Pavel Landovský
# Pavel Landovský

Pavel Landovský (11 September 1936 – 10 October 2014), nicknamed Lanďák, was a Czech actor, playwright, and director. He was a prominent dissident under the communist regime of former Czechoslovakia.

## Biography

Landovský was born in Havlíčkův Brod in 1936, and after finishing his studies at the secondary technical school of mechanical engineering, he tried four times to enter the Faculty of Theatre in Prague, without success. He started his acting career as a supernumerary actor in the regional theatre in Teplice and continued to perform in regional theatres in Šumperk, Klatovy, and Pardubice. The first play that he wrote, Hodinový hoteliér, premiered at the Činoherní klub theatre in Prague on 11 May 1969.

In 1971, the communist regime banned him from film and television. He continued acting at Činoherní klub and other theatres. Landovský was one of the initiators of the human rights petition Charter 77 and along with Václav Havel and Ludvík Vaculík, was one of the three official spokesmen for the resulting civil rights movement. He was subsequently banned from working at the theatre. Constantly harassed by the secret police (Státní bezpečnost), during the winter of 1978–79, Landovský was accosted at night by an agent, severely beaten, and had his leg broken. Feeling compelled to leave for his safety, when he was offered a position in the ensemble of the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria, he accepted. While there, he participated in productions by Peter Zadek, among others.

After the Velvet Revolution, Landovský was able to return to Prague in January 1990. There he began to act again, performing regularly at the Theatre on the Balustrade, the National Theatre, Divadlo v Dlouhé, and Divadlo Hybernia between 1990 and 2008. He played one of the lead characters in Audience—written by his friend Václav Havel, who had recently been elected president of Czechoslovakia— at Činoherní klub. The play was directed by Jiří Menzel.

Landovský acted in a number of famous Czech films, including Closely Watched Trains, Marketa Lazarová, Adelheid, and Černí baroni.

Towards the end of his life, the actor suffered from diabetes and, after having had a stroke, used a wheelchair. He died at home in Kytín on 10 October 2014 from a heart attack, aged 78.

## Selected filmography

Film :

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1957 | Dědeček automobil | Wedding guest with trumpet | |
| 1969 | Každý mladý muž | Lance corporal | |
| 1969 | Slečny přijdou později | Butler Pavka | |
| 1969 | Closely Watched Trains | Thief | Uncredited |
| 1967 | Znamení raka | Hyneček Hása | |
| 1967 | Svatba jako řemen | Driver | |
| 1967 | Marketa Lazarová | Smil | |
| 1967 | Soukromá vichřice | Standa Kocian | |
| 1967 | Zázračný hlavolam | Constable | |
| 1967 | Piknik | Burda | |
| 1968 | Klec pro dva | Youth | |
| 1968 | Pension pro svobodné pány | Nájemník | |
| 1968 | Muž, který stoupl v ceně | Tajný | |
| 1968 | Rakev ve snu viděti | Zdeněk Stýbr | |
| 1969 | End of a Priest | Watcher | |
| 1969 | Utrpení mladého Boháčka | Tonda Boháček | |
| 1969 | Flirt se slečnou Stříbrnou | Vašek | |
| 1969 | Já, truchlivý bůh | Apostol Certikidis | |
| 1970 | Adelheid | Guardsman Jindra | |
| 1970 | Case for a Rookie Hangman | Cop | |
| 1971 | Svatby pana Voka | Emperor Rudolph II | |
| 1971 | The Tricky Game of Love | Servant | (segment "Náusnice") |
| 1971 | Touha Sherlocka Holmese | Zabiják | |
| 1972 | Slaměný klobouk | Officer Emil | |
| 1981 | Ragtime | Solomon Peretz | |
| 1981 | Kopfstand | Stunk | |
| 1981 | Den Tüchtigen gehört die Welt | Jakob Králíček | |
| 1983 | Hunderennen | Ladislav Lapák | |
| 1984 | Lieber Vater | Concierge | |
| 1985 | The Cop and the Girl [de] | Scrapyard guard | |
| 1988 | The Unbearable Lightness of Being | Pavel | |
| 1989 | Die goldenen Jungrau | Festival director | |
| 1989 | Follow Me | Professor Pavel Navrátil | |
| 1991 | V žáru královské lásky | Father | |
| 1992 | Černí baroni | Major Haluška | |
| 1993 | Válka barev | Airport administrator | |
| 1994 | Amerika | Robinson | |
| 1995 | Hazard | Demo | |
| 1997 | An Ambiguous Report About the End of the World | Reeve | |
| 1997 | Cesta pustým lesem | Kokesch | |
| 1998 | Stůj, nebo se netrefím! | Petřina | |
| 2000 | Andel Exit | Machata | |
| 2001 | Mach, Šebestová a kouzelné sluchátko | Mr. Prucha | |
| 2001 | Bez tváře | Bus driver | |
| 2005 | Kousek nebe | Starej | |
| 2007 | Empties | Řezáč | |
| 2007 | Chyťte doktora | Cyril Záruba | |
| 2008 | Shameless | Bedřich, Oskar's father | |
| 2009 | Stínu neutečeš | Granddad Rehor | |
| 2011 | Westernstory | Trubec | |
| 2012 | Bastardi 3 | Grandfather | |
| 2016 | Smrtelné historky | Grandfather | (final film role) |
