Adolf Dobrovolný was a Czechoslovakian actor and a radio announcer, the first regular reporter in Czechoslovakia.
Background
Dobrovolný was born in Postoloprty, a small town on the Czechoslovakian–German language border in Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire. His father was a watchmaker, and Adolf was taught the craft which he also practised for several years.
Career
At the age of 19 he joined an itinerant theater, and in 1897 he started to act in Švanda Theatre, Smíchov, Prague. From 1900 to 1906 he was a director and actor at Slovene National Theatre in Ljubljana (then in the Slovenian part of the Austrian Empire). In time he also played several roles in the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb and also the role of Napoleon in Madame Sans-Gêne at National Theatre in Prague.
In 1914 he left for Ljubljana again to work as a drama and operetta director
From 1919 to 1924 he worked for Karel Hašler as a comedian and host at Cabaret Lucerna (today Lucerna Music Bar). He spent the last decade of his life (1924–1934) working for Radiojournal, the first Czechoslovak radio station established in 1923.
He was a popular announcer who became the station"s first regular reporter who prepared and presented the news from the daily papers. He also arranged poetic and literal programmes and directed several radio plays.
On 2 August 1924 he did the first live broadcast of a sports event in Europe – the heavyweight boxing match between Frank Rosse (Czechoslovakia) and Harry (Rocky) Knight (United Kingdom) in Prague.
He was not at the venue but got the description of the match via telephone and then relayed it to the listeners. His voice and figure with a round bald head was used in five silent and two sound films. He was the first to dub a documentary for Czechoslovakian cinema – a humorous wildlife film Dassan: An Adventure in Search of Laughter featuring Nature’s Greatest Little Comedians (Cherry Kearton, 1930).
He died on 17 January 1934 in Prague.
Membership
He was one of the founding members of Vinohrady Theatre in 1907.