Isobel Pravda is an English actress and the granddaughter of Czech actors

George Pravda George Pravda (19 June 19161 May 1985) was a Czechoslovak theatre, film and television actor. Early life He began his career in Czechoslovakia, where he was credited as Jiří Pravda, and then emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1956. Career He ...

and

Hana Maria Pravda Hana Maria Pravda (, Becková; after first marriage, Munk; after second marriage, Pravda; 29 January 1916, Prague − 22 May 2008, Oxford) was a Czech actress. Biography Hana Becková was born in Prague, 29 January 1916. She trained in Leningrad ...

Career

Pravda played the female lead, Camille Monet, opposite Richard Armitage in the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

series ''The Impressionists'' (2006). She had the role of Misha in three episodes of ''Murphy's Law'' (2006) and DC Carla Masters in Double Dare for the series ''Silent Witness'' (2007). She played Maria Bopkova in two episodes of ''Dark Matters'' (2012) and Anya alongside Tom Hollander in two episodes of the

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

series ''Ambassadors'' (2013). Pravda's film work includes Bianca in RSA's ''Someone Else'' (2005) and a cameo in Kenneth Brannagh's ''Jack Ryan'' (2013). Isobel Pravda was the face of

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

's Neutral skincare range 2013/2014 campaign for Northern Europe. On stage, Pravda played Portia in ''Julius Caesar'' at the

Menier Chocolate Factory The Menier Chocolate Factory is a 180-seat off-West End theatre, which comprises a restaurant, bar and rehearsal rooms. It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate, Menier Chocolate Company factory at 53 Southwark Street, a major street in ...

's opening production in 2004. Her other stage work includes: Magdalena in ''Fighting the Tide'' for Hull Truck Theatre (2002); Clare in the New End Theatre's ''Commanding Voices'' (2002) with

Jeremy Child Sir Coles John Jeremy Child, 3rd Baronet (20 September 1944 – 7 March 2022) was a British actor. Early life Coles John Jeremy Child was born on 20 September 1944 in Woking, Surrey, son of Foreign Office diplomat Sir Coles John Child, 2nd B ...

; Lily in ''Zadie's Shoes'' at the Finborough Theatre (2003); Miss Bingley in The Good Company's National tour of ''Pride and Prejudice'' (2005); Ana in ''Ana in Love'' at The Hackney Empire (2006); and Tara in ''The Death of Cool'' at the Tristan Bates Theatre (2007). Pravda is currently working as a professional drama teacher in Reading, helping high school students to pursue their admired careers as actors/actresses.

The Czech Connection

Isobel Pravda's grandmother, Hana Maria Pravda, was a Czech Jew who survived

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. A diary which she wrote on the Death March was discovered many years after the war and was exhibited at the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

in London. Isobel was asked to do a reading of the diary for Holocaust Memorial Day 2007 at the museum. Tomáš Hrbek, Lucie Kolouchová and Daniel Hrbek from

Švandovo divadlo Švanda Theatre in Smíchov is a theater in Štefánikova street in Smíchov a suburb of Prague. It continues the long tradition of the previous theater based in this building and its surroundings. A theater was established on the site in 1871 by ...

wrote the play ''The Good and the True'', based on her grandmother's diary. She played her grandmother in the 2013/2014 tour to Prague, London, Brussels and New York.

Personal life

Her father, Dr. Alex Pravda, is an academic. He is a member of the Governing Body of St Antony's College, Oxford. Her mother, Imogen Martin, taught Classics and English. She has two sons.Wonderful Women on Honest Mum
/ref> She is now a Drama teacher at Reading Girls’ School in Whitley, Reading.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pravda, Isobel Year of birth missing (living people) Living people English stage actresses English television actresses English film actresses Place of birth missing (living people) English people of Czech descent English people of Czech-Jewish descent