The ageless actress Zdena Studenková has been a couple with the conductor Braň Kostek for more than 30 years. The couple met the legendary Jozef Bednárik during the preparations for the musical. The then 22-year-old conductor immediately caught the eye of the actress upon entering the room. After years of relationship, Braňo admitted in the 13th Chamber session why he is worried about Studenkova.
The well-known conductor guards the beautiful actress like an eye in his head. “Every time she freezes like that, I am very afraid. Because she, everything that happens below the level of her shoulders, is not worthy of her. This means that she does not look under her feet. When we go together, I inform her what is happening in the area of our legs.” revealed how they work.
Even after years, people still doubt their love because of the age difference. The mainstay of the Slovak film and theater scene herself admitted that she had health problems. “I’m already a bit half broken, because I’ve had an operation on my knees, shoulder, arm. Everything except my head,” she said bluntly.
Zdena Studenková was born on May 19, 1954 in Bratislava. She graduated from the art photography department at the Secondary School of Arts and Crafts in Bratislava. After graduation, she studied acting at the Academy of Performing Arts (VŠMU). In the years 1977 – 1978, she was a member of the New Stage Drama and from 1978 she worked in the Drama of the Slovak National Theater (SND). She also performed on Bratislava’s Mala scena, in Studio S and in theaters in Prešov and Košice.
She appeared in front of the camera for the first time in the Czech-Slovak crime short film Motive for Murder (1974). In the short story of director Július Matula, she played the character of a rape victim. In 1977, she starred in Ott Krivánek’s popular comedy Štipka soli (1977). A year later, she shone in the impressive film The Virgin and the Beast, directed by Juraj Herz, where critics called her an acting breakthrough.
At that time, she already belonged to the most cast Slovak actresses. She was primarily engaged in television work. The audience could see her, for example, in the television production Rembrandt van Rijn (1981), which is a slice of the biography of the famous painter.
Among her most famous film characters is the singer Gábina in Maria Poledňáková’s popular comedy S tebou me bavi svět (1982). She also became known thanks to Václav Matějka’s film Angel with the Devil in the Body (1983), where she starred alongside actors such as Božidara Turzonovová, Miloš Kopecký, Radoslav Brzobohatý, Josef Vinklář and Jiří Korn.
She was nominated for the prestigious theater award in the category of best female performance in 2012 for her portrayal of Arkadin in Chekhov’s Chaika. She also impressed in the theater play Leni, which is the story of Leni Riefenstahl, or in the theater production Memory of Water.
In addition to radio plays, she also performed in the musicals Blood Brothers, Jozef and his miraculous colored cloak, directed by the legendary Jozef Bednárik. In Košice, she played in his musical Sweet Charity and also performed in the titles Niekto to rád hóchne and Hamlet. Together with Miroslav Nog, Štefan Skrúcaný, Rasť Piško and Michal Dočolomanský, she also played in the performance Molotow cocktail.
She is the recipient of several awards. Among other things, Doveda won the TV Screen Personality (OTO) award eight times, six times in the actress category and two times as the absolute winner. In 2020, she received a special award Slovak woman of the year. At the Art Film Fest 2023 in Košice, Herc’s mission received the award. In April 2024, from the 25th year of the Anička Jurkovičová Theater Festival, she took home the twenty-second Kvet Tálie in a row.
