Cast
Jan Werich
Acting
Cast
Jan Werich
Known for
Acting
Born
1905-02-06
From
Praha - Československo
Died
1980-10-31
Also known as Ян Верих
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".
Assignment K
as Dr. Spiegler
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
as kapitán holandské lodi
The 25th Hour
as Sgt. Constantin
Italienisches Capriccio
as Don Marzio
Once Upon a Time, There Was a King...
as král Já I.
The Fall of Berlin
as Goering
The Creation of the World
as Narrator (voice)
When the Cat Comes
as Oliva
The World Belongs to Us
as kamelot
The Emperor and the Golem
as Emperor Rudolf II / Matheus Kotrba, The Baker
Hudba z Marsu
as Nadšený divák
Dog's Heads
Jaroslav Hasek's Exemplary Cinematograph
as Commentary (voice)
Pan Tau – der Film
as (archive footage)
Medvěd
as statkář Grigorij Stěpanovič Smirnov
Heave-Ho!
Silvestr 1957
Crisis
Your Money or Your Life
as Tonda
The Golden Fish
as Narrator (voice)
Balada z hadrů
as strážný Holofern
Pouť noci silvestrovské
Powder and Petrol
Kočár nejsvětější svátosti
Magnetické vlny léčí
as léčitel Wohu
The Cry
as Narrator (voice)
Czechoslovakia: Portrait of a Tragedy
as Self
To jsou Bratři v triku
as Himself
Tears the World Can't See
as Fedor Akimič Rjebrotěsov
Těžká Barbora
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkova budějovická anabase
as Narrator (voice)
Here in Kocourkov
as Ferdinand Kaplan
The Good Soldier Svejk
as Narrator
Pražská strašidla
as Narrator (voice)
Jonáš a Melicharová
as (archive footage)
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Z Hatvanu na hranice Haliče
as Narrator (voice)
Fimfarum - To the good of all
as (voice)
Herecké Vánoce
as Jan Werich
Uspořená libra
as Sam Adams
Fimfarum 2
as Narrator
Jan Werich: Když už člověk jednou je…
as Self (archive footage)
Jan Werich's Fimfarum
as Vypravěč
Mean Barbara
as Narrator (voice) (archive footage)
Cecílie
as voice
Two Little Frosts
as Brave Frost (voice)
The Dear Departed
as Dědeček
King and Women
as Jindřich VIII.
Večer s Jaroslavem Haškem
Královna Koloběžka první
as Narrator (archive footage) (voice)
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkovy nehody ve vlaku
as Narrator (voice)
When the Oak Leaves Fall
as Narrator (voice) (archive footage)