Jan Werich
Acting
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".
Cecílie
voice
Jan Werich: Když už člověk jednou je…
Self (archive footage)
Fimfarum - To the good of all
(voice)
Fimfarum 2
Narrator
Jan Werich's Fimfarum
Vypravěč
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)
Královna Koloběžka první
Narrator (archive footage) (voice)
Herecké Vánoce
Jan Werich
Assignment K
Dr. Spiegler
Czechoslovakia: Portrait of a Tragedy
Self
King and Women
Jindřich VIII.
The 25th Hour
Sgt. Constantin
Pražská strašidla
Narrator (voice)
Magnetické vlny léčí
léčitel Wohu
The Dear Departed
Dědeček
When the Cat Comes
Oliva
The Cry
Narrator (voice)
Uspořená libra
Sam Adams
Tears the World Can't See
Fedor Akimič Rjebrotěsov
Kočár nejsvětější svátosti
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)
To jsou Bratři v triku
Himself
Silvestr 1957
The Good Soldier Schweik
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
Once Upon a Time, There Was a King...
král Já I.
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkovy nehody ve vlaku
Narrator (voice)
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Z Hatvanu na hranice Haliče
Narrator (voice)
Pouť noci silvestrovské
Večer s Jaroslavem Haškem
The Emperor and the Golem
Emperor Rudolf II / Matheus Kotrba, The Baker
The Golden Fish
Narrator (voice)
The Fall of Berlin
Hermann Goering
Crisis
The World Belongs to Us
kamelot
Here in Kocourkov
Ferdinand Kaplan
Heave-Ho!
Your Money or Your Life
Tonda
Powder and Petrol