Jiří Štěpnička

* 1947

  • “I was playing at the New Scene that night and saw it from the Nová Scéna foyer. There was an actors’ meeting at the Realist Theatre the very next day, and we – myself included – voted through the resolution that all theatres in Prague would stop playing and would discuss the political situation with the comers. It was a very intense experience for me, since it was obviously highly personal and taxing on me.”

  • “The political situation was very tough in the 1950s. Initially the visits took place in a room divided into small compartments with a glass and bars and just a narrow opening where we could touch our hands. Otherwise we were separated. I don’t remember much from those times. I remember the trip and aunt Maryša [accompanying him]. She and mum mostly discussed politics, and I don’t remember what we talked about during the times when we were separated. Then, as the political thaw got underway, the approach to visits became more relaxed, and eventually we would sit at a table in a room, just me, mum, aunt, an officer, and some prison guards in the corners of the room.”

  • “Film director Čapek allegedly wrote to [my mother] that he could offer her two film roles; if she came back to London, they could make the films. By then, it was the 1950s and you could not just travel out of the country. So, mum opted to cross the border illegally. I walked with her. I was three years old. We walked for a long time; it must have been at least a week, and then we stopped at the edge of the forest. A stream ran along the edge of the forest, there was a meadow past the stream, and past the meadow there was German border guard in a cabin. A guy was carrying me in a backpack. Our entire group entered the stream and started crossing. Then a voice said: ‘Stop, in the name of the law!’ and shots were fired. It was our border guard and they arrested us. Mum was nowhere to be found. I was yelling: ‘Mum, mum!’ She couldn’t take it after a while and emerged from underneath a spruce and joined us; she had been completely covered by its branches. They took me to the border guard station and took everything from my pockets. Just in case we faced difficulties early on, I had a golden snuff box and some precious rings in my pockets. They took it all from me, allegedly so I wouldn’t lose it, and said they would give it back to me when I’m leaving. They never returned anything.”

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Praha , 03.08.2022

    (audio)
    délka: 01:58:10
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Stories of the 20th Century TV
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

Artists helped me overcome tough times

Jiří Štěpnička, a portrait
Jiří Štěpnička, a portrait
zdroj: Archiv pamětníka

Jiří Štěpnička was born on 16 April 1947 in London where his mother, famous pre-WWII Czechoslovak actress Jiřina Štěpničková, was staying at the time. She was married to his father, painter Jan Samec whose surname he initially shared. They lived together quite briefly. The mother decided to secretly leave the country in 1951 further to a letter from film director František Čáp who had emigrated. It turned out to be a trap – their guide was a State Security officer. Jiří was accompanying his mother. After her arrest, he was placed in a detention home and, after a year and a half, went on to live with his father who was staying with his family in Karlovy Vary. The witness lived a happy childhood there and found it difficult relocating to Prague to live with his mother after her release from prison in 1960. He found a firm footing and support among artists, and acting turned out to be his lifelong vocation. This is how he explains why he accepted the role of communist president Klement Gottwald in 1986 – he was concerned of losing his job had he refused. He never re-established a close relationship with his mother; she was rather critical of him and they did not see each other for years. Jiří Štěpnička has been a member of the National Theatre Drama Troupe ever since 1974. After 1989, he officially changed his surname to Štěpnička, having used it previously as his stage name. As an actor, he played countless theatre, film, and radio roles. He is also a premier voice-over artist and has won the František Filipovský Award in the field. He won the Thalia Award for drama in 2010. At the time of recording in 2022, he was living in Prague and working.