Ivan Jandl (24 January 1937 – 21 November 1987) was a Czechoslovakian child actor. He appeared in the 1948 film ''

The Search ''The Search'' is a 1948 American film directed by Fred Zinnemann that tells the story of a young Auschwitz survivor and his mother who search for each other across post-World War II Europe. It stars Montgomery Clift, Ivan Jandl, Jarmila Novot ...

'' as a nine-year-old Czechoslovak boy who had survived

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

and was searching for his mother in post-war

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The movie was filmed on location in Germany and at a studio in Zurich, Switzerland, from June to November, 1947. The boy spoke no English and had to learn his lines phonetically. He was awarded an

Academy Juvenile Award The Academy Juvenile Award, also known informally as the Juvenile Oscar, was a Academy Honorary Award, Special Honorary Academy Awards, Academy Award bestowed at the discretion of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences#Current administr ...

for his work, but was not permitted by the then communist government of Czechoslovakia to travel to the USA to accept it. At the Academy Awards ceremony in 1949, his Oscar was accepted on stage on his behalf by the director of ''

'', Fred Zinnemann. He was also awarded a Golden Globe for his performance in the film and both statuettes are now preserved in the Czech National Film Archive. He appeared in some Czech films in 1949 and 1950, then left acting to continue his studies. He tried unsuccessfully to continue his acting career in his late teens, and eventually found work in radio.

Death

Jandl died from complications of

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

in Prague in 1987, aged 50. The minor planet 37736 Jandl is named after him. Thirty years after his death, on 9 January 2017, the ashes of Jandl were transferred to the

Vyšehrad cemetery Established in 1869 on the grounds of Vyšehrad Castle in Prague, Czech Republic, the Vyšehrad Cemetery () is the final resting place of many composers, artists, sculptors, writers, and those from the world of science and politics. The center ...

, the final resting place of many Czechoslovak personalities, thanks to the efforts of the Actors' Life Foundation (Život umělce) with the support of the Czech Actors' Association (Herecká asociace).

Filmography

References

External links

* Academy Juvenile Award winners Czech male child actors Czech male film actors Diabetes-related deaths 1937 births 1987 deaths 20th-century Czech male actors {{czechRepublic-actor-stub