Czech actress Jana Šulcová passes away at age 76

Czech actress Jana Šulcová, who starred in classic films such as The Cremator and I Enjoy the World with You (S tebou mě bavi svět), passed away on Friday evening at the age of 76. Daughter Rozálie Víznerová confirmed her mother's passing to Czech News Agency.

In addition to her film work, Šulcová was particularly popular in the Czech TV series Byl jednou jeden dům and My všichni školou povinní in the 1970s and 1980s. She also was a long-time actress with Prague Municipal Theatres.

After 1989, she only rarely appeared in front of the camera, and mostly on television. Director Ondřej Trojan gave her a more significant role in the 2010 film Identity Card (Občanský prúkaz), where she played a school principal, and she also featured in Jan Prušinovský's 2015 comedy-drama The Snake Brothers (Kobry a užovky).

Šulcová was remembered on Friday evening by actors Jaromír Nosek and Kryštof Hádek. She played the mothers of both actors in recent films.

"She was my absolute sweetheart, I have so much respect for her," Nosek told Czech News Agency. "I last saw her three years ago on the set of Daria when she played my mother and she was absolutely perfect. I was lucky enough to act with her twice, the second time in the TV series Vyprávěj, and it was also a very pleasant collaboration."

In the award-winning film The Snake Brothers, Šulcová portrayed the alcoholic mother of the irresponsible Kobra, played by Kryštof Hádek.

"I remember it vividly, it was a rare meeting for me. I knew her as a child from different films and suddenly we could act together," Hádek recalled. "The collaboration was flawless, I think we read together quite well, it was fun and we were taking notes outside of the shots."

Actor Pavel Nový met Šulcová on the film I Enjoy the World with You, where he played the character of sound engineer Pepa. The 1982 movie was voted by audiences as the best Czech comedy of the century in a 1998 poll.

"She was a good person. And she didn't only shoot I Enjoy the World with You," Nový told Czech News Agency. "It's a shame that we weren't able to meet recently. We wanted to meet her with our children, but it didn't work out."

Šulcová played mostly positive characters with whom the audience could identify. In the 1970s, they were romantic and sympathetic girls, and from the 1980s, she often played the role of mothers.

The actress became a member of the Municipal Theaters of Prague in 1969 while studying at DAMU. At the same time, she embarked on a career in film and TV. She went from role to role in front of the camera and in the theater.

"I only had a break when the children were born... I filmed a lot, but never so much that I neglected the children," she recalled a few years ago.

Šulcová left the Municipal Theaters of Prague in 1992 to work on a freelance basis. She also had prominent voice roles on Czech-dubbed versions of Columbo and Murder, She Wrote. She struggled with health problems in recent years, and ended up in the hospital on multiple occasions. The cause of her death has not been revealed.