Jan Triska or Jan Tříska (Czech pronunciation: [ˈjan ˈtr̝̊iːska]; 4 November 1936 – 25 September 2017) was a Czech actor, most notable for portraying Captain Henry Wirz in the American television film Andersonville.

Spouse: Karla Chadimová

Children: 2

Biography

Early life and career

Tříska was born in Prague. Prior to emigrating to the U.S., he performed numerous roles in both theater and film. He had two daughters, Karla and Jana, with actress Karla Chadimová, and also had a grandson named Augustin.

Life and career in the United States

After signing the Charter 77 proclamation, he emigrated to the United States via Cyprus. His most notable film role in the U.S. was probably that of Milos, the loyal butler and personal assistant to Mr. Terry Silver, in The Karate Kid Part III. He also played the assassin in Miloš Forman's The People vs. Larry Flynt, and appeared in Highlander: The Series (season 5, episode 10), Highlander: The Raven, Blizzard, The Osterman Weekend, Ronin, Apt Pupil (as Isaac Weiskopf), and Peter Hyams' ambitious and successful sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 1968 science fiction epic 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: The Year We Make Contact among many others.

Although he occasionally visited the Czech Republic, Tříska remained a resident of the United States.

Return to the Czech Republic

After the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Tříska visited the Czech Republic to perform in movies such as The Elementary School (1991), Horem pádem (2004), the Academy Award nominated Želary (2003) and Máj (adaptation of Karel Hynek Mácha). In 2002, Tříska received an Alfréd Radok Award for his performance as Lear in King Lear at the Summer Shakespeare Festival at Prague Castle.

Death

On 23 September 2017, Tříska either jumped of fell from the Charles Bridge in Prague. Passengers on a nearby boat rescued him from the water, after which he was resuscitated and hospitalized. He died in hospital two days later, on 25 September 2017.

Theatre

American National Theater

• The Children of Herakles .... Iolaus
• The Seagull
• Idiot's Delight

New York's Public Theater

• Master and Margarita
• Zastrozzi

La Jolla Playhouse

• The Hairy Ape
• Arms and the Man
• Cosmonaut's Last Message

Tylovo divadlo, Prague

• Srpnová neděle (1959) .... Jirka (Play by František Hrubín, directed by Otomar Krejča)
• Don Juan (1959) .... Young Boy (Molière, directed by Jaromír Pleskot)
• Konec masopustu (1964) .... Rafael (Play by Josef Topol, directed by Otomar Krejča)
• Měsíc na vsi (1965) .... Aleksej N. Beljajev (Play by I. S. Turgenev, directed by Rudolf Hrušínský)

Divadlo za branou

• Kočka na kolejích (1965) .... Véna (Play by Josef Topol, directed by Otomar Krejča)
• Three Sisters (1966) .... Tuzenbach (Play by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, directed by Otomar Krejča)
• Oidipus (1971) .... Oidipus (Play by Sophocles, directed by Otomar Krejča)

Národní divadlo, Prague

• Bílá nemoc (1956-1957) .... first assistant (Play by Karel Čapek, directed by Jaromír Pleskot)
• Maryša (1956-1957) .... Second Man (directed by Zdeněk Štěpánek)
• Saint Jane .... Page (directed by Jaromír Pleskot)
• Romeo and Juliet (1963) .... Romeo (National Theatre, Prague, directed by Otomar Krejča)

Others

• The Cherry Orchard: The Tempest (Guthrie Theater)
• Largo Desolato (Yale Repertory Theatre, Connecticut Critics Circle Award, Outstanding Male Performance)
• The Third Army (Long Wharf Theatre)
• Arsenic and Old Lace (Long Wharf Theatre)
• King Lear (2002) .... King Lear (Summer Shakespeare Festival, Prague; Spišský hrad, Brno, directed by Martin Huba)
• King Lear (1961) .... Edmund (Smetanovo divadlo, directed by František Salzer)
• Faust (1973) .... Dr. Johann Faust (play by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Divadlo Jaroslava Průchy, Kladno, directed by Václav Špidla)
• Kumšt (2007) .... Mark (play by Yasmina Reza, Divadlo na Jezerce, Prague, directed by Jan Hřebejk)