Jiří Sovák was a Czechoslovakian actor, best known for his comedy roles.
Background
Jiří Sovák was born Jiří Schmitzer (later changed his name to Sovák as a protest against Nazi Germany and its occupation of Czechoslovakia) to the family of an innkeeper in Prague. His father did not want him to be an actor, so he worked as a clerk and played in an amateur theatre group. Today known as Rokoko Theatre.
Education
In 1941 – during the WW2 – he graduated from Prague State Conservatory where he had been studying drama.
Career
In 1943 he got his first professional engagement with Horácké Theatre in Třebíč. In 1947 he went to Prague where he played in the East.F. Burian Theatre (1947–1952), Vinohrady Theatre (1952–1966) and National Theatre (1966–1983). He retired on 31 March 1983.
In 2000 he fell down on his terrace, broke his hip and got an embolism during his operation.
He died in a Prague hospital before he was 80. He is buried in small town Stříbrná Skalice, in a private grave closed to the public.
Jiří Sovák first appeared in a movie in 1942 and then played a lot of minor roles. He played his first main character in Dařbuján a Pandrhola (director Martin Frič, 1959) and created a lot of expressive roles in the 1960s, "70s and "80s.
Among his best-known roles are Antonín Skopec in Světáci (Dandies.
Director Zdeněk Podskalský) and Jiří Kroupa in Marečku, podejte mi pero! (Mark, Fetch Maine a Pen!. Director Oldřich Lipský, 1976). He also played in crazy comedies such as Pane, vy jste vdova (You Are a Widow, Sir!.
Director Václav Vorlíček, 1970) or Což takhle dát si špenát (What About Having Some Spinach.
Director Václav Vorlíček, 1977), sci-fi comedies such as Zabil jsem Einsteina, pánové (I Killed Einstein, Sirs. Director Oldřich Lipský, 1970) or Zítra vstanu a opařím se čajem (Tomorrow I"ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea.
Director Jindřich Polák, 1977), and movies for children, e.g. Ať žijí duchové (Long Live Ghosts.
Director Oldřich Lipský, 1977).
In 1990s he played old men such as the cabinet maker Růžička in Kolya. Sovák´s last movie role was in Návrat ztraceného ráje (Lost Paradise Recovered. Director Vojtěch Jasný, 1999).
Sovák entered Czechoslovak television as soon as it came into existence in 1953.
His best roles were in the serials Byli jednou dva písaři (with Horníček. Based on Bouvard et Pécuchet by Gustave Flaubert.
Director Ján Roháč, 1972) and Chalupáři (Cottagers.