Jan Potměšil is a Czech

Czech people

Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...

 actor.

In summer 1989, he finished his lectures at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague

Academy of Performing Arts in Prague

The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague is a university level school of music, dance, drama, film, TV and multi-media studies.- Faculties :*Film and TV School - FAMU*Music Faculty - HAMU*Theatre Faculty - DAMU-Notable alumni:...

 and joined Divadlo na Vinohradech. Later that year, he hooked up with other students and actors who were going to Ostrava

Ostrava

Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic and the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. Located close to the Polish border, it is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence. Ostrava was candidate for the...

 to persuade the miners to support the Velvet Revolution

Velvet Revolution

The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...

. On the way back, his car crashed on a frozen road. Since then, Potměšil has been
paralysed

Paralysis

Paralysis is loss of muscle function for one or more muscles. Paralysis can be accompanied by a loss of feeling in the affected area if there is sensory damage as well as motor. A study conducted by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, suggests that about 1 in 50 people have been diagnosed...

 from the waist down. He uses a wheelchair.

He is currently a prominent member of the Kašpar theatre company that performs in the Divadlo v Celetné, Prague. He performed major characters in several plays. The most notable ones include Charlie Gordon in Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon is a science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes. The short story, written in 1958 and first published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, won the Hugo Award for Best Short Story in 1960...

(more than ten years on the repertoire), the title role in Richard III

Richard III (play)

Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...

(received Alfréd Radok Award

Alfréd Radok Awards

The Alfréd Radok Awards are presented annually by the Endowment for the Alfréd Radok Awards in collaboration with the Aura–Pont agency and the magazine Svět a Divadlo for achievements in Czech theatre. The prize for Best Performance was first awarded in 1992...

 for best actor), Jesus in Felix Mitterer's Trouble in the House of God, or Polonius

Polonius

Polonius is a character in William Shakespeare's Hamlet. He is King Claudius's chief counsellor, and the father of Ophelia and Laertes. Polonius connives with Claudius to spy on Hamlet...

 in Hamlet

Hamlet

The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

. In Lyra Pragensis, he performed Henri Toulouse-Lautrec in Pavlík's Beauty from Moulin Rouge, Fletcher in a scenic reading of Richard Bach

Richard Bach

Richard David Bach is an American writer. He is widely known as the author of the hugely popular 1970s best-sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, and others. His books espouse his philosophy that our apparent physical limits and mortality are merely...

's Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, written by Richard Bach, is a fable in novella form about a seagull learning about life and flight, and a homily about self-perfection...

, and Dickie in Running from Safety of the same author.

Selected filmography

• 1996 – Code Name: Ruby (Jméno kódu Rubín)
• 1994 – V erbu lvice
• 1988 – Killing with Kindness (Vlastně se nic nestalo)
• 1987 – Bony a klid
  Bony a klid
  Bony a klid is a Czech drama film directed by Vít Olmer. It was released in 1987.-Cast:* Jan Potmesil - Martin* Veronika Jeníková - Eva* Josef Nedorost - Robert* Tomás Hanák - Hary* Roman Skamene - Bíny* Miloslav Kopecný - Bankér...
  
  
• 1987 – O princezně Jasněnce a létajícím ševci
• 1987 – Why?
  Why? (film)
  Why? is a 1987 Czechoslovak drama film directed by Karel Smyczek. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1988 Cannes Film Festival....
  
  (Proč?)
• 1985 – Třetí patro
• 1978 – The Secret of Steel City (Tajemství ocelového města)
• 1977 – Žena za pultem

External links