Hana Maria Pravda

Czech-British actress

Hana Pravda

Born	Hana Maria Becková (1916-01-29)29 January 1916 Prague, Austria-Hungary
Died	22 May 2008(2008-05-22) (aged 92) Oxford, Great Britain
Occupation	Actress
Spouse(s)	Alexander Munk George Pravda

Hana Maria Pravda (née Becková; after first marriage, Munk; after second marriage, Pravda; 29 January 1916 − 22 May 2008^[1]) was a Czech actress.^[2]

Biography

Hana Maria Becková was born in Prague on 29 January 1916. She trained in Leningrad in 1936 under Alexei Dikii.^[who?] On her return to Prague, she married her first husband, Alexander Munk who was a student activist. Pravda worked in Czech theatre before the outbreak of World War II and made five films (under the names Hana Becková, Hana Bělská, Hana Alexandrová and Hana Pravdová).

When the war broke out, Hana and her husband, Alexander Munk, were sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp and were subsequently transferred to the Auschwitz concentration camp where they became separated. She survived the camp and the subsequent January 1945 death march and recorded her experiences in a diary.^[3]^[4] She later learned her husband had died.

She returned to Prague and continued to act in the realistic theatre where she met George Pravda. She emigrated to the United Kingdom with him and continued her career.^[5] Pravda's most well-known role was as Emma Cohen in the 1970s television drama Survivors. She also appeared as the wife of the innkeeper (played by her real-life husband George) in the Jack Palance version of Dracula (1974).^[6] Other TV credits include: Danger Man, Department S, Callan, Z-Cars, Dad's Army and Tales of the Unexpected.^[2]

Pravda's wartime diary was published as I Was Writing This Diary For You, Sasha (2000). She also published a collection of autobiographical stories, Kaleidoscope: Snapshots of My Life (2002).^[7]

Personal life

Pravda died on 22 May 2008, aged 92, in Oxford, England. Her son, Dr Alex Pravda, is an academic. Her granddaughter is the English actress Isobel Pravda. Her first cousin was the Czech-Chilean businessman Milan Platovsky.^{[citation needed]}

Bibliography

I Was Writing This Diary For You, Sasha (2000)
Kaleidoscope: Snapshots of My Life (2002)

Partial filmography

On the Sunny Side (1933) - Willi
Marijka nevěrnice (1934)
První políbení (1935) - Věra
Nikola Šuhaj (1947)
The Long Shadow (1961) - Matron
Before Winter Comes (1969) - Beata
The Kremlin Letter (1970) - Mrs. Kazar
And Soon the Darkness (1970) - Madame Lassal
Death Wish 3 (1985) - Mrs. Kaprov
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
Follow Me (1989) - 2. alte Frau
Bullseye! (1990) - Old Lady at Seance
Shining Through (1992) - Babysitter
Leon the Pig Farmer (1992) - Woman
The Man Who Cried (2000) - Grandmother
Paradise Grove (2003) - Ruth Posnitch (final film role)

References

^ Quay, Diana (17 July 2008). "Obituary: Hana Pravda". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 July 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Hana-Maria Pravda". Archived from the original on 11 March 2016.
^ "I Was Writing This Diary For You, Sasha". Charlbury: Day Books. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
^ Amazon.co.uk. ASIN 0953221326.
^ Pensotti, George (8 July 2008). "The Stage / Features / Hana Pravda" (PHP). The Stage. The Stage Newspaper Limited. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
^ "Bram Stoker's Dracula (1974)". Archived from the original on 13 April 2020.
^ Quay, Diana (17 July 2008). "Obituary: Hana Pravda". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 November 2018.