Vladimír Šmeral (16 October 1903, in Drásov – 15 March 1982, in Prague) was a Czech actor.

Life

Šmeral started acting in Zemské divadlo in Brno. He moved to Prague and acted in Liberated Theatre, E. F. Burian's theatre and Divadlo na Poříčí. His wife was Jewish, but he refused to divorce her in order to protect her during the World War II. He had an affair with his theatre co-star Adina Mandlová, who became pregnant. In 1944 he was sent to a concentration camp in Wroclaw. Mandlová was sending him packages with food. In December 1944 she suffered a miscarriage. Šméral managed to escape from the camp and Mandlová help to hide him in a hospital. After the war he was active in many National Front organizations, as a member of the Czechoslovak Communist Party. He became an actor in Vinohrady Theatre and taught at DAMU. He is buried at the Vyšehrad Cemetery.

Selected filmography