Czech actor Ladislav Potměšil († 75) was forever etched in the hearts of Slovak and Czech viewers, especially as Major Václav Maisner in the trilogy There was once a policeman, but he also starred as father Horáček in the comedy musical Disco story and Disco story 2. His son in the film was Rudolf Hrušínský the youngest (54), who was only 16 years old at the time of filming the first part. writes the website.
Hrušínský lived in one of Pilsen’s hotels and during the four months he spent there, he got to know night life for the first time and started drinking alcohol. Potměšil was well acquainted with the well-known acting family and was basically ordered by them to “take care of the young man”. Although he did not forbid him, he gave him advice that when he was drinking, he should choose only one type of alcohol and stay with it until the end. Hrušínský the youngest is said to follow this advice to this day.
Ladislav Potměšil was born on September 2, 1945 in Žižkov, Prague. Since childhood, he was devoted to art, which was led by his father, who often took him to the theater. However, he gradually moved from the audience to the stage and sang himself in many ensembles, acted in films and on stage plays.
In 1969, he graduated from the Theater Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU) in Prague and got a job at the Realistic (today Švandov) Theater. on whose stage he remained until 1988. From 1989 to 1990, he played in the SK Neumann Theater in Libni, and from 1993 he was a member of the Prague ensemble of the Vinohrady Theater.
The first time set up in front of the camera in the early 1960s. Since then, he has starred in many successful films and portrayed dozens of characters. It was also widely used in television series, such as Hospoda, Zdivočelá země, Přístav or Ordinace v roszářáden. He himself said that he preferred comedic roles. Favorite actor whose the last months were plagued by serious health problems and he was confined to bed, he found wide application in dubbing as well.
In 2012, Potměšil left Prague’s Kalich Theater because his problems with his spine were unbearable. After one of the performances, there was a final thank you, after which he could no longer straighten up. “I looked at him, tears were flowing, and then he said: ‘Is it worth it? I suffer for two hours, it’s not fun to play.’ It was about survival,” she revealed in his Jaroslav’s wife.
Many people don’t realize it, but acting is a very demanding profession. An actor on stage has to do things that he probably wouldn’t normally do, they overcome themselves and the musculoskeletal system suffers. In the 1980s and 1990s, Potměšil also played physically demanding roles, which could have triggered his later spine problems.
The star of the film Disco story or There was once one cop there was a threat of paralysis at the end of 2016, so he had to undergo three major spinal operations within a few months. During one operation, doctors removed part of the vertebra of his lumbar spine, in which he had a tumor, and replaced it with titanium.
However, there was another complication – an abdominal hernia – and he had to go under the scalpel for the fourth time. After these performances, which he completed during the year, he never returned to workbut he did not give up and met the doctors.
“It turned out pretty well in the end. I have people around me that I like… When I realize that I didn’t have to have this conversation with you at all, or that I could have stayed in bed, that’s a miracle.” he said in 2019.
However, the battle with the cancer that was found in him was cruel. Even before that, his hearing began to slowly go away, but the chemotherapy also deprived him of his voice. A native of Prague died on July 12, 2021, aged 75.
