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1-50 of 344
- Olga Schoberová was born on 15 March 1943 in Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Lucrezia (1968), The Vengeance of She (1968) and Le calde notti di Poppea (1969). She was previously married to John Calley and Brad Harris.
- Dagmar Lassander was born on 16 June 1943 in Prague, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Devil Fish (1984), Hatchet for the Honeymoon (1970) and I racconti fantastici di Edgar Allan Poe (1979).
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
A portly, somewhat grubby and bohemian-looking character star, Hugo Haas was one of the most celebrated Czech actors back in the 30s, a comic star who only grew in stature as he delved creatively into writing, directing and producing. The Nazi invasion forced him to leave his beloved country and come to the United States. Like a fish out of water, he had to start small. Beginning as an announcer on US broadcasts to the Eastern Europe underground, he also offered his talents as a narrator of propaganda films.
After the war, Haas revitalized his acting career with flashy, thick-accented support roles, often as a slick, seedy villain in lavish costumers. He enjoyed a certain amount of popularity and with the money he made, he began financing his own independent films in the 50s, taking total creative control with almost a Svengali-like obsession.
This time around, however, there was little of the adulation he had reaped so easily back in his homeland. With such lurid titles as Pickup (1951), Thy Neighbor's Wife (1953), and Bait (1954), these vehicles smacked hard of sensationalism and he and his films were generally dismissed. Many were badly acted and obviously cheap and cheesy in production values. A recurring "Blue Angel"-styled theme appeared in many of Hugo's starring vehicle whereas an older respectable man was seduced and ruined by the charms of a much younger hussy (blonde, busty bombshells such as Cleo Moore, Beverly Michaels, and (former "Miss Universe") Carol Morris.
Haas' reputation was so tainted by these so-called vanity projects that he was quickly dubbed the "foreign Ed Wood", which was unfair given his earlier reputation. Haas was planning to return to his native land in 1968 when the Russians seized control. Profoundly disheartened and depressed by the current state of affairs in his country, the homesick actor, who also suffered from an asthmatic condition, died shortly after of heart failure. He should be better remembered today than he is. He is solid proof that Hollywood has a way of sometimes robbing a person of his artistic creativity or integrity.- Director
- Writer
- Art Department
Edgar G. Ulmer was born on 17 September 1904 in Olmütz, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Olomouc, Czech Republic]. He was a director and writer, known for The Naked Dawn (1955), The Black Cat (1934) and Isle of Forgotten Sins (1943). He was married to Shirley Ulmer and Joan Warner. He died on 30 September 1972 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Friedrich von Thun was born on 30 June 1942 in Kwassitz, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia [now Kvasice, Moravia, Czech Republic]. He is an actor and director, known for Schindler's List (1993), Cold Hell (2017) and Náhrdelník (1992).- Jan Vlasák was born on 3 February 1943 in Caslav, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. He is an actor, known for Hostel (2005), The Red Baron (2008) and Circus Bukowsky (2013).
- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Jana Brejchová was born on 20 January 1940 in Prague, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress and writer, known for Beauty in Trouble (2006), Higher Principle (1960) and Das Haus in der Karpfengasse (1965). She was previously married to Jirí Zahajský, Vlastimil Brodský, Ulrich Thein and Milos Forman.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Marie Drahokoupilová was born on 12 June 1941 in Prague, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for The Vampire Wedding (1993), Tomorrow I'll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (1977) and Duhový luk (1972).- Director
- Editor
- Writer
Eckhart Schmidt was from Sternberg, Moravia [now Czech Republic]. He was a director, writer, producer, photographer and journalist. Eckhart Schmidt was a film critic at Süddeutsche Zeitung and belonged to a group of young German filmmakers called Neue Münchener Gruppe (NMG). Unlike other contemporary German film associations the NMG was more commercially focused and targeting the young audience. Schmidt's early works often explored the sexual tension and fantasies among young people on the make. In 1978 he created the punk magazine "Die Sau". A lot of cutting-edge musicians wrote for it, like David Byrne, Devo, and Patti Smith. Eckhart Schmidt's commercial breakthrough in the movies was "Der Fan" (1982), which tells the story of a girl obsessed with a pop star. In the mid-'90s he started making television documentaries. Over the course of his career, Schmidt directed 22 feature films and at least 79 documentaries and wrote 16 books.- Martin Miller was born on 2 September 1899 in Kremsier, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Kromeriz, Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for Exodus (1960), Peeping Tom (1960) and The Pink Panther (1963). He was married to Hannah Norbert. He died on 26 August 1969 in Innsbruck, Austria.
- Leopoldine Konstantin was born on 12 March 1886 in Brünn, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Brno, Czech Republic]. She was an actress, known for Notorious (1946), Lola Montez (1918) and Die Insel der Seligen (1913). She was married to Geza Herczeg and Alexander Strakosch. She died on 14 December 1965 in Hietzing, Vienna, Austria.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Iva Janzurová was born on 19 May 1941 in Zirovnice, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Eeny Meeny (2000), Výlet (2002) and Co chytnes v zite (1998).- Music Department
- Composer
- Writer
Erich Wolfgang Korngold was the son of a well-known music critic. A child prodigy, he accompanied his father in playing four-handed piano arrangements by the age of five. By the age of eleven he drew his first plaudits from enthusiastic Viennese audiences (including the emperor Franz Josef) with his ballet-pantomime "Der Schneeman" (The Snow Man). Two years later, he wrote a piano sonata which was performed by Artur Schnabel. Korngold composed his first orchestral piece at 14 and attracted the attention of Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler and many other prominent composers and conductors. In 1920, he conducted the Hamburg Opera performing his seminal work "Die tote Stadt" which became a huge international success. Thus embarked upon a promising career as a serious composer, Korngold was invited to the United States by Max Reinhardt to score A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) -- and decided to stay. He was certainly grateful for the chance to escape Adolf Hitler's annexation of Austria. In 1943, Korngold became an American citizen.
Korngold was the first composer of international renown to be signed by Hollywood despite having no prior experience with film music. His approach to the medium was predominantly theatrical and operatic (he once described Tosca as "the best film score ever written"). A master of technique, credited with "inventing" the syntax of orchestral film music, he composed at the piano with projectionists running reels at his behest. Often, he worked in conjunction with the orchestra of Hugo Friedhofer who became his closest collaborator. Under contract to Warner Brothers from 1935 to 1947, Korngold picked up Academy Awards for Anthony Adverse (1936) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). His stirring and string-laden scores were ideally suited for such high-octane Errol Flynn swashbucklers as Captain Blood (1935) and The Sea Hawk (1940). In the final analysis, other notable film composers, including even the great Max Steiner, admitted to being influenced by Korngold's work. His 1937 violin concerto which used various elements from his film music became one of the most prolifically performed classical concerts of the 20th century.
Korngold would have longed to resume his career as a serious composer. However, after the war ended, he found that the world of serious music had passed him by. In 1949, he returned to Vienna with his wife but found the city in ruins and much changed. A year later, disillusioned, he moved back to his home in the Toluca Lake district in North Hollywood. During the final ten years of his life he composed almost exclusively for concert halls. In 1956, he suffered a stroke which left him partially paralysed and he died a year later at the age of 60 from a heart attack.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Austrian neurologist and 'father of psychoanalysis'. Freud was born to Jacob Freud, a Jewish wool merchant, and Amalia (neé Nathansohn). The family settled in Vienna when Freud was young. In 1873 he started medicine at the University of Vienna, at which time he adopted the shortened form of his name, "Sigmund." Freud served a year of compulsory military service and got his M.D. in 1881. He then stayed on for another year as a demonstrator in the physiology laboratory. From 1882 to 1886, he worked as an assistant at the General Hospital in Vienna. During this period, Dr. Josef Breuer related to Freud how he had treated a young woman suffering from hysteria with 'talking cures' while in a state of self-hypnosis. This is considered the prototype of psychoanalysis. Late in 1885, Freud went to Paris on grant to study at the Salpetriere, a mental hospital, with the famed French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. Charcot had pioneered the treatment of nervous disorders by hypnosis. On Freud's return to Vienna in 1886 he took up his post as lecturer in neuropathology at the university and also established a private practice in nervous diseases. In 1887 he established a close friendship with Wilhelm Fliess, the Berlin otolaryngologist, with whom he discussed his work and ideas. Fleiss is called "the midwife of psychoanalysis". In 1891 he and his family moved to an apartment at Berggasse, 19. Here for the next 45 years Freud did most of his psychoanalytical treatments on his patients. Freud's first published work was entitled 'On Aphasia, a Critical Study' (1891). Freud first used the term "psychoanalysis" for his new treatment in 1896. Some of his other famous works include: Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality (1905), Selected Papers on Hysteria and Other Psychoneuroses (1909) and The Interpretation of Dreams (1913). Freud was appointed "Professor Extraordinary" of Neurology at the University in 1902. The same year he had also begun to meet informally at Berggasse, 19, with a group of medical colleagues interested in learning about the new discipline. In 1909 Freud was invited to Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, with Carl Jung and Sandor Ferenczi, to speak about his theories. An avid cigar smoker he developed cancer of the jaw in 1923. He underwent operations, radiotherapy and the discomfort of an oral prosthetic device that to some extent affected his speech. In 1930 the city of Frankfurt awarded Freud its Goethe Prize for work that had "opened access to the driving forces of the soul." He was elected in 1936 a corresponding member of the Royal Society of London (in the company of Newton and Darwin). The growing danger of anti-Semitism and Nazi persecution made it apparent that the Freuds would suffer the fate of other Jews if they stayed in Vienna. With the help of US government officials Freud, his wife and daughter Anna were allowed to leave Austria. It was Freud's wish to "die in freedom," and so he did in his new home at 20 Maresfield Gardens, which is now the Freud Museum.- Elvira Becker was born on 1 June 1935 in Kunvald, Moravia-Silesia, Czechoslovakia [now Kunín, Nový Jicín, Moravské Kravarsko, Czech Republic]. She was previously married to Karl-Heinz Becker.
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Carmen Mayerová was born on 11 September 1944 in Trutnov, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for The Cremator (1969), Jeden den pre starú paniu (1967) and Pet muzu a jedno srdce (1971). She is married to Petr Kostka. They have one child.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Václav Neckár was born on 23 October 1943 in Prague, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. He is an actor, known for Closely Watched Trains (1966), Malé letní blues (1968) and Blues pro EFB (1980).- Actor
- Soundtrack
Josef Abrhám was born on 14 December 1939 in Zlín, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (1970), Leaving (2011) and Beauty in Trouble (2006). He was married to Libuse Safránková. He died on 16 May 2022 in Melnik, Bohemia, Czech Republic.- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Vít Olmer was born on 19 June 1942 in Prague, Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. He is a director and writer, known for Jeste vetsí blbec, nez jsme doufali (1994), Waterloo po cesku (2002) and Dívka (1967).- Writer
- Director
- Additional Crew
Jirí Brdecka was a Czech animator, film director, screenwriter, and satirist. He was born in the city of Hranice in Moravia, which was then part of Austria-Hungary. His father was the author Otakar Brdecka (1881 - 1930), who published works under the pen name "Alfa".
Brdecka was educated at the Charles University in Prague, where he studied philosophy and aesthetics. The German occupation in Czechoslovakia resulted in the shut down of the university in 1939, forcing Brdecka to seek employment,.He was hired as an administrative clerk by the Prague Municipal Museum, while moonlighting as a journalist and cartoonist for various newspapers.
From 1941 to 1942, Brdecka was employed as a press agent by the film studio Lucernafilm. In 1943, he started working as an animator, producing a number of short films. By the late 1940s, Brdecka was employed as a film director and screenwriter at Barrandov Studios. In 1958, he started directing his own animated feature films, while continuing to serve as a screenwriter for many other directors.
Besides his film career, Brdecka had side careers as a journalist, a film critic, and a novelist.His works on and off the screen were noted for their satirical content. As a screenwriter, he often worked on parody films, such as the comedy western "Lemonade Joe".
Brdecka died in 1982. He was 64-years-old. His daughter Tereza Brdecková had her own career as a film critic.- Karla Chadimová was born on 13 June 1943 in Prague, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Das unsichtbare Visier (1973), Eichholz und Söhne (1977) and Marketa Lazarová (1967). She was previously married to Jan Tríska.
- Grete Berger was born on 11 February 1883 in Jägerndorf, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Krnov, Czech Republic]. She was an actress, known for Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922), The Student of Prague (1913) and Ein Sommernachtstraum in unserer Zeit (1914). She was married to Hanns Heinz Ewers. She died on 23 May 1944 in KZ Auschwitz, Germany.
- Viktor Staal was born on 17 February 1909 in Frankenstadt, Moravia, Austria-Hungary [now Franstat pod Radhostem, Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for Via Mala (1945), Die Sklavenkarawane (1958) and Mathilde Möhring (1950). He was married to Hansi Knoteck. He died on 4 June 1982 in Munich, Bavaria, West Germany.
- Marie Málková was born on 14 April 1941 in Vysoké Mýto, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia [now Czech Republic]. She is an actress, known for Mrkácek Ciko (1982), Rusalka (1975) and Das unsichtbare Visier (1973).
- Svetla Svozilová was born on 13 November 1906 in Brno, Moravia, Austria-Hungary. She was an actress, known for Mesíc nad rekou (1953), Babichka (1940) and Druhe mládi (1938). She died on 25 February 1970 in Prague, Czechoslovakia.