Biography

Zita Kabátová was a Czech theatre and film actress born on 27 April 1913 in Prague. She began her professional acting career in 1935 and soon became one of the most visible faces of pre‑war Czech cinema. In the 1930s and early 1940s she appeared in more than thirty Czech films, including Paradise Road (1936), Delightful Story (1936), A Foolish Girl (1938), Arthur and Leontine (1940), Station Master (1941) and The Respectable Ladies of Pardubice (1944). She also starred in the German films Schicksal am Strom (1944) and Glück unterwegs (1944). After the war she was temporarily banned from acting, and for several years worked outside the theatre and film industry. She returned to the stage in the 1950s and later resumed her film career. Her post‑1969 filmography includes The Star (1969), Women Offside (1971), The World Open to Accidental Events (1971), Operation Bororo (1972), The Place Where Storks Nest (1975), All Against All (1977), Ball Lightning (1978), Forgotten Light (1996), King Ubu (1996), Blue Heaven (1997), Witness (1999), Max, Sally and the Magic Phone (2001), Autumn Spring (2001), Zelary (2003) and Unknown Hour (2009). She remained active and energetic until the end of her life. Zita Kabátová died on 27 May 2012 at the age of 99.