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Summary for: Jiří Štěpnička, Czech voice of Harrison Ford and theater veteran, dies at 79Jiří Štěpnička, the Czech actor whose voice became closely associated with Harrison Ford and whose stage career spanned five decades at Prague’s National Theatre, died Sunday, Oct. 11. He was 79.
The National Theatre announced his death, with spokesman Tomáš Staněk telling ČTK that Štěpnička died in a medical facility. No cause of death was disclosed.
Colleagues remembered an unusually versatile performer whose work extended across theater, film, television, radio and dubbing. For many Czech viewers, his voice was as familiar as his face.
A voice inseparable from Hollywood’s leading men
Actors’ Association President Ondřej Kepka described Štěpnička as “the Czech Harrison Ford,” saying his distinctive delivery had become inseparable from Ford’s characters for local audiences.
“He is one of the greatest icons of dubbing,” Kepka told ČTK.
Štěpnička also voiced Michael Douglas, Steven Seagal, Jeff Bridges and Gérard Depardieu. His work helped shape how Czech-speaking audiences experienced some of Hollywood’s most recognizable performers.
In 2002, he received the František Filipovský Award, a leading Czech dubbing honor, for voicing Mel Gibson in What Women Want. The Actors’ Association recognized his longstanding mastery of dubbing in 2023, followed by the Life of an Artist Foundation’s Master Prix in 2024.
Kepka also recalled their collaboration at Czech Radio in the 1990s, describing Štěpnička as a phenomenal radio actor.
Born in London on April 16, 1947, Štěpnička lived and built his career in Czechoslovakia and later Czechia. Before joining the National Theatre in 1975, he worked at the Klicpera Theatre in Hradec Králové and the State Theatre in Brno.
Five decades on the national stage
At the National Theatre, Štěpnička played roles ranging from Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice to the Duke of Cornwall in King Lear.
His repertoire also included major Czech works, among them Maryša, The Strakonice Bagpiper and Our Swaggerers. He won the 2010 Thálie Award, one of Czechia’s principal performing arts honors, for playing Raymond in Blackbird.
National Theatre Director Jan Burian remembered him as an outstanding actor and friend who found happiness in theater and deeply valued his family.
Štěpnička first appeared on film at 14 in Tažní ptáci. Later audiences knew him from David Ondříček’s In the Shadow, in which he played a secret police colonel, and television series including Vyprávěj and Terapie.
In a 2017 interview marking his 70th birthday, Štěpnička recalled lines he had written as a schoolboy about his love of red wine, women and, above all, sunshine—which gave wine its flavor, women their beauty and him life. That, he said, could serve as his life’s credo.
