Helena Štáchová (18 November 1944,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

– 22 March 2017, Prague) was a Czech puppeteer,

voice actress Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

and playwright. Štáchová served as the head and director of the

Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre ( cs, Divadlo Spejbla a Hurvínka) is a puppet theatre located in Prague, Czech Republic. Founded in 1930 by puppeteer Josef Skupa, Spejbl and Hurvínek was the first professional puppet theatre established in Czechosl ...

(S+H), which opened in 1930 as former

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

's first professional puppet theatre, from 1996 until she died in 2017. She also provided the voice of popular puppets, Mánička and Mrs. Kateřina, who are the female equivalents of the

Spejbl and Hurvínek Spejbl and Hurvínek (/s-payble & hoor-vee-neck/) is a Czech puppet comedy duo. The characters were conceived by Czech puppeteer Josef Skupa. Throughout the years the two characters have gained international success. They have released many c ...

puppet characters. In addition, Štáchová worked as a voice actress as well. Notably, Štáchová provided the

Czech language Czech (; Czech ), historically also Bohemian (; ''lingua Bohemica'' in Latin), is a West Slavic language of the Czech–Slovak group, written in Latin script. Spoken by over 10 million people, it serves as the official language of the Czech R ...

-voice of

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on the Czech version of the American

animated sitcom An animated sitcom is a subgenre of the sitcom that is animated instead of live action and is generally made or created for adult audiences in most cases. ''SpongeBob SquarePants'', ''The Simpsons'', ''South Park'', and ''Family Guy'' are four of ...

, ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

''.

Biography

Štáchová, who was born in Prague in 1944, began performing at the Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre after completing secondary school. She graduated from the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU) and became a full member of the S+H theatre company in 1966. She began performing the lead role of the puppet girl, Mánička, in 1967. Mánička, who quickly became a popular character, was a friend of the established father-son puppets,

. Štáchová married

Miloš Kirschner Miloš, Milos, Miłosz or spelling variations thereof is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to: Given name Sportsmen * Miłosz Bernatajtys, Polish rower * Miloš Bogunović, Serbian footballer * Miloš Budaković, Serbian ...

, a S+H puppeteer and theatre director. In 1971, Kirschner created a new grandmother puppet, Mrs. Kateřina, specifically for Štáchová, which added another female character to the ensemble. Since their creation, Štáchová's Mánička and Mrs. Kateřina have become very popular in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. Štáchová also toured with the puppet theatre internationally and performed her puppets in several foreign languages. Štáchová became the head of the Spejbl and Hurvínek Theatre in 1996, following the death of her husband that same year. She led the theatre until her death in March 2017. In addition to her puppetry and voice acting on television shows, such as ''The Simpsons'', Štáchová also authored several books and directed and wrote her own plays. In 2008, a Czech court awarded Štáchová the rights to utilize the Spejbl and Hurvínek characters after an eight-year

legal dispute A legal case is in a general sense a dispute between opposing parties which may be resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case is typically based on either Civil law (common law), civil or criminal law. In most legal ca ...

, which allowed her

to continue its programs. In 2016, actress Marie Šimsová began performing in the role of the puppet, Mánička, due to Štáchová's declining health. Following a long illness, Štáchová died at her home in Prague on 22 March 2017, at the age of 72.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stachova, Helena 1944 births 2017 deaths Czech puppeteers Czech voice actresses Czech theatre directors Czech women theatre directors 20th-century Czech dramatists and playwrights Academy of Performing Arts in Prague alumni 21st-century Czech dramatists and playwrights Czech women dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Czech women writers 20th-century Czech women writers Actresses from Prague Female puppeteers