He was one of the most talented actors of his generation, but his life was prematurely ended by addiction and an unexplained tragedy. František Husák († 55) became famous mainly for the character of the fearful Ludva from the comedy trilogy about the Homolkov family. Many viewers also remember him from legendary films such as Jáchyme, throw him in the machine!, Jára Cimrman lying down, sleeping, Sestřičky or Jako jed, writes diary.
All his life he fought with the biggest vice – alcohol. Due to drinking problems, he even had to leave the prestigious Prague Drama Club in 1974. He only got a new engagement at the Na zábradlí Theater, where he worked until his death, years later, when he returned to Prague. Because of alcohol, his four marriages did not last. After these setbacks, he resented the women and moved back to his native apartment with his mother.
As the years went by, the actor began to suffer from depression. He used strong drugs for them, which he dangerously combined with alcohol. This was the source of his unreliability, which was also reflected in his acting performances.
“The articulation and his speech were no longer perfect. Although he came to the theater perfectly fine, he was not in perfect condition before the performance. I remember that once Láďa Mrkvička called me to his table. There were strong analgesics and bottles of white wine,” he quotes the words of Husák’s colleague Jana Přeučila .
His condition was also confirmed by the wife of Josef Šebánek, who played his father in Homolkovce. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him sober,” she said. Husák spent most of his free time in the pub and often returned home full and dirty, barely able to stay on his feet.
Accident or murder?
This lifestyle became fatal for him in 1991. When friends and regulars found him lying on the sidewalk in front of the business with a large bloody wound on his head, they were not at all surprised. They thought he was just drunk again and fell. They took him home, put him to bed and left. However, the actor fell unconscious during the night as a result of bleeding in the brain, from which he never recovered.
He was taken to the hospital, where he died after a few days in a coma. A mystery surrounds his death to this day, and several colleagues are convinced that it was a murder. It has never been determined whether the fatal blow to the head was self-inflicted by falling onto the curb or someone hit him with a heavy object. It is possible that he was spotted by a thief in a drunken state, or he became the target of a group of hooligans. We will probably never know the real truth.
