Actress Stella Zazvorkova dies, aged 83
A legend of Czech film and theatre, the actress Stella Zazvorkova, has died in Prague at the age of 83. During a career spanning 60 years, Stella Zazvorkova played a whole range of characters, from aristocratic ladies to loving grandmothers, with equal zest and brilliance.
She was born in 1922 into a middle-class Prague family. Her architect father Jan Zazvorka designed the monumental Liberation Memorial on Vitkov Hill in Prague, and the profession was passed onto Stella's brother - also called Jan - who became a respected film architect.
But Stella was always attracted to the theatre. After she failed her entrance exam to the Prague Conservatory, she studied at an English secondary boarding school. She then studied acting with Emil Frantisek Burian, a prominent figure of the Czech musical avant-garde. She later performed in his theatre as well as on other Prague stages, where she played over 50 roles.
Stella Zazvorkova naturally inclined to comedy, especially in film and on TV. Just 5'2" with a well-rounded figure, she excelled when playing down-to-earth wives, quarrelsome neighbours but also kind-hearted mothers.
Foreign audiences had a chance to see her in the 1996 Oscar-winning Czech film Kolya.
Stella Zazvorkova, who won a life-time achievement award for acting in 2001 and a Czech Lion film award in the same year, was also very popular with her own colleagues, who respected her sharp wit, broad education and - as many tributes have mentioned - big heart.
