Emília Vášáryová,íliaVášáryová Doctor Artis Dramaticae (hon.) (; born 18 May 1942) is a Slovak stage and screen actress, whom Variety and other publications refer to as the "First Lady of Slovak Theater". During a career of more than five decades, she has received numerous awards including Meritorious Artist (1978), the Alfréd Radok Award (1996), the Czech Lion Award, the Golden Goblet Award (2008), and a 2010 ELSA award from the Czech Film and Television Academy (2010). Because her younger sister is former diplomat Magdaléna Vášáryová, the daily newspaper iDNES said fans consider her an "Honorary Consul of Czech and Slovak Relations".
Biography
Early years
Vášáryová was born in Horná Štubňa, the First Slovak Republic. However, and along with younger sister Magdaléna (who also became a popular actor), she was raised in Banská Štiavnica, where both their parents taught. Her father, József Vásáry was a member of a Hungarian noble family. He taught Slovak literature and grammar at a gymnasium. Her mother, Hermína, taught German.
As a child and young woman, Vášáryová participated in amateur theater and gymnastics. While at JSŠ high school in Štiavnica, she received a cameo role in the Slovak/Hungarian film St. Peter's Umbrella. She had an uncredited role as a servant girl with only one line, "I'm coming, I'm coming!".
1960s
She hoped to study languages or art history at university, but she lacked the so-called "confidential files" (issued by Communist Party of Czechoslovakia). Eventually she was able to enroll at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava to study theater.
During college she had supporting roles in two black-and-white films, Marching Is Not Always Fun (1960), and Midnight Mass (1962). The film Young Ages (1962) also marked her television debut. Her big break came when she was cast in the lead (as "Diana") in Vojtěch Jasný's The Cassandra Cat, in which a magic cat reveals the true nature of everyone he sees. It premiered at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, taking two major awards, the C.S.T. Prize and Special Jury prize. The film also won awards at various international festivals in Spain, Greece, Colombia, and Italy.
In December 1963, A Face at the Window (directed by Peter Solan) opened with her cast alongside leads Ladislav Chudík and Štefan Kvietik, both of whom had a significant impact on her career. The following year Chudík invited her to join the ensemble of the Slovak National Theatre, over the objections of some of the senior actors who thought she was too young and inexperienced for such a prominent national stage. She did bring some experience to this opportunity, however, because she had previously spent one season at the Bratislava main stage New Scene. Thanks to the influence of Magda Husáková-Lokvencová, wife of Czech President Gustáv Husák, she appeared in four productions.
Her debut rule at the national playhouse was as Ophelia in Hamlet. In 1967 she received the Janko Borodáč award on the basis of two roles, Helena in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Florelle in Lope de Vega's comedy The Dancing Master.
She also became more prominent in feature films, including A Jester's Tale, which drew international attention when it brought director Karel Zeman two awards at the San Francisco IFF '64 (for Best Film and Best Direction), and also first prize at Addis Ababa IFF '64 in Ethiopia.
Her other feature films include St. Elizabeth Square (1965), Master Executioner (1966), Trailer People (1966), The Dragon's Return (1967) and There's No Other Way (1968). During this period, Vášáryová also launched her television career, receiving Most Popular Actress in Brno in 1967, and winning the first edition of the national TV contest Golden Croc in 1968.
1970s
Along with acting onstage (in Herodes and Herodias by Pavol Országh Hviezdoslav, Gorky's Vassa Zheleznova and The Last Ones, Palárik's Thanksgiving Adventure, the Sophocles play Antigone and Leo Tolstoy and Erwin Piscator's War and Peace, Vášáryová continued her television career, with roles in The Balade for the Seven Hanged (1968), Parisian Mohicans (1971), Noodledom (1971), The Shepherd Wife (1972), Monna Vanna (1973), and Impatient Heart (1974; in which her sister Magda co-starred). She was cast in several films, including Copper Tower, directed by Martin Hollý Jr. (who had collaborated with Vášáryová in The Balade for the Seven Hanged), which earned a Special Prize at the 21st Film Festival of Proletariats (FFP) in 1970. Martin Ťapák's The Day Which Does Not Die received various domestic awards for best director and best lead male actor for Štefan Kvietik).