonja Henie. After featuring her in two "Ice Capades" movies, he added "Ralston" to her name and tried to pass her off as a leading lady. Hruba's English was so limited, she was forced to learn her lines phonetically. Her English improved, and directors said she tried hard to learn her craft, but bad acting and a thick accent made it difficult for audiences to accept her.- Director
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Vera Chytilová was born on February 2, 1929, in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic). She studied philosophy and architecture in Brno for two years, then worked as a technical draftsman, a designer, a fashion model, a photo re-toucher, then worked as a clapper girl for Barrandov Film Studios in Prague. There she continued as a writer, actress, and assistant director.
She was denied a scholarship, or even a recommendation from Barrandov, but she took the admissions tests at FAMU and was accepted. From 1957-1962 she studied film directing under Otakar Vávra, who also taught Jirí Menzel, Milos Forman, Jan Nemec, and Ivan Passer. In 1962 she graduated as director from Film Academy (FAMU) in Prague. Her graduation film 'Strop' (Ceiling 1962) and the following film 'Pytel blech' (A Bagful of Fleas 1963) were "staged" improvisations with non-actors. In 1966 Chytilova and her husband, 'Jaroslav Kucera', made a witty surrealist comedy Daisies (1966), which was immediately banned, but then was released in 1967, and won the Grand Prix at the Bergamo Film Festival. She remained in Czechoslovakia after the events of 1968, when her colleagues Milos Forman, Jan Nemec, and Ivan Passer emigrated. Her films were often "shelved" for reasons of political censorship. For six years Chytilova was banned from making films. In 1976 she wrote a letter of complaint to President Gustav Husak, describing her artistic position. After some behind-the-scenes influence by her supporters, Chytilova was allowed to make a low-budget Hra o jablko (1977), which won a Silver Hugo at Chicago Film Festival.
Chytilova belongs among the foremost directors of the 1960's Czech New Wave, which was influenced by both the French New Wave and Italian Neo-Realism. Her films were acclaimed for visual experimentation and for bold unmasking of the moral problems of contemporary society. Her art belongs to what Sergei Eisenstein described as "intellectual cinema", that embraces the mix of "avant-garde", "cinema verite", "formalism", "feminism", or "happening" and, with a good deal of humor, it spreads beyond definitions. Chytilova's films often present a multi-layered plethora of visual associations that encourages the viewer to make active interpretations. She survived through the political turbulences in Czechoslovakia and has been a highly original and uncompromising filmmaker.- Actress
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Eliska Krenková was born on 31 January 1990 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Winter Flies (2018), We Have Never Been Modern (2023) and Two Ships (2021).- Eva Podzimková, née Josefíková, was born in Uherské Hradiste where she studied at the local gymnasium. She started her theatrical career in 1999 as a student of literature and dramatic studies at Elementary school of Art at Uherské Hradiste. She was an active member of "Dohráli jsme" (That's a wrap) theatrical group, playing among the others the role of Viktorka in the adaptation of Bozena Nemcová's Babicka (Grandmother) or Adele from Frederic Garcia Lorca's House of Bernarda Alba. She is now in a fourth year of her dramatic studies at Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU). Eva Podzimková appeared as a guest in Czech National Theatre as Barunka in the Grandmother and also in the End of Carnival, both directed by J. A. Pitinsky. She took the role of Nina Zarecná in Czechov's Seagull in autumn of 2011 at Estates Theatre and she plays several roles in Enron, both directed by Michal Docekal. She is a member of "Tygr v tísni" (Tiger in Need) theatrical company from 2011. She could be seen in Disk theatre as Lilly Cahill in S. Stephens Punk Rock, directed by I. K. Kubak. Eva Podzimková played in czech movies (The Devil's Bride (2011), One Way Ticket (2010), Signál (2012), I Wake Up Yesterday (2012) etc.). She also participates in student projects.
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Dana Vávrová was born on 9 August 1967 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. She was an actress and director, known for Herbstmilch (1989), Amadeus (1984) and Der letzte Zug (2006). She was married to Joseph Vilsmaier. She died on 5 February 2009 in Munich, Bavaria, Germany.- Director
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Edgar G. Ulmer was born on 17 September 1904 in Olmütz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Olomouc, Czech Republic]. He was a director and writer, known for The Naked Dawn (1955), The Black Cat (1934) and Isle of Forgotten Sins (1943). He was married to Shirley Ulmer and Joan Warner. He died on 30 September 1972 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
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Jan Tríska was born on 4 November 1936 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for Ronin (1998), Apt Pupil (1998) and The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996). He was married to Karla Chadimová. He died on 25 September 2017 in Prague, Czech Republic.- Actor
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Ivan G'Vera was born on 1 April 1959 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He is an actor and assistant director, known for Terminator Salvation (2009), Casino Royale (2006) and The Hunt for Red October (1990).- Jan Vlasák was born on 3 February 1943 in Caslav, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. He is an actor, known for Hostel (2005), The Red Baron (2008) and Circus Bukowsky (2013).
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Karel Reisz was born on 21 July 1926 in Ostrava, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was a director and producer, known for The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981), Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) and Morgan! (1966). He was married to Betsy Blair and Julia Coppard. He died on 25 November 2002 in London, England, UK.- Actress
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Petra Nemcova was born on 24 June 1979 in Karviná, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Absolument fabuleux (2001), A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008) and The Lost Treasure (2022). She has been married to Benjamin Larretche since 2019. They have one child.- Adam Vacula is a Czech actor. He was born on October 19, 1987. He is known for portraying Francesco Grasso in the TV film Die Himmelsleiter (2015) and the Netflix series Freud (2020). Other interesting credits are Genius (2017), directed and produced by Ron Howard or Interlude in Prague (2017).
His film debut was Hany (2014).
He is fluent in English, Czech and French. - Director
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Ivanna Benesova is a professional Czech director and producer. She is not afraid of unconventional topics and her work is distinctive, controversial and often shocking.
Ivanna attracted public attention mainly from her documentary "How Porno Movies are Made" and from her movie debut "Abused", which was screened nationwide for six months.
She was employed as a director for Czech television broadcast TV Nova for two and a half years. Currently she has been working on many music videos and commercials.
Ivanna's trademark is always being exceptional, controversial and often shocking. That is also a reason why many of her projects are publicly known. She fearlessly uses unconventional themes and often uses new technologies and various special effects.
Originally she studied economics at Mendel's Agricultural And Forestry University in Brno. Later she transferred to a Film School in Pisek. Her first short movie, which was made in collaboration with students of Film School of Zlin, won a prize for best director at a film festival called Kryspin.
The most successful school project was a documentary "How Porno Movies are Made", which was screened nationwide in many art cinemas and clubs, and its English version participated in some foreign festivals, as well.
In her first year of school, Ivanna was hired as a director for the TV Broadcast company Nova. In the next two and a half years she devoted herself to a sport promos and short documentary movies.
During that time, she continued to work on her other private projects. After two years of hard work, her fictional documentary "Abused", was released in cinemas nationwide.
It was released nationwide with a distribution company founded by Ivanna specifically for this movie. It also found its way to some documentary festivals in the USA.
In the spring of 2012, Ivanna and her director of photography founded production company Orange. Its core business is making music videos and commercials. Among the best works is a music video for a song "Alternativa" by David Kraus, which was made completely in 3D, the first of its kind in the Czech republic. Other works include music clips "Syria" by Samer Issa, punk bands ZakázanÝ Ovoce, ATD etc. Besides her work as a filmmaker, she hosts a movie show on Radio Spin.
She also contributed as a journalist to many magazines and editorials and did some modeling, as well.
High public attention came also with her own Playboy pictures, which were taken in the center of Prague, amongst hundreds of tourists.
Still today, Ivanna stays a strong supporter in the fight against child abuse and cruelty.