Miloslav Kopečný

Miloslav Kopečný was born on 18 September 1944 in Třebíč, a town in the Vysočina region of what is now the Czech Republic. He grew up in the Nové Dvory quarter, where his father, a businessman, built the family house and a cannery. His mother had studied piano at the conservatory.

After the communist coup of February 1948 the business was taken from the family. In a 2021 interview with iDNES.cz, Kopečný recalled that his father spent several years digging drains until officials realised the cannery was well equipped and that he was the expert, and offered him the job of running it. He stayed until retirement, and his canned mushroom mixtures went for export. Kopečný's sister was not allowed to study.

He was drawn to the stage from childhood and, while at the Třebíč grammar school, acted with the town's amateur theatre under director Josef Gerža, alongside future professional actors Jiří Pecha and Karel Pospíšil.

Kopečný attended the grammar school in Třebíč (Gymnázium Třebíč). Thanks to his September birthday, he entered the drama programme at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts (JAMU) in Brno as the youngest in his year, at 17. His year tutors were Josef Karlík and Vlasta Fialová, and his classmates and contemporaries included Karel Pospíšil, Věra Galatíková and Gabriela Wilhelmová. He graduated in 1965, playing Death (Smrťák) in Konec masopustu.

East Bohemian Theatre, Pardubice (1965 to 1969): his first engagement, mostly comic and musical roles.

F. X. Šalda Theatre, Liberec (1969 to 1983): roles included Vocilka in Tyl's The Bagpiper of Strakonice, Don Juan in Molière's Don Juan and Higgins in Shaw's Pygmalion.

Činoherní studio, Ústí nad Labem (1984 to 1993): he soon became the doyen of the company. His Marquis de Sade in Peter Weiss's Marat/Sade (directed by Petr Poledňák, 1988) toured to Paris and is often called his most famous stage role. He also played Schwitter in Dürrenmatt's Meteor (1989), Fyodor Karamazov in The Brothers Karamazov (1990), Mr Kemp in Entertaining Mr Sloane (1990) and the lead in Frank V (1992).

Prague (from 1993): he guested at Divadlo Labyrint (now Švandovo divadlo), playing the Commander in Grabbe's Don Juan and Faust and old Miller in Schiller's Intrigue and Love, then joined Divadlo pod Palmovkou (1993 to 2001 and 2003 to 2014). There he played Puntila (1994), Lebedev in The Idiot (1994), Don Carlos in Don Juan (1996), Polonius in Hamlet, Osgood Fielding in Sugar (2009), Mr Paravicini in The Mousetrap (2011) and Bambula in August August, August (2012), among many others.

Divadlo v Dlouhé: a member for one season (2002 to 2003) and a guest for many years, as Leo Naphta in The Magic Mountain (1997), Verkhovensky in Demons (2002), Sardelli in Maskerade, the Journalist in 407 gramů z Bohumila Hrabala, Oto in Brecht's Refugee Conversations (2016) and, in alternation, the water goblin Ivan in Lucerna.

Kašpar company, Divadlo v Celetné: Niels Bohr in Copenhagen (2001, revived 2009) and Norman in Ronald Harwood's The Dresser (2003). At Celetná he also played Polonius in Claudius and Gertrude and Firs in The Cherry Orchard.

He also played at the Summer Shakespeare Festival, at Divadlo v Řeznické, at Divadlo Palace and as a guest at the National Theatre, for a total of almost 190 stage roles.

Kopečný's best known screen role was Slepejš, one of the black-market money changers (veksláci) in Vít Olmer's 1987 film Bony a klid, alongside Jan Potměšil, Veronika Jeníková, Roman Skamene and Josef Nedorost. He returned as Slepejš in Bony a klid 2 (2014). His other screen work included the comedy Rozpuštěný a vypuštěný, the series Dobrodružství kriminalistiky, Specialisté and Život na zámku, and the TV production Andělský smích.

He was aware that the film defined him for the wider public. "Although I have played more than 180 roles, people still know me mainly as Slepejš," he told iDNES.cz in 2021.

Kopečný was married and had three children; the names of his wife and children have not been made public. He kept close ties with his native Třebíč and the Vysočina region throughout his life, returning there both for work and privately. Colleagues remembered him as extremely diligent, hard-working and charismatic, an excellent observer and a sardonic wit.

Kopečný is remembered as one of the great character actors of Czech regional and Prague studio theatre, with almost 190 stage roles over six decades. His Marquis de Sade at the Činoherní studio and his Norman in The Dresser are counted among the high points of his career, while Slepejš in Bony a klid keeps his face familiar to generations of film viewers. In 2024 he recorded his memories for the Oral History of Czech Theatre project, and the recording can be heard at the Theatre Institute (Divadelní ústav) in Prague.

Town of Třebíč Prize (Cena města Třebíče), 2022, for his life's work, awarded alongside ice hockey player Patrik Eliáš, while fellow Třebíč-born actor Oldřich Navrátil was made an honorary citizen.

Master Prix, 2025, awarded by the Život umělce foundation.

Miloš Kopečný died on 7 October 2026, aged 82. The news was first shared on Facebook by Divadlo Palace, whose company wrote: "Ten years of performances, tours and evenings together in the theatre. Ten years in which you became part of Palace and of our lives. Today came news that really hurts. Miloš, goodbye!" Divadlo.cz, Blesk, iDNES.cz and CNN Prima News reported his death on 8 October 2026. The place and cause of death have not been made public.