Boleslav Polívka (born 31 July 1949, in Vizovice) is a Czech film and theatre actor,

mime A mime artist, or simply mime (from Greek language, Greek , , "imitator, actor"), is a person who uses ''mime'' (also called ''pantomime'' outside of Britain), the acting out of a story through body motions without the use of speech, as a the ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

, and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. He has appeared in more than 40 films.

Career

Polívka first started appearing in films in the 1960s. He graduated from the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

in 1971, in the play ''Podivné odpoledne dr. Zvonka Burkeho'' ("The Strange Afternoon of Dr. Zvonek Burke") by Ladislav Smoček.Fikejz (2007), pp. 458-460 In 1969 he co-founded ''Divadlo Husa na provázku'' (Goose on a String Theatre) in Brno, and founded his own theatre in the same city, ''Divadlo Bolka Polívky'' (Bolek Polívka Theatre), in 1993. He is one of the best-known exponents of Czech mime and frequently appears with foreign theatre ensembles. Polívka's work as writer, director and mime artist is inspired by clown comedy,

Commedia dell'arte Commedia dell'arte was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Theatre of Italy, Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is a ...

, and early comedy films, but he occasionally introduces voice and words into his performances, thereby crossing over into a form of "total acting". Polívka worked with the Czech director until the latter's death in 2001. He also regularly collaborated with Věra Chytilová from the 1980s until her death in 2014, starring in the lead role in several of her "moralistic comedies". In 1997 he was awarded the Czech Lion and voted Best Actor at the

Karlovy Vary International Film Festival The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (, KVIFF) is an annual film festival held in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central and Eastern Europe, Central and Eastern Eur ...

for his performance as the priest Holý in '' Forgotten Light'' (). Polívka received a second Czech Lion for his role in the 2000 film '' Divided We Fall'' () by Jan Hřebejk. The film was also nominated for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

. Polívka also presents two television shows, ''Manéž Bolka Polívky'' ("Bolek Polívka's Arena") and ''Bolkoviny'', both for

Czech Television Czech Television ( ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting six channels. Established after breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslovak Television founded in 1953. H ...

Personal life

He has been married three times and has six children, including actress

Anna Polívková Anna Polívková (born 24 March 1979 in Prague) is a Czech actress. In December 2013 Polívková won the StarDance (Czech season 6), sixth season of StarDance (Czech TV series), StarDance with her professional partner Michal Kurtiš. Selected ...

Legal disputes

Polívka used to organize public events and entertainments at his farm in Olšany near Brno, but in 2013, his company went bust and the farm closed, with creditors suing him for CZK 56 million. Polívka was involved in what

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

described as one of the oddest legal disputes of the Czech Republic's history. In a 1993 TV performance he had himself crowned as "king" of the fictional Kingdom of Wallachia (named after

Moravian Wallachia Moravian Wallachia (, or simply ''Valašsko''; ) is a mountainous ethnoregion located in the easternmost part of Moravia in the Czech Republic, near the Slovakia, Slovak border, roughly centered on the cities Vsetín, Valašské Meziříčí and ...

). In 1997 he began a collaboration with Tomáš Harabiš, who had independently created and officially registered a separate fictional "Wallachian Kingdom", complete with "passports". Polívka, as a well-known actor, became the public face of the "Wallachian Kingdom" as "Wallachian King, Boleslav I the Gracious, Forever", and Harabiš and Polívka's partnership made the "Wallachian Kingdom" one of the most successful tourist attractions in the Czech Republic. Their working relationship continued amicably until 2000, when a dispute erupted over legal ownership of the "kingdom", as the kingdom's name had been trademarked by Harabiš. In 2001 Harabiš deposed "King Boleslav", but in 2002 Polívka retaliated with a lawsuit, which accused Harabiš of making unlawful profits from Polívka as "King Boleslav". In 2008 Polívka lost the case.

Selected plays

* ''Am a Ea'' (Am and Ea) * ''Pezza versus Čorba'' * ''Pépe'' * ''Trosečník'' (Castaway) * ''Poslední leč'' * ''Šašek a královna'' (The Jester and the Queen)

Selected filmography

* '' Balada pro Banditu'' (1978) * '' Kalamita'' (Calamity) (1981) * '' Poslední leč'' (1981) * '' Šašek a královna'' (1987) * '' Něžný Barbar'' (1989) * '' Sedím na konári a je mi dobre'' (1989) * '' Dědictví aneb Kurvahošigutntag'' (1992) * '' Forgotten Light'' (; 1996) * ''Suzanne'' (1996) * ''

Pelíšky ''Cosy Dens'' () is a 1999 Czech film directed by Jan Hřebejk. It is loosely based on the novel '' Hovno Hoří'' ("shit on fire") by Petr Šabach. Readers of ''Reflex'' magazine voted it as the best Czech film in 2011. ''Cosy Dens'' was scr ...

'' (Cozy Dens) (1999) * '' Divided We Fall'' (; 2000) * '' Out of the City'' (2000) * '' Pupendo'' * '' Something Like Happiness'' (; 2005) * ''

Roming ''ROMing'' is a Czech comedy film, released in 2007. It's a road movie centered on the Roma (Gypsies), but with an extra story within the story. Cast * Bolek Polívka - Stano Zaječí * Marián Labuda - Roman * Vítezslav Holub - Jura * Jean ...

'' (2007) * '' Bathory'' (2008) * '' Men in Hope'' (2011) * '' The Magical Duvet'' (2011) * '' Revival'' (2013) * ''

Home Care Homecare (home care, in-home care, care at home), also known as domiciliary care, personal care, community care, or social care, is health care or supportive care provided in the individual home where the patient or client is living, generally focu ...

'' (2015)

References

Bibliography

External links

*
Filmography at the Fandango.com

Czech Republic - The official Website

Bolek Polívka profile at the Czech Television Website

Polívka at the BBC News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polivka, Bolek 1949 births Living people People from Vizovice Czech male film actors Czech screenwriters Czech male screenwriters 20th-century Czech dramatists and playwrights Czech male dramatists and playwrights Czech mimes Czech clowns Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts alumni 20th-century Czech male actors 21st-century Czech male actors Czech Lion Awards winners Micronational leaders Recipients of the Thalia Award