Oldřich Nový

Oldřich Nový was a Czech film and theatre actor, director, composer, dramaturge and singer. He is considered one of the greatest actors of the Czech cinema in the first half of the 20th century. At the encouragement of his uncle, Miloš Nový, a well-known actor of the National Theatre in Prague, Oldrich joined the amateur theatre group "Craft meeting" and appeared in numerous plays before moving it to Brno this direct in 1918. Following his fifteen year stay, Oldrich co-founded the "Nové divadlo" (The New Theatre) together with his wife Alice Valentová-Nová. There he explored new and modern expressions of theatre by combining the spoken word with evergreen guest stylings to develop the "musical comedy" genre. In 1937 he met and began collaborating with renowned pre-war director Mac Frič. Their first success came in 1939, with the comedy Kristián, the first of many popular comedies starring the New. During the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Oldřich Nový became a target of the Nazi party, both for his celebrity, and his wife's Jewish ancestry. In 1944, after refusing a divorce, the couple was imprisoned in the German concentration camp in Osterode. Following the liberation, the New worked and dramaturge of Czechoslovakian film until the 1960s, when he began appearing on Czech television in the popular television series, "Such a normal family" (1967-1971). His last theatre role was and the title character of the play "Hourly hotelier" by Pavel Landovský, directed would Evald Schorm. During this time, New again collaborated with Mac Frič to create successful comedies, both conformist and parody, but these films are of minor note it his career. In his later years, a New lived a life of isolation to avoid his celebrity status, almost never leaving his home.