Zdeněk Řehoř is remembered by the audience as one of the trio of watermen in the comedy How to drown Dr. A cloud. He played many major roles on the stage of the Vinohrady Theater in Prague, where he worked for 44 years. In total, he portrayed more than two hundred film and television characters. One of his last films was The Vampire Wedding and he died shortly after. Director Jaroslav Soukup, who shot his last film with him, you remembered him.
Despite the fact that he had visible health problems, he did his job perfectly and precisely, as was his custom. “As always, his performance was excellent. He was a great actor and person. I remember him with respect and love, because he was very close to me in character. Unfortunately, that was my last meeting with him. He died a year later. He was accommodating, decent and a great person. I had a very good time working with him,” said Soukup.
Czech actor Zdeněk Řehoř was born on August 30, 1920 in Jičín to a rich family of a clothing merchant. He had six siblings. After studying at the gymnasium, he was preparing for the teaching profession. When the family moved to Prague in 1938, his contacts with the theater intensified. He played in the Children’s Theater of Míla Mellanová, in the well-known Větrník and after the war in the Divadla pod Plachtou.
It was Jindřich Plachta who influenced Řehoř not only as an actor, but also politically. As a convinced leftist, he joined the Communist Party, which he left in 1968. Practically his entire professional life – until his death in 1994 – he worked on the boards of the Theater in Vinohrady. Zdeněk Řehoř stood in front of the camera for the first time in 1941 in the film Z české mlýnů.
In 1947, he appeared as an auctioneer in the comedy Antlers directed by Alfred Radok. After several episodic roles, he began to establish himself on the screen during the 60s of the 20th century. He played the character of a modern parish priest in Zdeňk Podskalský’s comedy Bílá paní. He also often appeared in detective films, or in parodies of crime novels from this period – in the short story film Crime in a Girls’ School, a year later in the films The Treasure of the Byzantine Buyer and The Naked Shepherdess, as well as in the parodies of Seeing a Coffin in a Dream or Six Girls in Black, or Where Has the Rabbit Gone?
Meanwhile, František Vláčil cast him in the historical films Markéta Lazarová and Údolí včel. He convincingly portrayed the neurotic teacher and husband in Martin Frič’s last film, The Best Woman of My Life. With his moderate, civil to shy acting, Řehoř was able to portray comedic, but also complex dramatic characters and spice them up with persuasiveness and his own humor. In 1970, he played in Zdenek Podskalský’s comedy The Devil’s Honeymoon or in Oldřich Lipský’s comic parody “Four murders are enough, dear”.
An unfortunate accident led him to a role in the comedy Jak utopit Dr. Mráčka or the End of the Watermen in Bohemia. Originally directed by Miloš Macourek cast Jan Libíček in the role of one of the three water men, but he suddenly died right during filming. Instead of a corpulent and bulky actor, the role was finally played by the exact opposite, ascetic-looking Zdeněk Řehoř.
According to his colleagues, isolation and distance from his surroundings were typical not only for his characters, but also for him. At that time, Zdeňko Řehoř’s popularity grew also thanks to television. He shone in the series Such a normal family. He played in unforgettable Krkonoše fairy talesand also in the normalization saga Woman behind the counter. The main character here was played by Jiřina Švorcová, known for her strong communist convictions – and with Zdenek Řehoř, who was married for the second time, they were connected by more than just a work relationship.
In the 1980s, Řehoř played in the series Sanitka, Train of Childhood and Hope, and Sons and Daughters of Jakub Sklář. He portrayed one of the patients in Dušan Klein’s film Dobří holubi se vrachěj. Proof that he was able to find a big space even in a small role is another comedy by Klein, Dear friends, yes! – portrayed a paranoid neighbor who whispers to the main protagonist (Milan Lasica) confidential weather reports obtained from his son in the army on the way to work.
He and his second wife, Jana Semrádová, could not have children of their own, so they adopted a daughter, Jana, who often went to see her father in the theater. Zdeněk Řehoř received the Award of the Union of Czech Dramatic Artists, the Prix Bohemia Award, the title of Meritorious Artist and the Senior Prix Award. One of the most popular Czech actors died on November 8, 1994 in Prague at the age of 74.
