Czech actor Michal Pešek, who became famous for the role of the criminal Jiříček in the legendary TV series Malý pitaval z vilje mest, he had a life full of unexpected twists and turns. After the revolution, he exchanged acting for politics and hard business, earning millions and dating Dagmar Havel. However, his bohemian life was prematurely and cruelly ended by a serious illness, writes the website.
In May 2012, Pešek was in a Prague hospital. His cheeks were sunken, he was almost blind, and his body was ravaged by metastases. All that was left for him was to wait for death. He died on May 7, just three days after his 53rd birthday. For millions of viewers, however, he forever remained the innocent Jiříček, who solved cases with childlike enthusiasm and naivety.
Michal Pešek was born on May 4, 1959 in Prague into a family that had nothing to do with art. However, he showed his talent already in childhood. He entered the conservatory in 1974 in an exceptionally strong year – his classmates were Zlata Adamovská, Vladimír Dlouhý, Lukáš Vaculík or his first great love Veronika Žilková. He played in the municipal theaters of Prague, the Vinohrady Theater and the National Theatre. Viewers also know him from the TV series Exams for Adulthood or the movie Baptism.
After the Gentle Revolution, he unexpectedly quit acting and was lured by the world of politics, but especially money. He became a deputy for the Civic Forum and later threw himself fully into business – he went into the waters of advertising, finance and development. Although he knew how to earn money, he was even better at spending it. He had two Ferraris parked in his garage, owned racehorses and gambled passionately in casinos.
He was never short of women. After an affair with Veronika Žilková, he fell in love with future first lady Dagmar Veškrnová during filming. Later, he formed a couple with the actress Klára Jandová, who was 20 years younger. In 2011, information appeared that the police were looking for him for business debts. Pešek then headed to the Netherlands, which had already become his second home. What exactly he did for a living there remained shrouded in mystery.
The blow of fate came at the same time. Just two weeks after his father’s funeral he found out he had cancer. Although doctors advised him to remove his lungs, he refused. The tumor was encapsulated, but five years later the disease returned in full force. When he knew that the end was near, he returned permanently to the Czech Republic to die at home. In the last weeks, when he was already blind and confined to a wheelchair, he planned the funeral to the smallest detail. He wanted his farewell to be a grand finale.
