Edita Brychta (née Brychtová; born 6 September 1961) is a British actress of Czech descent. She has acted in various capacities including on

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, as well as

voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-sc ...

in animated films,

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

s and

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

s. Born in Czechoslovakia (modern day Czech Republic), Brychta studied in the United Kingdom and subsequently moved to live in the United States.

Early life

Brychta is the daughter of Czech artist (1928–2013). Brychta began acting as a young child in the Czech film

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 ...

, the world's first interactive movie, which was presented at

Expo 67 The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 28 to October 29, 1967. It was a category one world's fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most s ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. After the

Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia On 20–21 August 1968, the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was jointly invaded by four fellow Warsaw Pact countries: the Soviet Union, the Polish People's Republic, the People's Republic of Bulgaria, and the Hungarian People's Republic. The ...

in August 1968, Brychta immigrated to the United Kingdom with her parents and brother. At the age of 16, she joined London's National Theatre Youth Workshop and decided to pursue an acting career.

Career

She trained at

LAMDA The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...

and was signed by Ken McReddie. In the UK, Brychta went on to play Juliet in Romeo & Juliet, Ophelia in Hamlet, Desdemona in Othello, and Marguerite in the world premiere of Vaclav Havel's Largo Desolato, directed by Tom Stoppard. She played Sybil Burlington in the award-winning West End production of Daisy Pulls It Off, produced by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Brychta starred in TV series such as Maelstrom, Gentleman and Players, Lovejoy, and Taggart, as well as the award-winning The Escape (Border in the UK) and the BAFTA-nominated The Britoil Affair. She also, from 1997 to 1998, was the face of the

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...

Reward Card, succeeding the role from

Caron Keating Caron Louisa Keating (5 October 1962 – 13 April 2004) was a British television presenter. Early life and education Keating was born on 5 October 1962 in Fulham, south-west London, to an English father with Irish roots and a Northern Irish moth ...

. Brychta was cast in the role of

Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

's Behind The Palace Doors and moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. She went on to be cast in roles alongside

Julia Roberts Julia Fiona Roberts (born October 28, 1967) is an American actress. Known for her leading roles across various genres, she has received multiple accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and three Golden Globe Award ...

Conspiracy Theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. Known primarily for his energetic slapstick performances, he has received two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for BAFTA Awards and ...

in Man On The Moon,

James Garner James Scott Garner (né Bumgarner; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American actor. He played leading roles in more than 50 theatrical films, which included ''The Great Escape (film), The Great Escape'' (1963) with Steve McQueen; Paddy Ch ...

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner, aired on NBC from September 13, 1974, to January 10, 1980. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigator Jim Rockford, with Noah Beery Jr. in th ...

and

Angela Lansbury Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925 – October 11, 2022) was an Irish-British and American actress, producer, and singer. In a career spanning 80 years, she played various roles on stage and screen. Among her numerous accolades wer ...

Murder She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The s ...

. She also acted alongside

Stellan Skarsgård Stellan John Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier, appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2003), ''Melancholia' ...

and

Lena Olin Lena Maria Jonna Olin (; born 22 March 1955) is a Swedish actress. She has received nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Mentored by filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, she made her screen d ...

in the Swedish film

Friends ''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane (producer), David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting List of Friends episodes, ten seasons. With an ensemble cast ...

. She worked with directors Ronald Neame, Milos Forman, Richard Donner, and in Mark Rydell's

Crime Of The Century "Crime of the century" is an idiomatic phrase used to describe particularly sensational or notorious criminal cases. Chua-Eoan, Howard (n.d.)"Crimes of the Century: The Top 25" ''Time''. Retrieved September 10, 2021. In the United States, it is of ...

for HBO with Isabella Rossellini and Stephen Rea. In the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, Brychta played in her native language in two films, including the lead role of Anna in Jan Sverak's Akumulator 1. She also starred in the French TV series Cinq Filles à Paris. Brychta has done voice-over for animated films such as Ice Age: Continental Drift,

Cosmos The cosmos (, ; ) is an alternative name for the universe or its nature or order. Usage of the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos is studied in cosmologya broad discipline covering ...

, and The Bunbury Tails, and features including The Bourne Identity,

Pirates Of The Caribbean ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park rides, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with Wa ...

and Man of Steel, as the voice of the mother ship. Brychta has voiced various video game characters including Natasha in

Red Alert 3 ''Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3'' is a real-time strategy video game developed by EA Los Angeles and published by Electronic Arts. It was released in October 2008 in the United States and Europe for Microsoft Windows. An Xbox 360 version was r ...

. She has featured in radio plays for the BBC, including the critically acclaimed Me, Cheeta: My Life in Hollywood with

John Malkovich John Gavin Malkovich (born December 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and ...

. Brychta has voiced audio books including

Jane Goodall Dame Jane Morris Goodall (; born Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall; 3 April 1934), formerly Baroness Jane van Lawick-Goodall, is an English zoologist, Primatology, primatologist and Anthropology, anthropologist. She is considered the world's foremo ...

's Seeds of Hope and was nominated for an Audie for the trilogy, This Man. She performed a live narration for Leonard Bernstein's The Kaddish at Royce Hall in Los Angeles. She featured in Daniel Deronda, A Room With a View, Watch on the Rhine, and the Tony-award-winning Oslo for LA Theater Works.

Personal life

Brychta is married to producer

David Ladd David Alan Ladd (born February 5, 1947)is an American film and television producer and former actor. Early life Ladd was born in Los Angeles, California. His father was Alan Ladd, an actor. His mother was Sue Carol, Alan Ladd's second wife, ...

and has one daughter, Lauren Cassidy, by a previous marriage. She has completed four open water swims from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco, the length of the Golden Gate Bridge three times, and the 10K distance from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge twice, winning numerous medals.

Filmography

*'' Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning'' (2012) — (voice) *'' Star Wars: The Old Republic'' (2011) — (voice) *''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Jeff Davis that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral ...

'' (2010) Season 6, Episode 11: 25 to Life — Mrs. Stanworth *'' Undercovers'' (2010) Season 1, Episode 6: Xerex — Londoner Wife *'' Doktor od jezera hrochu'' (2010) — MUDr. Homolová *'' Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time'' (2009) — (voice) *'' Destroy All Humans! 2: Make War Not Love'' (2006) — (voice) *''

A Good Year ''A Good Year'' is a 2006 romantic comedy-drama film directed and produced by Ridley Scott. The film stars Russell Crowe, Marion Cotillard, Didier Bourdon, Abbie Cornish, Tom Hollander, Freddie Highmore and Albert Finney. The film is ba ...

'' (2006) — (voice) *''

SOCOM 3 U.S. Navy SEALs ''SOCOM 3 U.S. Navy SEALs'' is a tactical shooter, tactical third-person shooter video game developed by Zipper Interactive and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It is the sequel to ''SOCOM II U.S. Navy SEALs''. T ...

'' (2005) (voice) — COLDKILL *'' Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines'' (2004) (voice) — additional voices *'' Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders'' (2004) (voice) *'' James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing'' (2003) (voice) *'' Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown'' (2003) (voice) — Maid Marian *'' Kingdom Under Fire: A War of Heroes'' (2001) (voice) *'' Spyro: Year of the Dragon'' (2000) (voice) — Sheila the Kangaroo, Princess Ami of the Fairies *''Man on the Moon'' (1999) — Pig-Tailed Wrestler *'' Return to Krondor'' (1998) (voice) *''One Night Stand'' (1997) — Karen's Business Associate *''

'' (1997) — Henry Finch's Receptionist *''Crime of the Century'' (1996) — Gerta Henkel *''

: Godfather Knows Best'' (1996) — Katinka *''

Murder, She Wrote ''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...

: Nan's Ghost'' (1995) — Deirdre O'Bannon *'' Accumulator 1'' (1994) — Anna *''The Britoil Affair'' (1993) — Patricia Peters *''Behind the Palace Doors'' (1993) — Diana, Princess of Wales *''Fergie & Andrew: Behind the Palace Doors'' (1992) —

Diana, Princess of Wales Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997), was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

*''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

: (1991) National Wealth'' Season 2 — Melanie Ford *''

The Piglet Files ''The Piglet Files'' is a British sitcom produced by London Weekend Television (LWT). The show consists of three series, totalling 21 episodes, that were broadcast between 7 September 1990 and 10 May 1992. The programme follows the life of re ...

'' (1991) Helen *''

Taggart ''Taggart'' is a Scottish detective fiction television programme created by Glenn Chandler, who wrote many of the episodes, and made by STV Studios for the ITV network. It originally ran as the miniseries ''Killer'' from 6 until 20 Septe ...

: Rogues' Gallery'' (1990) — Valerie Sinclair *''The Secret Life of Ian Fleming'' (1990) — Maya *'' Gentlemen and Players'' — Jane Somerville (13 episodes, 1988–1989) *''

'' (1988) — Sally *''Flying in the Branches'' (1988) — Dana *''Blind Justice'' (1988) — Suzie de Villiers *''Escape'' (1987) — Eva *''Galloping Galaxies!: Episode #2.4'' (1986) — Amazonia *''Worlds Beyond: Guardian of the Past'' (1986) — Birgitta *''Call Me Mister: Humpty Dumpty'' (1986) — Elizabeth Monk *''Foreign Body'' (1986) — Jean *''

Hot Metal ''Hot Metal'' is a British sitcom produced by London Weekend Television about the newspaper industry, that aired for two series on the ITV network in 1986 and 1988, along with a special episode for Comic Relief in 1989, that was broadcast on ...

: The Tell-Tale Head'' (1986)— Lady Deborah *''Cinq filles à Paris'' (1986) (mini) TV Series *''

Maelstrom Maelstrom may refer to: * Maelstrom (whirlpool), a powerful whirlpool ** originally the Moskstraumen in English Amusement rides * Maelstrom (ride), a former log flume dark ride attraction in the Epcot theme park at Walt Disney World Resort ...

'' (1985) — Ingrid Nilsen *''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' (1984) — Antiochus's Daughter *'' Just Good Friends'': Fatherly Advice (Season1 Episode4) (1983) — Girl in Pub

References

External links