Josef Kemr kept his illegitimate son a secret. The communists also angered his colleagues, he carefully planned his death

His parents never had money to give away. However, they always tried to do the best they could for their children. Josef Kemr graduated from business school, for a while he made a living as a waiter, for example. Who knows where the future great actor would have ended up if the movie producers hadn’t noticed him in Riegro’s orchards Lysina’s flight to heaven. They gave him a small role, but it launched an extraordinary career for a man who never deviated from his moral principles.

However, it was not a frontal attack on a stellar career, there was still a long way to go. Kemr was still making extra money with “normal” work, once he was even “discovered” by Rudolf Hrušínský, stacking potatoes at Masaryk railway station. On the spot, they both gathered and joined the Červíčkov nomadic company. Shortly after the end of this adventure, Kemr got his first permanent theater engagement in Žižkov. In 1965, he “transferred” to the Golden Chapel, where he remained until his death in 1955.

Kemra’s life was connected with a whole series of great roles. But the role of Grandpa Komárka in the film Alone in the Forest stands out above all of them. Few people know that he almost didn’t shine here. The communists did not want to allow Jiří Menzel to occupy it. They resented his faith and the fact that he never became a lackey of the regime. But Menzel eventually won him over among other things, with the argument that he is the only actor who can handle a scythe. This created an unforgettable character that still entertains today.

But his comrades were not going to simply “forgive” him his moral credit, they persecuted him at almost every step. He didn’t have it easy with his colleagues either, in the National Theater Soběslav Sejk willingly brought him up, who reported even minor details about him to the Communists. The volumes of StB led on the actor so comfortedly increased.

It is paradoxical in this respect that Kemra’s partner in life was the director Eva Foustková, who was eleven years older. An ardent communist who constantly convinced her husband of her “truth”. Her death ended their eternal disputes.

Even after she left him, he did not resent the women, quite the opposite. He was like a magnet for them and sometimes he liked to use it. For many years he lived, for example, with Marika Skopalová, the sister of the actor Svatopluk Skopal. Unfortunately, she was also “to blame” for the fact that Kemr broke up with his friend Rudolf Hrušínský forever. He slapped Marika on the background during one test for fun, but this upset Kemr so much that he never spoke to him again. The friendship was thus over, even though Hrušínský apologized many times.

But even Kemr was not without sins. It is no secret that he had an illegitimate son, Vladimír Poláček, whom he tried to hide for a long time and perhaps that is why he was not in contact with him for quite a few years. Mr. Poláček himself had no idea for a long time that he was the son of such a famous man. Only his mother told him shortly before his death. He then met his father several times and he said it was very pleasant.

When Kemra’s time came, the famous actor was ready. He was reconciled to death also thanks to his faith. There are stories that he prepared for his death very carefully, even sleeping in a coffin to test what it would be like. He also paid for a tomb in the cemetery in Dejvice during his lifetime, in which he wanted to rest forever. Apparently, this is also why everything was relatively calm when the doctors informed him that he was suffering from stomach cancer in an advanced stage. He accepted it humbly and left the world in peace and quiet.