Dagmar Bláhová

Bláhová was born in Radčice, Czechoslovakia. When she began her acting career, Czechoslovakia was under communist rule, so citizens were restricted in their movements outside the country, however, Bláhová's popularity in Europe enabled her to perform around the continent. She met her future husband Juraj while she was touring in London. He had an Australian passport, having lived in the country for three years, and he could not return to Czechoslovakia with Bláhová. The couple became engaged in Paris, but struggled to find someone to marry them as Czechoslovak officials discouraged relationships with former citizens. They were eventually married in Brussels at the Australian Embassy, three months after Bláhová gave birth to their first child, a daughter. They then applied for permission to immigrate to Australia. Bláhová and her husband later separated. In 1990, Bláhová gave birth to her second child, a son. ==Career==

Bláhová attended the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and graduated with a major in acting and puppetry in 1971. Bláhová co-created the play Adam and Eve in which she had a starring role. The play was performed over 200 times in 15 countries from 1972 until 1980. She won the Best Performance Award at the Nancy International Theatre Festival in 1975. She then moved into television and film roles. She become known for her roles in Věra Chytilová's comedy films The Apple Game and Calamity. In 1978, she was named as one of the 20 best actors in the world by a panel of Paris cinema critics, following her role in The Apple Game. Bláhová wrote, directed and starred in a pantomime called The Devil and Katya, which was performed at the Playbox Theatre in 1982. She also had guest roles in Cop Shop and the television film Learned Friend. Bláhová won the Best Performance by an Actress in a Principal Role in a One-off Drama accolade at the 1984 Penguin Awards for her work on the film. Bláhová later bemoaned the lack of comedic roles offered to her, something that she was used to in Czechoslovakia. Instead she was asked to play "poor migrants" or "teary, tragic women." Luigo Acquisto's independent film Hungry Heart, and the 1987 comedy-horror film Howling III, in which she plays a Russian ballerina who becomes a werewolf. She also appeared in the 1988 television film The Tourist (also known as Sands of the Bedouin), followed by a starring role in the futuristic rock epic Sons of Steel alongside Robert Hartley, Jeff Duff and Mark Hembrow. Bláhová later returned to Czechoslovakia and continued to act on screen and in theatre productions. In 2009, Bláhová appeared in the Czech television serial Velmi křehké vztahy as Eliška Tůmová. In 2023, Bláhová's noval Fables from the Other World was published. ==Filmography==