George Voskovec | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Voskovec in12 Angry Men (1957) | |
| Born | Jiří Wachsmann (1905-06-19)June 19, 1905 Sasau, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary |
| Died | July 1, 1981(1981-07-01) (aged 76) Pearblossom, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Olšany Cemetery, Prague |
| Citizenship |
|
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1926–1981 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Jiří Voskovec (Czech pronunciation:[ˈjɪr̝iːˈvoskovɛts]ⓘ) (bornJiří Wachsmann; June 19, 1905 – July 1, 1981),[1] known in the United States asGeorge Voskovec, was a Czech-American actor. Throughout much of his career, he was associated with actor and playwrightJan Werich. In the U.S., he is known for his role as the polite Juror #11 in the 1957 film12 Angry Men.
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Voskovec was born as Jiří Wachsmann inSázava inBohemia to Jiřina Valentina Marie (née Pinkasová) and Václav Vilém Eduard (né Voskovec; later Wachsmann).[2] He had two siblings, Mrs. Olga Adriena Kluckaufová and Dr. Prokop Voskovec. His granduncle wasBedřich Wachsmann and his cousin wasAlois Wachsman, both painters and architects. Another uncle was Austrian painter Julius Wachsmann (1866–1936). He immigrated to the US in 1939 and again in 1948 with the onset of theNational Socialist andStalinist regimes, respectively, in Czechoslovakia.[citation needed]
He attended school inPrague andDijon, France. In 1927, together with Werich, he joined theOsvobozené divadlo (Liberated Theater), which had been created two years earlier by members of the avant-garde Devětsil group, Jiří Frejka andJindřich Honzl. After disagreements led Frejka to leave the group in 1927, Honzl asked Voskovec and Werich, both law students who had created a sensation with their Vest Pocket Revue that year, to join the theatre. When Honzl, who had directed their productions, left in 1929, Voskovec and Werich took control of the theatre and changed its name to the Liberated Theatre of Voskovec and Werich, assuming all responsibility for direction, writing, librettos, and other artistic decisions.[citation needed]
The Liberated became a center for Czech clownery, a reaction to contemporary political and societal problems. Their performances began with the primary goal of evoking laughter through fantasy, but with the changing political situation in Germany their work became increasingly anti-fascist, which led to the closure of the Liberated Theater after theMunich Agreement in 1938.[citation needed]
Both Voskovec and Werich fled to the United States in early 1939. For the rest of his life, Voskovec lived primarily in the United States, interrupted only by brief stays in Czechoslovakia in 1948 and in France from 1948 to 1950. Until the mid-1940s, Voskovec worked and wrote mostly with Jan Werich, but after Werich's return toSocialist Czechoslovakia, they met only a few more times. After his return to the United States in 1950, Voskovec was detained atEllis Island for eleven months for his alleged sympathy for Communism.[citation needed]
Although Voskovec lived in three countries and his maternal grandmother was French, he always maintained that "I am a born and bred Czech." He was also of Jewish descent.[3] In 1955, he became an American citizen.
Voskovec acted in 72 movies. Only the first five of these were Czech; the rest being American or British. His most famous American movie role was the polite Juror #11 in12 Angry Men (1957), in which being a European immigrant to the US was central to his role. His other famous films includedThe Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) andThe Boston Strangler (1968), as renowned psychicPeter Hurkos. His last movie wasBarbarosa (1982), withWillie Nelson andGary Busey.[citation needed]
In 1975, he published the Czech spokenLP record "Relativně vzato", where he reflects on his life and world in general. A sleeve note for this LP was written by another notable Czech émigré, authorJosef Škvorecký. Voskovec also appeared in the 1978 television filmThe Nativity and the 1980 filmSomewhere in Time, starringChristopher Reeve andJane Seymour. In 1981, he playedFritz Brenner in the NBC TV seriesNero Wolfe withWilliam Conrad as Wolfe.[citation needed]
Voskovec starred on Broadway in 1961 along withHal Holbrook inDo You Know the Milky Way by German playwright Karl Wittlinger. In 1964, he appeared in an episode ofThe Fugitive.[citation needed]
Voskovec died in 1981 of a heart attack inPearblossom, California, at the age of 76.
Minor planet2418 Voskovec-Werich discovered byLuboš Kohoutek is named after him andJan Werich.[4]
