Jan Werich
Acting • Born 1905-02-06 – Died 1980-10-31
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".
Filmography
56 credits
Assignment K
Movie • 1968
Dr. Spiegler
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
Movie • 1962
kapitán holandské lodi
The Emperor and the Golem
Movie • 1952
Emperor Rudolf II / Matheus Kotrba, The Baker
Jan Werich's Fimfarum
Movie • 2002
Vypravěč
Fimfarum 2
Movie • 2006
Narrator
Two Little Frosts
Movie • 1955
Brave Frost (voice)
Once Upon a Time, There Was a King...
Movie • 1955
král Já I.
Fimfarum - To the good of all
Movie • 2011
(voice)
The Creation of the World
Movie • 1958
Narrator (voice)
Your Money or Your Life
Movie • 1932
Tonda
Pražská strašidla
Movie • 1966
Narrator (voice)
The Fall of Berlin
Movie • 1950
Hermann Goering
Hudba z Marsu
Movie • 1955
Nadšený divák
Heave-Ho!
Movie • 1934
Těžká Barbora
Movie • 1960
Powder and Petrol
Movie • 1932
The World Belongs to Us
Movie • 1937
kamelot
When the Cat Comes
Movie • 1964
Oliva
The Good Soldier Schweik
Movie • 1956
Narrator
Crisis
Movie • 1939
Here in Kocourkov
Movie • 1934
Ferdinand Kaplan
Uspořená libra
Movie • 1963
Sam Adams
Balada z hadrů
Movie • 1960
strážný Holofern
The Dear Departed
Movie • 1964
Dědeček
Silvestr 1957
Movie • 1957
When the Oak Leaves Fall
Movie • 1991
Narrator (voice) (archive footage)
The 25th Hour
Movie • 1967
Sgt. Constantin
Kočár nejsvětější svátosti
Movie • 1963
Medvěd
Movie • 1961
statkář Grigorij Stěpanovič Smirnov
Magnetické vlny léčí
Movie • 1965
léčitel Wohu
King and Women
Movie • 1967
Jindřich VIII.
The Cry
Movie • 1964
Narrator (voice)
Tears the World Can't See
Movie • 1963
Fedor Akimič Rjebrotěsov
Mean Barbara
Movie • 1989
Narrator (voice) (archive footage)
Italienisches Capriccio
Movie • 1961
Don Marzio
To jsou Bratři v triku
Movie • 1957
Himself
Pan Tau – der Film
Movie • 1988
(archive footage)
The Golden Fish
Movie • 1951
Narrator (voice)
Czechoslovakia: Portrait of a Tragedy
Movie • 1968
Self
Pouť noci silvestrovské
Movie • 1953
Dog's Heads
Movie • 1955
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkova budějovická anabase
Movie • 1956
Narrator (voice)
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Z Hatvanu na hranice Haliče
Movie • 1954
Narrator (voice)
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkovy nehody ve vlaku
Movie • 1955
Narrator (voice)
Jaroslav Hasek's Exemplary Cinematograph
Movie • 1956
Commentary (voice)
Jan Werich: Když už člověk jednou je…
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
Jonáš a Melicharová
Movie • 1986
(archive footage)
Královna Koloběžka první
Movie • 1981
Narrator (archive footage) (voice)
Večer s Jaroslavem Haškem
Movie • 1953
Herecké Vánoce
Movie • 1970
Jan Werich
Co tomu říkáte, pane Werich?
TV • 1968
Self
Pan Tau
TV • 1970
Přiložte životopis
TV • 1968
Self
Tři strážníci
TV • 2005
self
Voskovec & Werich, paralelní osudy
TV • 2012
self
Klapzubova jedenáctka
TV • 1968