The President’s Award at the 51st Karlovy Vary International Film Festival will be presented to actress Jiřina Bohdalová, who this year celebrates her 85th birthday.
Jiřina Bohdalová is one of the most successful and popular Czech actresses of all time. Her fame dates back to her childhood, when she appeared in Madla Sings for Europe (1940). After completing her studies at Prague’s DAMU, during which time she encountered various political obstacles, Jan Werich offered her a chance to work at the city’s ABC Theatre. In 1967, she joined the ensemble at the Vinohrady Theatre, where she remained until 2004. Since then, audiences could occasionally see her at performances of the Na Jezerce Theatre. She is known for her portrayal of Erži Orbánová in Catsplay and for the main role in the popular comedy The Idiot. Playwright Jiří Hubač wrote the character of Klára in House in Heaven specifically for her. In 2010, she received a Thalia Award for her lifelong contribution to dramatic theatre.
In both film and television, Jiřina Bohdalová has for many years been the kind of actress who has roles written specifically for her. Her cinematic career includes dozens of films, primarily comedies: When the Cat Comes (1963), The King of Kings (1963), Comedy Around a Door Handle (1964), The White Lady (1965), Lady on the Tracks (1966), Men About Town (1969), Four Murders Are Enough, Darling (1970), Women Offside (1971), and Bulldogs and Cherries (1981). She also appeared in dramatic roles: The Ear (1969), Was It Us? (1990), and Corpus Delicti (1991). She will forever be associated with her inimitable performances that combine the role’s comedic aspects with dramatic tension: A Star Named Wormwood (1964), Burglar and Umbrella (1970), Laughter Sticks to Your Heels (1986), and One Cat After the Other (1993). She won Czech Lion Awards for the main role in the fairy-tale movie The Immortal Woman (1993) and in the drama Fany (1995). She also achieved broad popularity as a television actress and entertainer, and has received numerous television audience awards. She and Vladimír Dvořák formed an unforgettable duo on the Televarieté entertainment show, which was on the airwaves for more than twenty years. Audiences also enjoyed her in television movies, fairy-tales, and series: Such a Normal Family, F. L. Věk, The Cottagers, Flying Čestmír, My Companions in the Bleak House, Witness, Flood, The Visit, Policeman’s Humoresques, Insurance Company of Good Fortune, The Bankrupters, Oh Those Murders, Lucky Loser, and Every Million is Good. She will forever be remembered for voicing several children’s animated cartoon characters.
Her most recent starring role was in Jiří Strach’s bitter comedy Oldies But Goodies (2012), in which she again appeared, after a long interlude, alongside her acting partner Radoslav Brzobohatý.
In honour of Jiřina Bohdalová, the Karlovy Vary IFF will be screening one of the central works of Czech cinema, Karel Kachyňa’s The Ear.
