A Beloved Actor and Film Figure Has Died: Jiří Bartošk Was 78

Czech actor Jiří Bartoška, who appeared in dozens of films and series throughout his decades-long career and also served as president of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, has died.

Bartoška died on Thursday at the age of 78, the festival announced. Although the cause of death was not disclosed, iROZHLAS reported that the actor had been battling cancer since 2014.

Born in Decín, Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) on March 24, 1947, per his IMDb profile, Bartoška’s career spanned the stage and screen. After graduating from the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno, he went on to work for two years at the Husa na Provázku Theatre and later the Činoherní studio in Ústí nad Labem, before becoming a mainstay of the ensemble at Theatre Na zábradlí in the early 1980s. He left the theater in the early 1990s and continued to perform intermittently at Bez zábradlí Theatre and other theatres in the Czech Republic.

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As Bartoška’s star on the stage continued to rise, he segued to the screen, making his film debut in the 1975 film The Playground (Hřiště). He would go on to star in nearly 70 Czech films, including Sekal Has to Die (1998), Tiger Theory (2016), and All My Loved Ones (1999), for which he received the 1999 Czech Lion Award for best supporting actor. In 2016, he was awarded the Czech Lion for outstanding contribution to Czech cinema. He also became well-known on TV, appearing in shows such as Der Salzbaron, Zlociny Velké Prahy, and Stopy zlocinu.

Outside of acting, Bartoška is also well-remembered for his ties to the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, the second oldest film festival in Europe. After playing a key role in saving the festival, he went on to serve as its president from 1994, and together with its long-time artistic director Eva Zaoralová, who passed away in 2022, transformed it into a modern, internationally respected film showcase.

In 2017, he and Zaoralová received the Czech Lion for outstanding contribution to Czech cinematography. In 2023, he received the First-Class Medal of Merit from the president of the Czech Republic for his services to the state in the field of culture and arts.

Bartoška is survived by his wife, Andrea, and their children, Katerina and Janek. The 59th edition of KVIFF will take place July 4-12, the festival sharing on Instagram, “KVIFF has always been a celebration of cinema and a place for inspiring encounters. That’s exactly how our president, Barťák, envisioned it – and that’s how it will be for its 59th edition. We promise.”