Life story
Jozef Kroner was born in a small station house in Staškove na Kysuciach; today his museum is housed there. He became an actor without formal theater training — he began at the Army Theater in Martine, where he worked for eight years, and from 1956 he was a member of the drama company of the Slovak National Theater until his retirement in 1984.
His most famous film role is Tóno Brtko in The Shop on Main Street (1965). The film won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and Kroner's Brtko became one of the most enduring characters of Central Europe. Audiences also knew him as Kuba, Adam Krt from Rysavá jalovica, or from Uncle Ragan and many other films and television series.
He came from a theatrical family — his brothers Ľudovít and Ján were actors, his sister Mária Hojerová was an actress, his wife was Terézia Hurbanová-Kronerová and his daughter Zuzana Kronerová. In addition to his acting, he wrote books, particularly about fishing; five of his were published.
In a survey by Slovak film journalists, he was chosen as the Slovak actor of the 20th century. He died in Bratislava in March 1998 at the age of 73 and is buried at Cintorín Slávičie údolie.
Constellation of Life
Important milestones that shaped their journey.