Otto Šimánek | WatchedThis
Otto Šimánek
Acting
Biography
Otto Šimánek (April 28, 1925 Třešť - May 8, 1992 Prague) was a Czech mime, film and theater actor. He has starred in a number of comedies and several fairy tales. Probably his most famous role was the title role in the series Pan Tau. He trained as an electrician at Tesla in Prague and has so far played the theater only amateuristically. He later got to the Theater on May 5 and also traveled for a few months at the Theater under the Placht of Jindřich Plachta. He gained acting experience in various theaters. He worked in theaters in Zlín, Ostrava and finally in 1958 he was engaged in the Municipal Theaters of Prague, where he lasted until 1990. He played a number of large roles on the stage. The character of the clown Jean Debureau remains unforgettable for the audience in the dramatization of Kožík's novel The Greatest of the Pierots, where he could fully use his love for pantomime. Acting in the Prague theater also meant an opportunity to win film and television roles. He mainly played smaller roles in about forty films. The most famous is probably the role from the movie I'll Get Up Tomorrow and Bake My Tea. His character, Mr. Tau, entered the European and, to some extent, world film consciousness in the co-production series of the same name by director Jindřich Polák and screenwriter Ota Hofman. He also taught pantomime at the Prague Conservatory and DAMU. Among his students was, among others, the actor Petr Čepek. On the site of the pharmacy where Otto Šimánek was born, an ash statue was installed in 2011 depicting an actor in the role of Mr. Tau with a typical hand movement near his hat. The author is Daniel Stejskal.
Filmography Movies
Acting
Dařbuján a Pandrhola
The miner Dařbuján has a lot of children that he cannot support and another one has just been born. He needs to find a godfather and three are offered: God, the Devil and Death. Dařbuján chooses Death because he is the only one who is fair, he treats the poor and the rich equally. When Dařbuján is considering what to do to provide for his family, Death advises him to get a doctorate and immediately offers him help in his new trade. If Death stands at the feet of a sick person, Dařbuján will heal him within three days. However, if he stands at the head, the sick person is finished and Dařbuján must not interfere in his trade...
Where an Alibi Is Not Everything
“A bored housewife, a husband who married her for show, and a stupid boy who is full of himself because he is dating a Swiss woman.” The words of Inspector Tůma sound like they’re from a European melodrama, but in fact they come from a Czechoslovak crime story. A pair of detectives, counterfeit medicine, the high-society setting of a Karlovy Vary hotel, and Oldřich Nový as the aging hotel manager Kraus.
Básník, služka a král
Tři chlapi v chalupě
The three Potůčks live in a house in Ouplavice: a widower grandfather, a son whose wife has run away, and a still unmarried grandson. The father works as chairman of the agricultural cooperative, the son leads the local youth and the pensioner grandfather supplies the two of them with lots of witty advice through the trumpet of his inseparable pipe. They've got a lot on their minds right now. Their village is in competition with neighbouring Piscory, and their opponents are using dishonest weapons to fight...
Dům na Ořechovce
The growing conflict between the unruly owner of the villa and his lodger ends up in court. The cohabitation ends in bodily harm - and the film actually translates two versions of the same events, as seen by each of the parties involved. However, the attempt at morality, which proclaimed the necessity of removing the old survivals in people's thinking, did not quite work, and the testimony presented is at times a bit stiff.
The End of Agent W4C
The invincible agent Cyril Juan Borguette alias W4C has been assigned a mission to go to a hotel in Prague, get hold of a saltcellar with a plan for the military exploitation of Venus hidden in it, and hand it over to the beautiful agent Alice. He will have to compete for the saltcellar with other agents working for the world's various greater and smaller powers. The head of the Prague counter-intelligence unit gets news of agent W4C's mission. Deficient in personnel, he nominates accountant Foustka as agent 13B. Mr Foustka takes his dog Pajda with him and the two head for the airport. Pajda helps him track down agent W4C in a classy hotel that becomes the battleground for the interests and plans of the secret agents from different countries, each trying to get hold of the precious saltcellar.
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