Josef Hlinomaz (1914-1978)

The actor and artist Josef Hlinomaz was born on 9 October 1914 in Prague, where his family moved to Dobříš shortly after his birth, and two years later to Příbram. His father Václav Hlinomaz (1873 Příbram - 1941 Příbram) was a leading teacher, composer and organizer of musical life in the town. He founded a music school and was the chairman of the Příbram Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he performed as a solo violinist. He encouraged his four children (the three older ones came from his first marriage) to take an interest in music and cultural events.

Josef Hlinomaz played amateur theatre in the Příbram Sokol Hall from his childhood. The film performances of Tům's biograph in Pražská Street influenced him for the rest of his life. After graduating from the Pribram secondary school he decided to study geography and drawing. This field was taught at the Czech Technical University and was mainly focused on technical drawing, architecture and civil engineering. Therefore, Hlinomaz dropped out after less than two years of study and switched to study acting at the State Conservatory. There he graduated in 1940 and the same year he started his first engagement in the theatre in Kladno (1941-1942). This was followed by theatre in Pardubice (1942-1943), Prague and Pilsen.

When the Germans closed the theatres during World War II, Josef Hlinomaz moved back to Příbram and returned to painting, which also supported him. He remained faithful to both hobbies and professions, acting and painting, until his untimely death in 1978.

Hlinomaz's journey in search of artistic expression led him through imitating the work of the world's leading figures of modern art (the 1940s) to his own distinctive "movement", which he called "surneonaivism". In it, with the help of a brush, colours, a certain amount of imagination and a sense of exaggeration, he also exercised his talent as a storyteller.

He gained experience as an actor in many theatres: after the war he worked at the Kladno Theatre (1945-1946), the Realist Theatre (1946-1947), the Theatre of Satire (1947-1948), the National Theatre (1949-1950), the Prague Estrada (1951-1954), the Theatre of Satire (1954-1957) and the acting troupe of the Barrandov Film Studio (1958-1978). His filmography includes 140 roles. His most notable roles include the gunslinger Grimpo in Lemonade Joe (1964), the innkeeper Palivec in The Good Soldier Svejk (1956), the wrestler Čongr in People from Marigotkas (1996), and his role in the television series The Cottagers.

Hlinomaz is the author of numerous feuilletons and two books (The Incredible Return and Majoucta or I am a Painting Jester), both of which recall Příbram, which, as he states, was one of the greatest loves of his life.

He died of heart failure on 8 August 1978 while on holiday in Split.

Processed by: Hana Ročňáková