Jiří Schmitzer (born 25 October 1949) is a Czech actor and musician, the son of actor

Jiří Sovák Jiří Sovák ('' né'' Schmitzer; 27 December 1920 – 6 September 2000) was a Czech actor, best known for his comedy roles. Life and theatre career Jiří Sovák was born Jiří Schmitzer to the family of an innkeeper in Prague.Jiří Sovák, ...

. He is a four-time holder of the

Czech Lion Award The Czech Lion Awards ( cs, Český lev) are annual awards that recognize accomplishments in filmmaking and television. It is the highest award of achievement in film awarded in the Czech Republic. The jury is composed of members of the Czech Fi ...

for Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Biography

Career

Schmitzer graduated from the

Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague The Department of Dramatic Theatre (DAMU) is one of three departments at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (alongside the Film and TV school and the Department of Music). The academy was opened in 1945 immediately after the Second World ...

in 1974, after which he performed at the ''Činoherní studio'' in

Ústí nad Labem Ústí nad Labem (, , ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 92,000 inhabitants. It is the capital of its eponymous region and district. It is a major industrial centre and, besides being an active river port, is an important railway ju ...

. From 1985, he was a member of the ''Studio Ypsilon'' ensemble in Liberec. Schmitzer made his television debut in 1966 with the series ''Eliška a její rod''. He first appeared onscreen in the 1967 production ''

Kinoautomat ''Kinoautomat'' was the world's first interactive movie, conceived by Radúz Činčera for the Czechoslovak Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. At nine points during the film the action stops, and a moderator appears on stage to ...

'', considered the world's first

interactive movie Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but m ...

. He played prominent roles in such films as ''

Marecek, Pass Me the Pen! ''Marecek, Pass Me the Pen!'' ( cs, Marečku, podejte mi pero!) is a 1976 Czechoslovak comedy film directed by Oldřich Lipský. The film gained de facto cult status, many of its phrases and sentences becoming idiomatic in Czech language, e.g. ...

'' (1976), ''

Cutting It Short ''Cutting It Short'' (also released as ''Shortcuts'') ( cs, Postřižiny) is a 1980 Czechoslovak comedy film directed by Jiří Menzel. It is based on the novel ''Postřižiny'' by Czech writer Bohumil Hrabal. The story is set in a brewery in a ...

'' (1980), '' The Snowdrop Festival'' (1984), '' Černí baroni'' (1992), and the television series '' Chalupáři'' (1975) and ''

Sanitka Sanitka ( Czech for ''Ambulance'') is a Czech medical drama series, first broadcast in 1984. Eleven episodes were made. It stars Jaromír Hanzlík, Tomáš Juřička and Zlata Adamovská among others. Storyline The story follows a doctor who ...

'' (1984). In 1997, Schmitzer won his first Czech Lion Award as Best Actor in a Leading Role for the television film ''Bumerang'' (1997). He has since won the award three more times, for the films '' Beauty in Trouble'' (2006), ''Jako nikdy'' (2013), and ''Staříci'' (2019). Schmitzer is also a composer, having written music for a number of theatrical productions and films. He is additionally a singer and guitarist, performing humorous folk songs. He has released four studio albums. In 2008, Schmitzer published a collection of his texts in a book titled ''Kanimůra ze Šardonu''.

Personal life

In 1976, under the influence of alcohol, Schmitzer caused a car accident in which a pedestrian died. He was sentenced to three years in prison and released after a year and a half for good behaviour. His father, Jiří Sovák, never forgave him for this, cutting off all contact with his son and eventually disowning him. Prior to the accident, Schmitzer had acted in several productions with his father, including the film ''Marecek, Pass Me the Pen!'' and the series ''Chalupáři''. In the film they played son and father and in the series, the two played grandson and grandfather, respectively. In the 1977 sci-fi comedy '' Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea'', Schmitzer voiced a younger version of his father's character.

Selected filmography

Discography

* ''Recitál'' (1997) * ''Šílenec'' (2000) * ''Bouda'' (2003) * ''Sbírka kiksů'' (2008)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitzer, Jiri 1949 births Living people Male actors from Prague Czech male film actors Czech male television actors 20th-century Czech male actors 21st-century Czech male actors 20th-century Czech male singers Folk-pop singers Academy of Performing Arts in Prague alumni Czech male stage actors Czech Lion Awards winners Czech prisoners and detainees 21st-century Czech male singers