Life story
Vlasta Burian was born in 1891 in Liberec to tailor and amateur Antonín Burian. In 1901, the family moved to Prague's Žižkov. From 1914 to 1920, he worked as a first-league goalkeeper for AC Sparta — and then became an actor, director, singer, and theater manager, earning the nickname King of Comedians.
From 1923 he directed the Rokoko Theater and two years later founded his own Vlasta Burian Theater; from December 1930 it performed on Lazarská street. He made four silent and thirty-six sound films, mostly comedies — On a jeho sestra, To neznáte Hadimršku, Anton Špelec ostrostřelec, Ducháček to zařídí, U pokladny stál, and Přednosta stanice.
In 1944, a sharp turning point came. After the war, he was accused of collaboration, his theater was taken from him, and his acting ban was lifted only in 1950. He returned to the stage at the Karlín Theater, thanks in part to the intercession of Jiří Frejka and Jan Werich, and appeared in the films Byl jednou jeden král and Muž v povětří.
He died in Prague on 31. ledna 1962. In 1994, he was rehabilitated after theater historian Vladimír Just secured a reconsideration of his case. Originally buried at Vinohrady Cemetery, his remains were transferred to Vyšehrad Cemetery in 2002.
Portrait: Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).
Constellation of Life
Important milestones that shaped their journey.