
Jan Werich
Between 1916 and 1924, Werich attended "reálné gymnasium" (equivalent to high school) in Křemencova Street in Prague (where his future business partner, Jiří Voskovec, also studied). He studied law at the Charles University Law School from 1924 to 1927, from which he made an early departure to begin his artistic career and forge one of the most important partnerships of his life. For more than 10 years he worked in theatre Jiří Voskovec and Jaroslav Ježek. Their partnership was a platform for their numerous left-wing political satires, most notably in the Osvobozené divadlo (Liberated Theatre). The trio's work took inspiration from Dada, with its love of the absurd, a reaction against bourgeois values and the horrors of World War I. In 1955 he begun working in cinema, and 1960s were a peak in his actor career. From the creation of the ABC Theatre he moved to the City Theatres of Prague and then to the Musical Theatre of Karlin and Nusle. Werich was originally cast by producer Harry Saltzman to play Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice. Upon his arrival at the Pinewood set, both producer Albert R. Broccoli and director Lewis Gilbert felt that he was a poor choice, resembling a "poor, benevolent Santa Claus".
57 acting credits
Acting · 57

Pan Tau
1970

Klapzubova jedenáctka
1968

The Fall of Berlin
1950

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen
1962

When the Cat Comes
1963

The 25th Hour
1967
Tři strážníci
2005

Pan Tau – der Film
1988
Voskovec & Werich, paralelní osudy
2012

Assignment K
1968

Hudba z Marsu
1955

The Emperor and the Golem
1952

The Good Soldier Svejk
1956
Here in Kocourkov
1934

Once Upon a Time, There Was a King...
1955

Balada z hadrů
1960

The World Belongs to Us
1937

Two Little Frosts
1955
The Dear Departed
1964

Dog's Heads
1955

Jaroslav Hasek's Exemplary Cinematograph
1956

Fimfarum - To the good of all
2011
To jsou Bratři v triku
1957
Přiložte životopis
1968

Magnetické vlny léčí
1965

Heave-Ho!
1934

Medvěd
1961

The Creation of the World
1958

Jan Werich's Fimfarum
2002
The Golden Fish
1951

The Cry
1964
Mean Barbara
1989
Czechoslovakia: Portrait of a Tragedy
1968
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Z Hatvanu na hranice Haliče
1954

Fimfarum 2
2006
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkovy nehody ve vlaku
1955

Powder and Petrol
1932
Co tomu říkáte, pane Werich?
1968

Italienisches Capriccio
1961

Crisis
1939

Kočár nejsvětější svátosti
1963
Silvestr 1957
1957
Jonáš a Melicharová
1986
Těžká Barbora
1960

Your Money or Your Life
1932
Pražská strašidla
1966

When the Oak Leaves Fall
1991

Jan Werich: Když už člověk jednou je…
2021
Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka – Švejkova budějovická anabase
1956

Tears the World Can't See
1963

Uspořená libra
1963
Pouť noci silvestrovské
1953
Cecílie
2025
King and Women
1967
Večer s Jaroslavem Haškem
1953
Královna Koloběžka první
1981
Herecké Vánoce
1970