The legendary Czech trilogy Sun, hay… is one of the most iconic village comedies that have been forever etched in the hearts of viewers. In his films, the director was able to perfectly match the most famous Czech actors and non-actors, including Josef Starek alias doctor Karel Kroupa. About how Zdeněk Troška found him, writes the website.
Although Stárek grew up in the previous regime, in which homosexuality was rather a social stigma or an opportunity for blackmail, he was never ashamed of his orientation and was openly gay. He worked as a waiter in the Prague restaurant U Voka in Smíchovit was the so-called Pekáč, where gays and lesbians gathered for discos and shared entertainment.
It was here that he met Helena Růžičková. Once Troška arrived at the club, Starek praised Sun, Hay, Strawberries, saying that if he played there, it would definitely be much better. The director liked such “insolence”, so he offered him the role of Dr. Karl in the second part. He was supposed to have promised it to Oldřich Kaiser, but he finally got it in the third part and played the Italian Vincenzo.
Starek became a celebrity after the release of Sun, Hay and a Few Faces in theaters, and he enjoyed it. However, when the money ran out, he had to return to his “normal” profession and found a job as a sausage seller at the Prague Zoo. But then came the last part of the trilogy. Doctor Kája has returned again, and with him also the old glory.
He began to indulge in alcohol and regularly organized wild parties. He was also rumored to have paid male prostitutes. All this took its toll on his health. After Sun, Hay, Erotica, the old man appeared as an innkeeper in Trošk’s fairy tale Princess of the Mill. He died of a heart attack on April 16, 1997 at the premature age of 48.
