Czech director and Oscar winner Jiri Menzel is dead. He died in Prague at the age of 82 in the presence of his family.
Jiri Menzel (1938-2020) has died. The Czech director and Oscar winner was 82 years old. His wife Olga (42) announced his death with a moving video and emotional farewell words on Facebook. She wrote that her "beloved" husband, "the bravest of the brave", died on September 5, 2020 at home in the presence of his family. Menzel was seriously ill three years ago. These last three years have been tough, said his wife. But Menzel "always helped her with your courage, your appetite, your will to live and your humor."
An Oscar and a professional ban
Jiri Menzel trained at the FAMU film school in Prague. In the meantime he was making his first short films. After his training he worked at the theater, staging plays in Basel, Bochum and Stockholm and was also active as an actor. He celebrated one of his greatest successes with the comedy "Love according to the timetable" from 1966. In 1968 the film was awarded the Oscar in the category "Best Foreign Film". Then his work got a damn.
His satirical film adaptation "Lerchen am Faden" (1969) was banned. Menzel was even banned from working for a few years. He devoted himself increasingly to the theater. "Lerchen am Faden" was finally shown at the 1990 Berlinale and was awarded the Golden Bear. One of his last directorial works was "I have served the English king" (2006) with the German Julia Jentsch (42, "Der Pass"). Menzel was last seen in front of the camera in the film "Dolmetscher" (2018), alongside Peter Simonischek (74, "Toni Erdmann").
Menzel lived in Prague with his wife and two young daughters. "Your love for me and for our girls was the kind of love that never made conditions," wrote Olga Menzelová. The published video also features clips showing Menzel in the hospital bed. In recent years he had withdrawn from the public eye.