Miloš Kopecký

Miloš Kopecký was a Czech actor active mainly in the second half of the 20th century  He was born into the family of craftsmen Kopecký was involved with music and theater throughout his entire life  Starting on stage in 1939 as a member of an amateur elocution group Kopecký performed with numerous young artists during the German occupation of then Czechoslovakia  Near the end of World War II Kopeckýs mother was murdered at the Auschwitz concentration camp for her Jewish heritage while Miloš was interned in the labor camp Bystřice u Benešova  He would later credit these experiences as the cause for his struggle with Bipolar Disorder then known as ManicDepressive Disease   Following the liberation Kopecký began acting in the avantgarde studio Větrník in 1945 before joining the Vinohrady Theatre in 1965 at the behest of thendirector František Pavlíček  Kopecký  continued to make guest appearances at theaters throughout Prague working with many notable actors of his era before appearing on film and television  His first minor role was in the historic film Jan Roháč z Dubé 1947 but he quickly graduated to more important characters and gradually became one of the most popular actors in Czechoslovakia   He may be best known today as Dr Štrosmajer in the Czech television series Nemocnice na kraji města  During his career he played mainly negative roles of traitors lechers and villain which he famously depicted with elegance and esprit   In the mid1980s Kopecký acted in a politically biased documentary film about emigrants and also presented very critical speech against current communist régimes in May 1987 at the Fourth Congress of Dramatic Artists  He was married five times at one point to Czech actress Stella Zázvorková