Prucha, Jaroslav

Born Apr. 24, 1898, in Škvrňiany, near Plzeň; died Apr. 25, 1963, in Prague. Czechoslovak actor and director. People’s Artist of the Czechoslovak SSR (1953). Member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia since 1945.

Průcha first acted in amateur productions. From 1924 to 1928 he acted in the Municipal Theater in Kladno (in 1963 renamed the Průcha Theater). From 1931 to 1963, Průcha worked in the National Theater in Prague. In 1946 he was the first in the history of the Czechoslovak theater to act the role of Lenin, in Pogodin’s The Kremlin Chimes. His other roles included Vershi-nin in Chekhov’s The Three Sisters, Levshin in Gorky’s The Enemies, Galen in Čapek’s The White Disease, and the title role in Jirásek’s JanŽižka (State Prize of the Czechoslovak SSR, 1951).

Průcha’s most interesting productions were those of J. K. Tyl’s plays; for his staging of Tyl’s The Stubborn Woman he was awarded the State Prize of the Czechoslovak SSR (1952). He was also a popular film actor. In 1963 the Union of Workers of the Theater, Cinema, and Television of the Czechoslovak SSR established a Jaroslav Průcha Prize.