Helena Růžičková and Slatina

Helena Růžičková (13 June 1936 – 4 January 2004)

Biography

Helena Růžičková was born in 1936. She ranks among the best-known and most beloved actresses in the Czech Republic. She first worked at the theatre in Mladá Boleslav (as a choreographer) and at the theatre in Příbram (as a stage technician). One of her first theatrical roles was the Mayor's Wife in the play The Government Inspector (1967).

She became embedded in public consciousness above all through her leading roles in successful Czech comedies. She was best known for the series of films about the Homolka family: Ecce homo Homolka (1969), Hogo fogo Homolka (1970) and Homolka a Tobolka (1972). We also remember her as Mrs Škopková in director Z. Troška's films Slunce, seno, jahody (1983), Slunce, seno a pár facek (1989) and Slunce, seno, erotika (1991).

Among her other films we may name Trhala fialky dynamitem (1992), Fontána pre Zuzanu 2 (1993), Příště budeme chytřejší, staroušku! (1982) and others.

She also appeared in well-known Czech fairy-tale films such as Honza málem králem (1976), Tři oříšky pro Popelku (1973) and O princezně Jasněnce a létajícím ševci (1987).

She played her last role in director Z. Troška's film Kameňák 2 (2003). She then spent a long time at her cottage in Slatina, where she also lived for a while. It was here too that towards the end of her life she fought her serious illness. Helena did not give up, however, and fought alongside the doctors at Plzeň hospital to the very last moment. She never had a bad word to say about the team of specialists. At the beginning of 2004 she succumbed to the long, serious illness. Helena Růžičková's son (Jiří Růžička, died 1999) was also an actor. He appeared with Helena in the successful comedy series Slunce, seno… and also in the film Trhala fialky dynamitem.

Filmography

Films and TV Series

2003 - Kameňák 2
2000 - Z pekla štěstí 2
1998 - "Z pekla štěstí" (TV series)
1997 - Králův šašek (TV film)
1995 - Hořké léto
1993 - Fontána pre Zuzanu 2, Chudobných rodičov syn (TV film)
1992 - "Chobotnice 6" (TV series), "O zvířatech a lidech" (TV series), "Přítelkyně z domu smutku" (TV series), Trhala fialky dynamitem
1990 - Slunce, seno, erotika
1989 - Dva lidi v ZOO
1988 - Slunce, seno a pár facek
1987 - "Gagman" (TV series), Kdo má rád (TV film), O princezně Jasněnce a létajícím ševci
1986 - O princezně Furieně, "Panoptikum města pražského" (TV series), Velká filmová loupež
1985 - "Pohádky z Větrné Lhoty" (TV series), "Slavné historky zbojnické" (TV series), "Vlak dětství a naděje" (TV series)
1984 - Slunce, seno, jahody
1983 - "Návštěvníci" (TV series)
1982 - Příště budeme chytřejší, staroušku!, Zpěváci na kraji nemocnice (TV film)
1981 - Buldoci a třešně, Mezi námi kluky, Monstrum z galaxie Arkana, "Poručík Petr" (TV series), Tajemství hradu v Karpatech, V podstatě jsme normální, "Zpívej, kovboji!"
1980 - Blázni, vodníci a podvodníci, Co je doma, to se počítá, pánové..., Prázdniny pro psa, Trhák, Zabijačka (TV film)
1979 - "Arabela" (TV series), Dlouhá silvestrovská noc (TV film), "Dnes v jednom domě" (TV series), Historky z Ražické bašty (TV film), Kamarátky, Láďo, ty jsi princezna! (TV film), Modrá planeta, Silvestr svobodného pána (TV film)
1978 - Kontrola nemocného (TV film), Od zítřka nečaruji
1977 - Adéla ještě nevečeřela, Což takhle dát si špenát, Honza málem králem, O moravské zemi
1976 - Náš dědek Josef, Pozor, ide Jozefína!, Zítra to roztočíme, drahoušku...!
1975 - Čtrnáctý v řadě (TV film), Nevěsta s nejkrásnějšíma očima
1973 - "Kamarádi" (TV series), Kouzelný hrášek (TV film), O doktorovi Vševědovi (TV film), Tři oříšky pro Popelku
1972 - Homolka a tobolka, Hráč, Ukradená bitva
1971 - Alfons Karásek v lázních (TV film), Babička I., II., Dívka na koštěti, Jak se státi gentlemanem, Metráček, Moderní byt (TV film), My tři a pes z Pětipes, Psi a lidé, Revizor (theatre), Slaměný klobouk, Ženy v ofsajdu
1970 - Čert a Káča (TV film), Ďábelské líbánky, "Fantom operety" (TV series), Hogo fogo Homolka, Kateřina a její děti, Lucie a zázraky, Nevěsta, „Pane, vy jste vdova!", Šest uprchlíků (TV film), Velká neznámá, Vražda Ing. Čerta
1969 - Ecce homo Homolka, "Pan Tau" (TV series), Snídejte v trávě!, Světáci, Šest černých dívek aneb Proč zmizel Zajíc?, Zabil jsem Einsteina, pánové...
1968 - Červená kůlna, Farářův konec, "Hříšní lidé města pražského" (TV series), Kulhavý ďábel, Můj dům - můj hrad, Naše bláznivá rodina, Nejkrásnější věk, „Rakev ve snu viděti...", Řeč o Puškinovi (TV film), Těch několik dnů..., Tony, tobě přeskočilo, Všichni dobří rodáci
1967 - Happy end, Jak se krade milión, Když má svátek Dominika, Konec agenta W4C prostřednictvím psa pana Foustky, Pět holek na krku, Revizor (theatre), Útěk, Zázračný hlavolam, Zločin a trik II. (TV film)
1966 - Dáma na kolejích, "Eliška a její rod" (TV series), Flám, Kdo chce zabít Jessii?, Vrah skrývá tvář, Znamení Raka, Ženu ani květinou neuhodíš
1965 - Bílá paní, Každý mladý muž, Nikdo se nebude smát, Škola hříšníků, Třicet jedna ve stínu, Ztracená tvář
1964 - ...a pátý jezdec je Strach, Čintamani & podvodník, Místo v houfu, Za pět minut sedm
1963 - Handlíři, Naděje, Tři chlapi v chalupě, Zlaté kapradí
1962 - Neklidnou hladinou, Neschovávejte se, když prší
1961 - Muž z prvního století, Spadla s měsíce
1957 - Bomba
1956 - Nevěra
1941 - Z českých mlýnů
1940 - Babička

Video Clips

Documentary

2005 - Vichřice mezi životem a smrtí (TV film)
2003 - Slunce, seno, Helena (TV film)
1969 - "Úsměvné legendy o hradech a zámcích" (TV series)

TV Programmes

2001 - "Mňam aneb Prima vařečka" / "Tescoma prima vařečka" (TV programme)
1997 - "Nikdo není dokonalý" (TV programme)
1993 - "O poklad Anežky české" (TV programme)

Written About Helena

5 January 2004
Helena Růžičková loses her battle with cancer
(Czech Radio, author: Zdeňka Kuchyňová)

There is probably no one in the Czech Republic who did not know Helena Růžičková. Her humour was accessible to all — she was both a comedian and an outstanding character actress. Though full-figured, she moved with grace and turned this supposed disadvantage into an asset. She appeared on the National Theatre stage at the age of four in the ballet From Fairy Tale to Fairy Tale. She did not gain entry to drama school and instead trained as a dental technician. But the desire for the stage won out, and when she married the young acting student Jiří Růžička, she gradually joined the acting family. She appeared in around two hundred films and shone in the Homolka family trilogy among others. Her greatest popularity came from the further trilogy Slunce, seno…, in which Helena Růžičková was offered one of the leading roles by her friend, director Zdeněk Troška.

Portraying resolute and energetic women was typical of Helena Růžičková. Her last role was as a greengrocer again in Troška's comedy Kameňák 2. She died 17 days before she was due to take the stage to receive flowers for the role and for the courage with which, despite her illness, she had filmed it. Helena Růžičková was also outstanding in character roles. From the TV series Vlak dětství a naděje, the kind Mrs Sládková's line "Na prašivej život já jsem pes" is well known. And that characterised Helena Růžičková too. In 1999 she buried her son Jiří, also an actor, and on 6 September 2003 her husband, with whom she had lived for 45 years.

When doctors discovered her illness in August 2002, the actress decided she would fight the cancer. To the very last moment she refused to accept death. She planned trips to Australia and the USA, but her body would not obey. During several rounds of chemotherapy she lost 120 kilograms, her hair fell out, yet she did not lose her optimism, and about her battle with the disease she wrote several books that became bestsellers. She refused Prague hospitals and chose to be treated in Plzeň. She spoke of her stays at the hospital there only with praise.

"I feel here as if among my own. There are excellent people here. Not only here in oncology, but also in pharmacology with Associate Professor Mayer, wherever I have been. I simply cannot complain about Plzeň."
In addition to books about her battle with illness, Helena Růžičková also wrote cookbooks and practised a little fortune-telling. In her final years she lived with her husband in Slatina in the Horažďovice area.

4 January 2004
Actress Helena Růžičková has died
(iDNES.cz)

Helena Růžičková succumbed on Sunday morning in Plzeň hospital to a serious illness. The sixty-seven-year-old actress will be remembered by audiences above all for her comedic roles. She retained her zest for life even in her final two years, during which she courageously fought cancer.