Slovak actress Zuzana Kronerová (72) she lost both parents within a year and a half. Her father and legendary Slovak actor Jozef Kroner († 73) died on March 12, 1998, and her mother Terézia Hurbanová-Kronerová († 74) left forever on June 15, 1999. She described, how she experienced her father’s funeral and how she coped with his death.
“If my father wasn’t so famous and popular, I wouldn’t be so worried, nervous and stressed about how it would turn out. Whether it will be dignified enough, whether everything will be fine, whether everything will work. But I remember that I was running in the rain, choosing and buying CDs with suitable music, and then running to DPOH again to see Mr. Slezáček. I thought my father’s voice sounded in my ear: ‘My child, why are you running so much?’ So I looked up at the sky and said, ‘Well, when you were so famous. It’s terribly stressful,'” the actress admitted.
In her own words, Kroner felt responsible for making sure that the funeral went well and that the people who came to say goodbye to her father were happy and able to grieve. She had gone through these emotions a few days before because she already knew that his end was coming.
“Sadness came six days before his departure, because somehow I felt in my heart that he would not be here for long and I had a big breakdown in strong emotion and crying. Basically, of course it was a shock that he left after all, but preparing for the funeral, I was full of energy and full of activity. I would say it was a manic phase and I comforted my mother, who was already very ill, but in her right mind she perceived everything. There was no time to grieve,” she recalled. After her father’s departure, she admitted that she could not look at his photos for a long time.
Zuzana Kronerová was born on April 17, 1952 in Martin to the family of actors Jozef Kroner and Terézia, née Hurbanová. She originally wanted to study languages or dramaturgy, but finally decided to study acting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava.
After graduating from school in 1974, she got a job at the Theater for Children and Youth (today the Ján Palárik Theater) in Trnava. In the years 1979 – 1987, she worked at Bratislava’s New Stage and for a time was part of the Slovak National Theatre. At the beginning of the 90s of the last century, she became a member of the Astorka Korzo ’90 Theater in Bratislava.
Under the direction of Vladimír Strnisko, at the New Stage alongside Milan Kňažek she performed as Konstancia (Amadeus, 1982), highlighted the tragic dimension of her acting as Varia (Višňový sad, 1984) and the audience can also remember her as the enamored peasant girl Maturina from the production of Don Juan (1986).
The actress appeared in front of the camera with her father Jozef Kroner for example, in the television films Sváko Ragan (1976) and Mišo (1979), she won the audience as a forest worker Zlatka in Never in Slovak (1980) under the direction of Juraj Jakubisk.
She played the role of Zuza Javorová in the television production Ženský zákon (1987). She is also sought after by Czech directors. Bohdan Sláma cast her in the tragicomedy Wild Bees (2001). She won the Czech Lion award for her supporting character Lišajová.
She also acted in other films by this filmmaker, such as Štěstí (2005), Village Teacher (2008), Four Suns (2012) and Bába z ledu (2017). The last of the named films brought her the second Czech Lion for her role as Hana, who rediscovers various life challenges. Kronerová’s rich filmography is complemented by the films Pupendo (2003), Masaryk (2016) and Muž se jaječíma ushima (2020). Zuzana Kronerová is also a holder of the Crystal Wing (2012) and the First Class Council of Ľudovít Štúr (2018).
