“Better to be in a wheelchair than with communists”: Actor Jan Potměšil dies at 60
On Thursday evening, theatre and film actor Jan Potměšil passed away in his sleep after a prolonged illness. He was 60 years old. Potměšil has been confined to a wheelchair since the age of 23 following a car accident.
The son of teacher Jaroslav Potměšil, he had been devoted to acting since childhood. He first appeared in front of the camera while still in elementary school and chose acting as his future profession after a television production titled Hrátky. Before graduating from the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (DAMU), he performed as a guest actor at the Theatre Na Zábradlí and the Vinohrady Theatre. At the age of 21, he gained recognition thanks to his leading role as the naïve young man Martin in the 1987 film Bony a klid. That same year saw the release of another film in which Potměšil played the main character—Princess Jasnenka and the Flying Shoemaker, based on a fairy tale by Czech writer Jan Drda.
Potměšil regularly appeared in children’s roles in television productions, series, and films. He also hosted the Czech Television Advent concerts. He was active in human rights issues and became the face of a number of charitable initiatives and events.
In 1989, he was deeply involved in public affairs: he attended demonstrations during Palach Week, distributed the manifesto Několik vět, defending democratic principles in what was then a totalitarian regime, and took part in the actors’ strike in November 1989. He also joined trips outside the capital to spread information about the Velvet Revolution to rural areas. One of these trips ended in a car accident, after which he remained unconscious for several months. A few years ago, he recalled the first moments after waking from a coma in a Radiožurnál broadcast.
"They were all standing around me in silence, and I was staring with wide, astonished eyes. My father was probably the first to understand and came up with a brilliantly simple sentence—into that silence, he suddenly said: ‘Václav Havel is already president.’ And something inside me exploded with a kind of strength, so it was the most beautiful moment of my life."
“It is better to be in a wheelchair than with communists,”
Jan Potměšil
Even after the accident that confined him to a wheelchair, he did not give up acting. In 2014, he appeared in the sequel Bony a klid 2. He also acted in several television series and continued performing in theatre. Among his most famous roles was Charlie in the stage adaptation of Flowers for Algernon, based on the novel by Daniel Keyes. In a 2015 interview for Czech Radio, he recalled how the accident changed his perspective on life.
"It gave me a lot of strength and maybe also a touch of knowledge in that sense that life here, while it lasts, is wonderful even in the moments when everything seems tragic or impossible to overcome. At the end, these things are a challenge that may even help us get back on our feet. At the same time, I realized that life is worth living and I am really grateful to get a second chance and I value every second of my life. Because now I know that everything can change within seconds. Every morning I am grateful I can wake up and meet new people, have a job I like, a wonderful family, wife, and children. Having said all that, I really cannot complain and I see all this as a great gift."
For his courageous civic stance during the communist totalitarian regime and his active efforts in defending the values of freedom, democracy, and human rights, as well as for his significant contribution to the return of freedom and democracy, he was awarded the Václav Benda Award in 2025.
Jan Potměšil, who once said, “It is better to be in a wheelchair than with communists,” passed away in his sleep on April 16 after a prolonged illness, surrounded by his family.
