Czech actress Jiřina Šejbalová († 75) was born on September 17, 1905 in Prague into an artistic family. From an early age, they supported her talent, which she developed at the conservatory. However, her singing career was interrupted by a serious inflammatory disease of the vocal cords. But she was extremely successful as an actress and became one of the leading personalities of the ensemble at the National Theatre. She remained on this stage until 1971, when she retired, she writes.
At the beginning of her career, she often portrayed the roles of seductresses and complicated women, which brought her considerable popularity. These alone she humorously referred to tasks as “marriage-destroying beasts” while her personal life was equally turbulent. She was popular among the male elite of the First Republic, who admired her.
Prominent personalities such as Jan Masaryk were among her admirers and the lawyer Jaroslav Pipka, whom she eventually married. Even after marriage, she continued her social life full of love affairswhich did not bother her husband very much.
Šejbalová liked to receive expensive gifts from her admirers, but they had to be gifts with a capital D. When she received for Christmas from a worshiper “just plain leather gloves”, she threw them in the trash. But the next day he called and expected praise because he had properly improved them before handing them over. He inserted a carefully rolled up 5 thousand bill into each finger.
In today’s prices it would be millions, the fee for the main female role in the film at that time reached a maximum of 10,000 crowns, so the actress did not hesitate to rummage through the trash. But someone was faster and under the bridge, where perhaps the lucky searcher had a temporary residence, they first enjoyed a really rich baby Jesus.
She first appeared on the screen in 1929 in the movie Hank and Jindra. Later, she shone in the films From Saturday to Sunday, The Mystery of the Blue Room or in the war drama Romeo, Júlia a tma, where she played the role of the mother of Ivan Mistrík († 46). For his role in the film Wolf’s Cave was nominated for an award at the Venice Film Festival. Sophia Loren (90) preceded her by only one vote. her performance was awarded with a special medal.
Even after leaving the main stage, she remained actively involved in cultural life. She devoted time in her cottage to social events and the publication of a cookbook containing recipes and memories of famous personalities. Jiřina Šejbalová died of cancer on August 23, 1981, while her colleague Dana Medřická helped her until the very end.
