František Velecký

František Velecký

Born: March 8, 1934
Died: October 5, 2003
in Zvolen, Slovakia
Velecký was a very particular figure of Slovak acting, being antipode to venerated mainstream showbiz celebrities. Although he had never received any formal training in acting, he managed to earn great respect of both filmmakers and audience members.

He performed in some 50 Slovak, Czech, German, Hungarian and UK/US movies, but he will be most remembered for portraying the lead character of Mikoláš in the Czech movie Marketa Lazarová.

Velecký was born 8 March 1934 in Zvolen. He originally studied civil engineering and worked as a designer for few years. However, since his early age he was attracted by the world of cinema and finally in his 30s managed to get his first major roles.

Practically at the beginning of his acting career, after a few minor films including Každý týždeň sedem dní (1964) and Nylonový mesiac (1965), he received the role of his lifetime in Marketa Lazarová (1966). This experience deeply influenced the rest of his life.

In interviews, he described with gratitude how the director František Vláčil completely changed his way of seeing the world during the long production of this movie.

Despite the impact the role had on the film (widely considered the best Czech cinema) and on his life, Velecký would probably be more recognized by Western audiences for his appearances in The Brothers Grimm (released 2005) and the Academy Award-nominated Želary (2003).

For most of his career, Velecký was free of any theatre company ties except being briefly associated with the Theatre of Spišká Nová Ves in the 1980s.

During his professional career, Velecký was not limited to acting. He was assistant director to Juraj Jakubisko on the film Zbehovia a pútnici (1968) and he applied his talent in fine arts during the 1990s.

Velecký died of cancer 5 October 2003 in Bratislava.

Movies for František Velecký...

The Brothers Grimm
Title: The Brothers Grimm
Character: Old Crone
Released: August 26, 2005
Type: Movie
Folklore collectors and con artists, Jake and Will Grimm, travel from village to village pretending to protect townsfolk from enchanted creatures and performing exorcisms. However, they are put to the test when they encounter a real magical curse in a haunted forest with real magical beings, requiring genuine courage.
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Sentiment
Title: Sentiment
Released: November 6, 2003
Type: Movie
Sentiment is Tomáš Hejtmánek's intimate documentary portrait of the great Czech director František Vláčil. The film was inspired by encounters with the filmmaker and told through taped interviews, reconstructions of meetings with Vláčil, visits to actual film locations (of Marketa Lazarova, The Valley of the Bees and Adelheid) and Vláčil-inspired film sequences. The result is one of the most unique and personal portraits of any artist – a collage of voices, sounds and images that evoke and celebrate Vláčil’s life and work.
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Rojkovia
Title: Rojkovia
Character: Obšivan (voice)
Released: May 4, 2000
Type: Movie
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Slečna Dušehojivá
Title: Slečna Dušehojivá
Released: January 1, 2000
Type: Movie
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Zlý žart
Title: Zlý žart
Released: January 1, 1993
Type: Movie
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The Water of Life
Title: The Water of Life
Character: Čiernobradý
Released: September 30, 1987
Type: Movie
A king was dying. An old man told his sons that only the water of life would save him.
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Kto ste, Jozef Gabčík
Title: Kto ste, Jozef Gabčík
Released: January 1, 1987
Type: Movie
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Title: Birthmark
Released: September 1, 1985
Type: TV
A funny story about a little boy everybody call Pipo and his summer vacations in the village.
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Another Love
Title: Another Love
Character: Gambler
Released: January 1, 1985
Type: Movie
A story of a young student of medicine, who arrives in a small mountain village after being accused for carrying out illegal abortion. The film reflects the moral decline of the society, where stealing in secret and making compromises against one's beliefs make up mundane reality. The filmmakers went to perhaps the furthest possible limits in terms of allowed social criticism in the 1980s. The negative picture is enhanced by its rural setting, since the Slovak village had been traditionally associated with strict morals and conservative values.
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Na konci diaľnice
Title: Na konci diaľnice
Released: April 28, 1983
Type: Movie
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Crainquebille
Title: Crainquebille
Character: Judge Bourriche
Released: May 8, 1982
Type: Movie
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Title: Na baňu klopajú
Released: January 1, 1981
Type: TV
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Title: Bocianie hniezdo
Released: January 1, 1981
Type: TV
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Ako listy jedného stromu
Title: Ako listy jedného stromu
Released: January 14, 1980
Type: Movie
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Nebezpečné známosti
Title: Nebezpečné známosti
Released: January 1, 1980
Type: Movie
The beautiful, bright and intelligent, but perfectly mischievous Marquise de Mertuil and her charming and equally depraved and ruthless friend, the master of seduction Vicomte de Valmont play a cynical game full of intrigue. The marquise is willing to devote one night full of passion to the viscount. However, on the condition that the viscount first deflowers the innocent Cecile de Volanges, who is to marry her former lover. In the end, they themselves become victims of their own dangerous game.
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Smrť chodí po horách
Title: Smrť chodí po horách
Released: January 1, 1979
Type: Movie
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Title: Útek zo zlatej krajiny
Character: John
Released: January 1, 1979
Type: TV
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On the Great River
Title: On the Great River
Character: Pazour
Released: November 10, 1978
Type: Movie
Second movie of the famous Czech adventure trilogy: Osada Havranů Na veliké rece Volání rodu
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Bludička
Title: Bludička
Released: November 18, 1977
Type: Movie
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Title: Louis Pasteur
Released: January 1, 1977
Type: TV
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Pacho, the Brigand of Hybe
Title: Pacho, the Brigand of Hybe
Released: July 2, 1976
Type: Movie
A funny outlaw tale inspired by traditional folk humour. Pacho is no ordinary outlaw. He detests injustice and feudal oppression and he copes with each troublesome situation with the help of his cleverness and wit.
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Horúčka
Title: Horúčka
Character: Cirbes
Released: December 10, 1975
Type: Movie
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Title: Vivat Beňovský!
Character: Kazimír Pulaski
Released: October 6, 1975
Type: TV
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Title: Brána k domovu
Released: May 8, 1975
Type: TV
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Title: Naši synovia
Released: March 17, 1975
Type: TV
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Unruly Heyducks
Title: Unruly Heyducks
Released: December 21, 1974
Type: Movie
This film, set at the beginning of the 17th century, is the first East-European "Eastern". Bocskai István orders the free Heyducks to shepherd a huge herd of cattle through the country torn to three parts, to the Dalmatian coast, where he can get weapons in exchange, for fighting the Austrians.
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Pätnásť životov
Title: Pätnásť životov
Released: November 25, 1974
Type: Movie
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Zločin v Modré hvězdě
Title: Zločin v Modré hvězdě
Released: February 22, 1974
Type: Movie
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Love
Title: Love
Character: Petr Brukner
Released: September 21, 1973
Type: Movie
Sixteen-year-old students of a grammar school are supposed to write essays on "Love". The class best student Andrea (Jaroslava Schallerová) writes about a patriotic love to a country as she has no experience with a partner love. She has been living alone with her divorced pretty mother Eva (Milena Dvorská), a dentist, for many years. Recently, however, Eva met her former school-days love at a graduates' party, nowadays a famous hockey goalkeeper Brukner (Frantisek Velecký). Also his marriage fell apart; he leaves the national team and decides to leave Prague for his home town and to share flat with Eva. He takes with him his son Petr (Oldrich Kaiser), in Andrea's age, who gets his last chance to finish a grammar school in the town.
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Sons of Fire
Title: Sons of Fire
Released: January 1, 1973
Type: Movie
This poetic film presents the ballad of the boys who turned into stags, by the associative means of music, painting and folk art. At the same time it is a memorial to the martyrs of the 1944 Sátoraljaújhely prison revolt and shows its butchery reflected through the fate of three brothers.
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The Stolen Battle
Title: The Stolen Battle
Character: de la Motte
Released: July 1, 1972
Type: Movie
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Noc labutí
Title: Noc labutí
Released: January 6, 1972
Type: Movie
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Šaty
Title: Šaty
Released: January 1, 1972
Type: Movie
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Čierny gróf
Title: Čierny gróf
Released: January 1, 1972
Type: Movie
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Prince Bajaja
Title: Prince Bajaja
Character: Black Prince
Released: December 17, 1971
Type: Movie
The hero of this popular fairy tale is a young prince who, after the death of his parents, goes out into the world. During his travels he meets a magical talking horse and falls in love with the beautiful princess Slavna. On the advice of his horse, he binds one eye and pretends to be dumb and enters into service as the castle gardener.
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Husaren in Berlin
Title: Husaren in Berlin
Released: June 25, 1971
Type: Movie
Comedy about the "Husarenstreich", the 1757 Berlin raid during the Seven Years' War.
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Noc s mačkou
Title: Noc s mačkou
Released: September 4, 1970
Type: Movie
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Sweet Games of Late Summer
Title: Sweet Games of Late Summer
Character: Rotschild
Released: July 21, 1970
Type: Movie
Impressionistic film based on a Maupassant story about five friends who fall in love with the same beautiful girl one summer.
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Rajský plyn
Title: Rajský plyn
Released: January 1, 1970
Type: Movie
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Palm Sunday
Title: Palm Sunday
Character: Simon
Released: December 11, 1969
Type: Movie
Epic recalling the early days of the Republic of the councils.
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Prague Nights
Title: Prague Nights
Character: (segment "Otrávená travička")
Released: June 6, 1969
Type: Movie
A stuffy middle-aged foreigner, a businessman named Fabricius, lonely and looking for a night's diversion, finds it in the form of a mysterious blonde. In an abandoned cemetery, she tells him three tales involving black magic and erotic obsession. In "The Last Golem," a young rabbi struggles to fashion a massive, silent giant out of living clay — until he's distracted by a mute servant girl. In the second episode, "Bread Slippers," an 18th-century countess indulges her passion for sweet cakes, adulterous affairs, and secret kisses with pretty maids until a mysterious visitor whisks her away to an abandoned mansion, where Fate has a different kind of dance in store for her. And in the final story, "Poisoned Poisoner," a ravishing murderess in the Middle Ages dispatches lecherous merchants to the tune of upbeat '60s Czech pop songs.
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Stopy na Sitne
Title: Stopy na Sitne
Character: Jožo Truska
Released: January 30, 1969
Type: Movie
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Niet inej cesty
Title: Niet inej cesty
Released: September 20, 1968
Type: Movie
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Marketa Lazarová
Title: Marketa Lazarová
Character: Mikoláš, Kozlík's son
Released: November 24, 1967
Type: Movie
Mikolás and his brother Adam end up with a young German hostage of noble blood during a robbery. While their clan prepares for the wrath of the German king, Mikolás is sent to pressure his neighbor Lazar into a defense pact. Persuasion fails and he abducts Lazar's daughter Marketa on the eve of her initiation as a nun in an act of vengeance.
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Nylon Moon
Title: Nylon Moon
Character: Andrej Bardoň
Released: February 11, 1966
Type: Movie
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Prípad pre obhajcu
Title: Prípad pre obhajcu
Released: December 25, 1964
Type: Movie
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Every Week Seven Days
Title: Every Week Seven Days
Character: Andrej
Released: August 28, 1964
Type: Movie
The film could have been a lyrical evocation of the ČSSR's first generation: the youngsters born during the war, who grew up in a state violently at pains to find and define itself, and were now ready to break away from the nation-builder ethics of their elders – but Grečner turned it into an anxiety-riddled existentialist vision of a whole globe in fear.