Jiřà Voskovec (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjɪrÌ iË ËˆvoskovÉ›ts]
(listen)), born Jiřà Wachsmann and known in the United States as
George Voskovec (June 19, 1905 â€" July 1, 1981) was a Czech actor,
writer, dramatist, and director who became an American citizen in
1955. Throughout much of his career he was associated with actor and
playwright Jan Werich. In the U.S., he is best known for his role as
the 11th juror in the 1957 film 12 Angry Men.Voskovec was born as
Jiřà Wachsmann in Sázava, Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic. He
was the son of Jiřina (Pinkasová) and Václav Wachsmann. His
granduncle was Bedřich Wachsmann and his cousin was Alois Wachsman,
both painters and architects, while his uncle was Austrian painter
Julius Wachsmann (1866â€"1936). He immigrated to the US in 1939 and
again in 1948 with the onset of the National Socialist and Leninist
regimes, respectively, in Czechoslovakia.He attended school in Prague
and Dijon, France. In 1927, together with Werich, he joined the
Osvobozené divadlo (Liberated Theater), which had been created two
years earlier by members of the avant-garde DevÄ›tsil group, JiÅ™Ã
Frejka and Jindřich Honzl. After disagreements led Frejka to leave
the group in 1927, Honzl asked Voskovec and Werich, 22-year-old law
students who had created a sensation with their Vest Pocket Revue that
year, to join the theatre. When Honzl, who had directed their
productions, left in 1929, Voskovec and Werich took control of the
theatre and changed its name to the Liberated Theatre of Voskovec and
Werich, assuming all responsibility for direction, writing, librettos,
and other artistic decisions. The Liberated became a center for Czech
clownery, a reaction to contemporary political and societal problems.
Their performances began with the primary goal of evoking laughter
through fantasy, but with the changing political situation in Germany
their work became increasingly anti-fascist, which led to the closure
of the Liberated Theater after the Munich agreement in 1938. Both
Voskovec and Werich fled to the United States in early 1939. For the
rest of his life, Voskovec lived primarily in the United States,
interrupted only by brief stays in Czechoslovakia in 1948 and in
France from 1948 to 1950. Until the mid-1940s, Voskovec worked and
wrote mostly with Jan Werich, but after Werich's return to Socialist
Czechoslovakia, they met only a few more times. After his return to
the United States in 1950, Voskovec was detained at Ellis Island for
eleven months for his alleged sympathy for Communism.Although Voskovec
lived in three countries and his maternal grandmother was French, he
always maintained that "I am a born and bred Czech." In 1955, he
became an American citizen. As a result of his naturalization, he is
sometimes referred to as "George Voskovec".
(listen)), born Jiřà Wachsmann and known in the United States as
George Voskovec (June 19, 1905 â€" July 1, 1981) was a Czech actor,
writer, dramatist, and director who became an American citizen in
1955. Throughout much of his career he was associated with actor and
playwright Jan Werich. In the U.S., he is best known for his role as
the 11th juror in the 1957 film 12 Angry Men.Voskovec was born as
Jiřà Wachsmann in Sázava, Bohemia, present-day Czech Republic. He
was the son of Jiřina (Pinkasová) and Václav Wachsmann. His
granduncle was Bedřich Wachsmann and his cousin was Alois Wachsman,
both painters and architects, while his uncle was Austrian painter
Julius Wachsmann (1866â€"1936). He immigrated to the US in 1939 and
again in 1948 with the onset of the National Socialist and Leninist
regimes, respectively, in Czechoslovakia.He attended school in Prague
and Dijon, France. In 1927, together with Werich, he joined the
Osvobozené divadlo (Liberated Theater), which had been created two
years earlier by members of the avant-garde DevÄ›tsil group, JiÅ™Ã
Frejka and Jindřich Honzl. After disagreements led Frejka to leave
the group in 1927, Honzl asked Voskovec and Werich, 22-year-old law
students who had created a sensation with their Vest Pocket Revue that
year, to join the theatre. When Honzl, who had directed their
productions, left in 1929, Voskovec and Werich took control of the
theatre and changed its name to the Liberated Theatre of Voskovec and
Werich, assuming all responsibility for direction, writing, librettos,
and other artistic decisions. The Liberated became a center for Czech
clownery, a reaction to contemporary political and societal problems.
Their performances began with the primary goal of evoking laughter
through fantasy, but with the changing political situation in Germany
their work became increasingly anti-fascist, which led to the closure
of the Liberated Theater after the Munich agreement in 1938. Both
Voskovec and Werich fled to the United States in early 1939. For the
rest of his life, Voskovec lived primarily in the United States,
interrupted only by brief stays in Czechoslovakia in 1948 and in
France from 1948 to 1950. Until the mid-1940s, Voskovec worked and
wrote mostly with Jan Werich, but after Werich's return to Socialist
Czechoslovakia, they met only a few more times. After his return to
the United States in 1950, Voskovec was detained at Ellis Island for
eleven months for his alleged sympathy for Communism.Although Voskovec
lived in three countries and his maternal grandmother was French, he
always maintained that "I am a born and bred Czech." In 1955, he
became an American citizen. As a result of his naturalization, he is
sometimes referred to as "George Voskovec".
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