Jan Werich
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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".
Known for
Credits
The Creation of the World (1958)
as Narrator (voice)
Two Little Frosts (1955)
as Brave Frost (voice)
The 25th Hour (1967)
as Sgt. Constantin
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1962)
as kapitán holandské lodi
Mean Barbara (1989)
as Narrator (voice) (archive footage)
The Emperor and the Golem (1951)
as Emperor Rudolf II / Matheus Kotrba, The Baker
Herecké Vánoce (1970)
as Jan Werich
Jan Werich's Fimfarum (2002)
as Vypravěč
Silvestr 1957 (1957)
Actor
Once Upon a Time, There Was a King... (1955)
as král Já I.
Powder and Petrol (1932)
Actor
When the Cat Comes (1963)
as Oliva
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkova budějovická anabase (1956)
as Narrator (voice)
The Good Soldier Svejk (1956)
as Narrator
The Fall of Berlin (1950)
as Goering
The World Belongs to Us (1937)
as kamelot
Pan Tau – der Film (1988)
as (archive footage)
Echoes of the Blue Room (1983)
Actor
Magnetické vlny léčí (1965)
as léčitel Wohu
Tears the World Can't See (1963)
as Fedor Akimič Rjebrotěsov
Večer s Jaroslavem Haškem (1953)
Actor
Assignment K (1968)
as Dr. Spiegler
The Cry (1964)
as Narrator (voice)
Czechoslovakia: Portrait of a Tragedy (1968)
as Self
Balada z hadrů (1960)
as strážný Holofern
Těžká Barbora (1960)
Actor
Jaroslav Hasek's Exemplary Cinematograph (1956)
as Commentary (voice)
Jan Werich: Když už člověk jednou je… (2021)
as Self (archive footage)
The Dear Departed (1964)
as Dědeček
Your Money or Your Life (1932)
as Tonda
Pražská strašidla (1966)
as Narrator (voice)
Fimfarum 2 (2006)
as Narrator
The Golden Fish (1951)
as Narrator (voice)
Heave-Ho! (1934)
Actor
Fimfarum - To the good of all (2011)
as (voice)
Uspořená libra (1963)
as Sam Adams
Pouť noci silvestrovské (1953)
Actor
When the Oak Leaves Fall (1991)
as Narrator (voice) (archive footage)
King and Women (1967)
as Jindřich VIII.
Dog's Heads (1955)
Actor
Hudba z Marsu (1955)
as Nadšený divák
Crisis (1939)
Actor
Medvěd (1961)
as statkář Grigorij Stěpanovič Smirnov
Here in Kocourkov (1934)
as Ferdinand Kaplan
Italienisches Capriccio (1961)
as Don Marzio
Královna Koloběžka první (1981)
as Narrator (archive footage) (voice)
Kočár nejsvětější svátosti (1963)
Actor
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Z Hatvanu na hranice Haliče (1954)
as Narrator (voice)
To jsou Bratři v triku (1957)
as Himself
Cecílie (2025)
as voice
Jonáš a Melicharová (1986)
as (archive footage)
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkovy nehody ve vlaku (1955)
as Narrator (voice)