Known For
Acting
Born
Feb 06, 1905
Died
Oct 31, 1980
Place of Birth
Praha - Československo
Credits
66 titles
Jan Werich
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
Jan Werich: Když už člověk jednou je…
Self (archive footage)
Voskovec & Werich, paralelní osudy
self
Fimfarum - To the good of all
(voice)
Fimfarum 2
Narrator
Tři strážníci
self
Jan Werich's Fimfarum
Vypravěč
RumplCimprCampr
Book
When the Oak Leaves Fall
Narrator (voice) (archive footage)
Mean Barbara
Narrator (voice) (archive footage)
Pan Tau – der Film
(archive footage)
Jonáš a Melicharová
(archive footage)
Ruffiano and Sweeteeth
Book
The Three Veterans
Book
Echoes of the Blue Room
Přišel na večeři
Adaptation
Královna Koloběžka první
Narrator (archive footage) (voice)
Herecké Vánoce
Jan Werich
Pan Tau
Přiložte životopis
Self
Co tomu říkáte, pane Werich?
Self
Assignment K
Dr. Spiegler
Klapzubova jedenáctka
Czechoslovakia: Portrait of a Tragedy
Self
King and Women
Jindřich VIII.
The 25th Hour
Sgt. Constantin
Golem
Theatre Play
Pražská strašidla
Narrator (voice)
Magnetické vlny léčí
léčitel Wohu
The Dear Departed
Dědeček
Three veterans
Original Story
The Cry
Narrator (voice)
Uspořená libra
Sam Adams
Tears the World Can't See
Fedor Akimič Rjebrotěsov
Kočár nejsvětější svátosti
When the Cat Comes
Oliva
The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
kapitán holandské lodi
Italienisches Capriccio
Don Marzio
Medvěd
statkář Grigorij Stěpanovič Smirnov
Těžká Barbora
Balada z hadrů
strážný Holofern
The Creation of the World
Narrator (voice)
Silvestr 1957
To jsou Bratři v triku
Himself
The Good Soldier Svejk
Narrator
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