Jan Potměšil (born 31 March 1966 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, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

) is a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

actor. In summer 1989, he finished his lectures at the

Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague The Department of Dramatic Theatre (, abbreviated DAMU) is one of three departments at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (alongside the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, ...

and joined Divadlo na Vinohradech. Later that year, he hooked up with other students and actors who were going to

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

to persuade the miners to support the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

. On the way back, his car crashed on a frozen road. Since then, Potměšil has been paralysed from the waist down. He uses a wheelchair. He is currently a prominent member of the ''Kašpar'' theatre company that performs in the Divadlo v Celetné, Prague. He performed major characters in several plays. The most notable ones include Charlie Gordon in ''

Flowers for Algernon ''Flowers for Algernon'' is a short story by American author Daniel Keyes, which he later expanded into a novel and adapted for film and other media. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of ''The Magazin ...

'' (more than ten years on the repertoire), the title role in ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' (received Alfréd Radok Award for best actor), Jesus in Felix Mitterer's ''Trouble in the House of God'', or

Polonius Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's play ''Hamlet''. He is the chief counsellor of the play's ultimate villain, Claudius, and the father of Laertes and Ophelia. Generally regarded as wrong in every judgment he makes over the cou ...

in ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

''. In Lyra Pragensis, he performed

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec Count, ''Comte'' Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901), known as Toulouse-Lautrec (), was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist, and illustrator whose immersion in the colour ...

in Pavlík's ''Beauty from Moulin Rouge'', Fletcher in a scenic reading of

Richard Bach Richard David Bach (born June 23, 1936) is an American writer. He has written numerous flight-related works of fiction and non-fiction. His works include '' Jonathan Livingston Seagull'' (1970) and '' Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Mes ...

's ''

Jonathan Livingston Seagull ''Jonathan Livingston Seagull'' is an allegorical fable in novella form written by American author Richard Bach and illustrated with black-and-white photographs shot by Russell Munson. It is about a seagull who is trying to learn about flying, ...

'', and Dickie in ''Running from Safety'' of the same author.

Selected filmography

* 1996 – ''Code Name: Ruby'' (''Jméno kódu Rubín'') * 1994 – ''V erbu lvice'' * 1988 – ''Killing with Kindness'' (''Vlastně se nic nestalo'') * 1987 – ''

Bony a klid ''Bony a klid'' is a Czech drama film directed by . It was released in 1988. A sequel, was released in 2014. Plot The film is set in Prague. Martin, a young man from Mladá Boleslav, becomes a victim of a fraud committed by Richard, a currency d ...

'' * 1987 – ''

O princezně Jasněnce a létajícím ševci O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), ...

'' * 1987 – '' Why?'' (''Proč?'') * 1985 – ''Třetí patro'' * 1978 – ''The Secret of Steel City'' (''Tajemství ocelového města'') * 1977 – ''Žena za pultem''

External links

* 1966 births Living people Male actors from Prague Czech male stage actors Czech male film actors Czech male television actors Recipients of the Thalia Award Academic staff of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague {{CzechRepublic-actor-stub