Jiří Bartoška obit

Jiří Bartoška Dies: Czech Actor And Karlovy Vary Film Festival President Was 78

 

He was not on the list.

Prolific Czech actor and president of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival Jiri Bartoška has died at the age of 78. A festival spokesperson confirmed the news on Thursday.  Bartoška had been battling cancer for the last 11 years.

With more than 70 credits to his name, Bartoška was considered one of the most esteemed figures in Czech film, television and theatre. Born in Děčín, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) on March 24, 1947, Bartoška’s career spanned decades. After graduating from the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno, he first worked at the Husa na Provázku Theatre and the Činoherní Studio in Ústí nad Labem, before becoming a mainstay of the ensemble at Theatre Na Zábradlí in the early 1980s.

After he left in the early 1990s, he continued performing intermittently at Bez Zábradlí Theatre and other theatres in the Czech Republic.

He made his film debut in 1975 with The Playground (Hřiště) and then went on to star in Jan Schmidt’s trilogy Settlement of Crows, On the Big River and Call of the Tribe. In addition to nearly 70 films, he starred in many popular television series, including 1984 series The Ambulance and German series A Perfect Scoundrel.

In 1999, Bartoška received the Czech Lion Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film All My Loved Ones (Všichni moji blízcí), which he also produced. In 2016, he was awarded the Czech Lion for Outstanding Contribution to Czech Cinema.

Bartoška played a key role in saving the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, serving as its president from 1994. Together with KVIFF’s longtime artistic director Eva Zaoralová, the duo worked worked closely with the Ministry of Culture and the city of Karlovy Vary and the Grand Hotel Pupp (which was Wes Anderson’s inspiration for Grand Budapest Hotel) to build the festival into the internationally respected event it is today.

Alongside his work with KVIFF, Bartoška continued acting in television, film, dubbing and on stage at the Kalich Theatre, where he appeared in the play Moje hra.

On the country’s national holiday on October 28, 2023, Bartoška received the First Class Medal of Merit from the President of the Republic for his services to the state in the field of culture and arts.

He is survived by his wife, Andrea Bartoskova, and their children Katerina and Janek.