Pavel Landovský (11 September 1936 – 10 October 2014), nicknamed Lanďák, was a Czech actor, playwright, and director. He was a prominent dissident under the communist regime of former Czechoslovakia.

Biography

Landovský was born in

Havlíčkův Brod Havlíčkův Brod (, until 1945 Německý Brod; german: Deutschbrod) is a town in Havlíčkův Brod District in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law ...

in 1936, and after finishing his studies at the secondary technical school of mechanical engineering, he tried four times to enter the Faculty of Theatre in Prague, without success. He started his acting career as a

supernumerary actor Supernumerary actors are usually amateur character actors in opera and ballet performances who train under professional direction to create a believable scene. Definition The term's original use, from the Latin ''supernumerarius'', meant someo ...

in the regional theatre in

Teplice Teplice () (until 1948 Teplice-Šanov; german: Teplitz-Schönau or ''Teplitz'') is a city in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 49,000 inhabitants. It is the second largest Czech spa town, after Karlovy Vary. The his ...

and continued to perform in regional theatres in

Šumperk Šumperk (; german: Mährisch Schönberg) is a town in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 26,000 inhabitants. It is the centre of the north of Moravia and, due to its location, is known as "The Gate to the Jeseníky mountains ...

, Klatovy, and

Pardubice Pardubice (; german: Pardubitz) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 89,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an urban monum ...

. The first play that he wrote, ''Hodinový hoteliér'', premiered at the Činoherní klub theatre in Prague on 11 May 1969. In 1971, the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

banned him from film and television. He continued acting at Činoherní klub and other theatres. Landovský was one of the initiators of the human rights petition

Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech and Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Jiří Něm ...

and along with

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...

and Ludvík Vaculík, was one of the three official spokesmen for the resulting civil rights movement. He was subsequently banned from working at the theatre. Constantly harassed by the secret police (

Státní bezpečnost State Security ( cs, Státní bezpečnost, sk, Štátna bezpečnosť) or StB / ŠtB, was the secret police force in communist Czechoslovakia from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990. Serving as an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, it de ...

), during the winter of 1978–79, Landovský was accosted at night by an agent, severely beaten, and had his leg broken. Feeling compelled to leave for his safety, when he was offered a position in the ensemble of the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (literally:"Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater"), originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in V ...

in Vienna, Austria, he accepted. While there, he participated in productions by

Peter Zadek Peter Zadek (; 19 May 1926 – 30 July 2009) was a German director of theatre, opera and film, a translator and a screenwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest directors in German-speaking theater. Biography Peter Zadek was born on 19 May ...

, among others. After the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

, Landovský was able to return to Prague in January 1990. There he began to act again, performing regularly at the Theatre on the Balustrade, the National Theatre,

Divadlo v Dlouhé Divadlo v Dlouhé is a repertoire theatre with a permanent group of actors established in 1996 as a set financed by the Municipality of Prague. The group of actors comprises graduates of the ''Theatre Academy of Musical Arts'', part of the actors ...

, and Divadlo Hybernia between 1990 and 2008. He played one of the lead characters in ''

Audience An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature (in which they are called "readers"), theatre, music (in which they are called "listeners"), video games (in which they are called "players"), o ...

''—written by his friend Václav Havel, who had recently been elected president of Czechoslovakia— at Činoherní klub. The play was directed by

Jiří Menzel Jiří Menzel () (23 February 1938 – 5 September 2020) was a Czech film director, theatre director, actor, and screenwriter. His films often combine a humanistic view of the world with sarcasm and provocative cinematography. Some of these f ...

. Landovský acted in a number of famous Czech films, including ''

Closely Watched Trains ''Closely Watched Trains'' ( cs, Ostře sledované vlaky) is a 1966 Czechoslovak film directed by Jiří Menzel and is one of the best-known products of the Czechoslovak New Wave. It was released in the United Kingdom as ''Closely Observed Trains ...

'', '' Marketa Lazarová'', ''

Adelheid Adelheid is the modern Dutch and German form of the Old High German female given name Adalheidis, meaning "nobility" or "noble-ness". It may refer to the following people: * Saint Adelheid or Adelaide of Italy, (931–999), Holy Roman Empress an ...

'', and '' Černí baroni''. Towards the end of his life, the actor suffered from diabetes and, after having had a stroke, used a wheelchair. He died at home in Kytín on 10 October 2014 from a heart attack, aged 78.Pavel Landovsky, Actor and Vocal Czech Dissident, Dies at 78
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Selected filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Landovsky, Pavel 1936 births 2014 deaths Charter 77 signatories Czech male stage actors Czech male film actors Czech male television actors Czech male dramatists and playwrights Czechoslovak dissidents Academy of Performing Arts in Prague alumni People from Havlíčkův Brod 20th-century Czech dramatists and playwrights