Dana Vávrová (; 9 August 1967 – 5 February 2009) was a Czech-German actress. She was one of the most popular German actresses throughout 1980s and early 1990s. After her role in Herbstmilch as Anna Wimschneider in 1989, she became a household name in

Cinema of Germany The film industry in Germany can be traced back to the late 19th century. German cinema made major technical and artistic contributions to early film, broadcasting and television technology. Babelsberg Studio, Babelsberg became a household synon ...

Biography

Vávrová was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia and played her first main film role in ''Ať žijí duchové!'' (English: ''Long Live the Ghosts!'') in 1976, having played a minor role in ''Jak se točí Rozmarýny''. In 1979 she played a minor role in the television mini-series Arabela. In 1982, she played the main role as

Janina David Janina Dawidowicz (19 March 1930 – 22 October 2023), better known as Janina David, was a Polish-British Holocaust survivor, writer and translator. Biography Janina David was born in Kalisz, Poland on 19 March 1930. The only child to a Jewish Po ...

in the German television mini-series '' Ein Stück Himmel'', and was awarded the

Goldene Kamera The Goldene Kamera ("Golden Camera") is an annual German film and television award, awarded by the Funke Mediengruppe. The award show was usually held in early February in Hamburg, but also took place in Berlin on occasion. It has been paused ...

, the Goldener Gong, and an

Adolf Grimme Award The Grimme-Preis (Grimme Award), formerly known as the Adolf-Grimme-Preis, is one of the most prestigious German television awards. It is named after the first general director of Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk, Adolf Grimme. The Grimme Institute ...

. In this mini-series,

Joseph Vilsmaier Joseph Vilsmaier (, 24 January 1939 – 11 February 2020) was a German film director who began his career as a technician and cameraman. He is internationally known for films such as ''Comedian Harmonists (film), Comedian Harmonists''. Life Bo ...

was one of the cinematographers. In parallel with her acting, she attended the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...

from 1981 to 1985. After some further roles including the films ''

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: People and fictional characters * Amadeus (name) Amadeus is a theophoric name, theophoric given name derived from the Latin words ' – the Imperative mood, imperative of the word ' ("to love") – and ' ("god"). As a Compou ...

'' and

Pan Tau Pan Tau (Czech language, Czech for "Mr. Tau") is a character created for a children's television series. There were 33 episodes in 3 series made by the Czechoslovak Television (ČST) in cooperation with Barrandov Studios and the West Germany, We ...

, she played the main role of Anna Wimschneider in '' Herbstmilch'' (English: ''Autumn Milk'') under the directorship of Joseph Vilsmaier, whom she had married in 1986. Together with Werner Stocker, she won the

Bayerischer Filmpreis The Bavarian Film Awards () are film awards given to German films in the state of Bavaria, awarded by the state government. Background and description The Bavarian Film Awards have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bav ...

and the

Deutscher Filmpreis The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the Cinema of Germany, German film industry. Besides being ...

for this role. In addition to acting, she also directed films, the last one being to complete the Artur Brauner production ''The Last Train'', () after Joseph Vilsmaier, who had been directing, was involved in an accident. Vávrová was awarded a

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first President of the Federal Republic ...

. The three daughters of Vávrová and Vilsmaier, Janina Vilsmaier, Theresa Vilsmaier and Josefina Vilsmaier, are also active as actresses. Vávrová's older sister, , is a television presenter in the Czech Republic. Dana Vávrová died of

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...

in Munich, Germany on 5 February 2009. She was 41 years old.

Filmography

Actress

*1977: '' Long Live Ghosts!'' (Director:

Oldřich Lipský Oldřich Lipský (4 July 1924 – 19 October 1986) was a Czech film director and screenwriter. He focused exclusively on filming comedies and his work includes more than twenty films. Among his films with international success are '' Lemonade Joe' ...

) - Leontýnka Brtník z Brtníku *1977: ''Jak se točí Rozmarýny'' (Director: Věra Plivová-Simková) - Zuzana *1979: ''Vražedné pochybnosti'' (Director: Ivo Toman) - Jana *1979: ''Kulový blesk'' (Director: Zdeněk Podskalský, Ladislav Smoljak) *1980: ''Koncert na konci léta'' (Director:

František Vláčil František Vláčil (19 February 1924 – 27 January 1999) was a Czech film director, painter, and graphic artist. From 1945 to 1950, he studied aesthetics and art history at Masaryk University in Brno. Later, he worked in various groups an ...

) *1980: ''Brontosaurus'' (Director: Věra Plivová-Simková) *1980: '' Arabela'' (Director:

Václav Vorlíček Václav Vorlíček (3 June 1930 – 5 February 2019) was a Czech film director. His filmography includes several comedies made in collaboration with screenwriter Miloš Macourek. He also specialized in directing children's and fairytale films, mos ...

) - Little Red Riding Hood *1980: ''Svítalo celou noc'' *1982: '' Ein Stück Himmel'' (TV Mini Series, Director:

Franz Peter Wirth Franz Peter Wirth (22 September 1919 in Munich – 17 October 1999 in Berg, Upper Bavaria) was a German film director and screenwriter. His film '' Helden'' was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1958. Selected fil ...

) *1983: ''Kluk za dvě pětky'' (Director:

Jaromír Borek Jaromír, Jaromir, Jaroměr is a Slavic male given name. Origin and meaning Jaromír is a West Slavic given name composed of two stems ''jaro'' and ''mír''. The meaning is not definite: *Polish ''jary'' (archaic) = „spry, young, strong“; ''m ...

) - Eliska *1984: ''Levé křídlo'' (Director:

Jiří Hanibal Jiří (; ''YI-RZHEE'') is a Czech masculine given name, equivalent to English George. Notable people with the name include: B *Georg Benda (Jiří Antonín Benda), Czech composer, violinist and Kapellmeister *Jiří Baborovský, Czech physica ...

) - Zdena *1984: ''

'' (Director:

Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech Americans, Czech-American film film director, director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the Uni ...

) *1984: ''Bambinot'' (TV Mini Series, Director:

Jaroslav Dudek Jaroslav (also written as Yaroslav or Jarosław in other Slavic languages) is a Czech and Slovak first name, pagan in origin. Its feminine form is Jaroslava. There are several possible origins of the name Jaroslav. It is very likely that origin ...

) *1984: ''My všichni školou povinní'' (TV Mini Series, Director:

Ludvík Ráža Ludvík Ráža (3 October 1929, in Mukachevo – 4 October 2000, in Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, l ...

) *1988: ''

Derrick A derrick is a lifting device composed at minimum of one guyed mast, as in a gin pole, which may be articulated over a load by adjusting its Guy-wire, guys. Most derricks have at least two components, either a guyed mast or self-supporting tower ...

'' (TV Series) - Bettina Rudolf *1988: ''

'' (Director:

Jindřich Polák Jindřich Polák (5 May 1925 – 22 August 2003) was a Czech film and television director. He is known for his science fiction productions, but worked in many different genres. Filmography Television series References External links

...

) - Alena *1989: '' Autumn Milk'' (Director:

) - Anna Wimschneider *1991: ' (Director:

) *1992: ''Der Nachbar'' (Director:

Götz Spielmann Götz Spielmann (born 11 January 1961) is an Austrian director and scriptwriter. Early Life Spielmann was born in Wels, Austria, and grew up in Vienna. After High School, he lived in Paris for several months. From 1980 to 1987 he studied film di ...

) - Michaela *1993: ''

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

'' (Director:

) - Irina *1993: ' (Director:

Radu Gabrea Radu Bartolomeu Gabrea (20 June 1937 – 9 February 2017) was a Romanian film director and screenwriter. He directed more than twenty films between 1969 and 2016. He showed his first film in the Locarno Festival. He was born in Bucharest, the s ...

) - Lissy *1995: ''Pizza Arrabiata'' (Director: Jochen Richter) - Laura *1995: ''

Brother of Sleep ''Brother of Sleep'' () is a 1995 German film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier and based on the novel ''Schlafes Bruder'' by Austrian writer Robert Schneider. It was chosen as Germany's official submission to the 68th Academy Awards for Best Foreig ...

'' (Director:

) - Elsbeth *1997: ''

Comedian Harmonists The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1928 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II. The group consisted of ( tenor buf ...

'' (Director:

) - Ursula Bootz *2000: ''

The Conception of My Younger Brother ''The Conception of My Younger Brother'' () is a 2000 Czech drama film directed by Vladimír Drha. It was entered into the 22nd Moscow International Film Festival. Cast * Dana Vávrová as Marie * Jiří Bartoška as Josef Plachý * Vladimír ...

'' - Marie *2000: ' (Director: Dana Vávrová) - Briefträgerin *2002: '' The Damned'' - Michaela Holubová *2002: ''August der Glückliche'' (TV Movie, Director:

) *2003: ''Getting a Life'' (TV Movie, Director: Vivian Naefe) - Tatjana Berkhoff *2004: ''Der Vater meines Sohnes'' (TV Movie, Director: Dagmar Damek) - Stella Fröhlich *2004: ' (Director:

) - Susanne *2004: ' (Director: Stefan Betz) - Helena *2006: ''Ein Hauptgewinn für Papa'' (TV Movie, Director:

Bodo Fürneisen Bodo may refer to: Ethnicity * Boro people, also called ''Bodo'', an ethno-linguistic group mainly from Northwest Assam, India * Bodo-Kachari people, an umbrella group from Nepal, India and Bangladesh that includes the Boro people Culture a ...

) - Anja Lohse *2007: ' (Director: René Sydow, Daniel Hedfeld) - Christiane Reitz *2008: ' (TV Movie, Director:

) - Lilli Simoneit (final film role)

Director

*1995: ''Wia die Zeit vergeht'' (documentary film about the musician

Hubert von Goisern Hubert von Goisern (born Hubert Achleitner, 17 November 1952) is an Austrian singer-songwriter and world musician. With his mix of rock music and elements of traditional Volksmusik he has become a prominent exponent of the so-called New Volksmusi ...

) *1996: ''Hunger – Sehnsucht nach Liebe'' *2000: ' *2006: '' Der letzte Zug'' (directed by Dana Vávrová and

)

References

External links

* *
Profile on cinema.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vavrova, Dana 1967 births 2009 deaths Actresses from Prague Czech child actresses Czech film actresses Czech women film directors Czech emigrants to Germany German people of Czech descent German film actresses German film directors German child actresses German women film directors 20th-century German actresses 21st-century German actresses 20th-century Czech actresses 21st-century Czech actresses Best Actress German Film Award winners Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Film directors from Prague Deaths from cancer in Germany Deaths from cervical cancer Prague Conservatory alumni