Prince Radovan won't give an order or a ring anymore. Josef Zima died at the age of 92

"Josef Zíma died. Honor his memory," he wrote on Thursday night on his Facebook page Pavel Skalický from Jupiter Agencieswho represented him.

Josef Zíma (11 May 1932 Prague - 6 March 2025) was a Czech actor, singer and moderator, husband of actress Eva Klepáčová. In addition to pop music, he is known as a singer of Czech brass bands. He is often referred to as the uncrowned king of Czech brass band music.

After graduating from the grammar school in Prague-Michel, he studied acting, and at the same time as studying acting at the Prague DAMU (graduated in 1953) he also studied singing privately. From 1948 to 1951 he was a member of the People's Ensemble of the Conservatoire, from 1950 he sang solo with the Jaroslav Ježek Orchestra. After graduating, he got his first acting engagement in Benešov u Prahy, where he worked from 1953 to 1955. From 1955 to 1957 he served in the Army Art Ensemble. After his military service he joined the Theatre of Satire (today's ABC Theatre in the U Nováků Palace). In 1958 he recorded a record Blues for youon which Jiří Suchý's first song as an author was released.

From 1962 until 1992, i.e. for 30 years, he was engaged at the Prague Chamber Theatre, a member of the Prague Municipal Theatre Group. Here he was not only an actor, but also a good singer. He played at the Theatre Na Fidlovačce in Prague's Nusle, at the Musical Theatre in Karlín and at the Chamber Theatre in Pilsen.

At the same time as his theatre career, his career as a pop music singer also unfolded. In the early days of television broadcasting, Josef Zíma began appearing on screen with his own songs, and it was thanks to this that he became known in the rest of the country as a musical performer. Among his best-known songs are Gina, Lovers in Texas, Green Plains or White Crow. Apart from the theme song from the fairy tale film by Martin Fritz Princess with a gold star also made a name for himself with Jiří Suchý's hit Blues for you.

Later he sang a number of other well-known songs, among others with the singer Pavlina Filipovská, Jana Petrů and others. He also successfully performed on television, especially as a presenter. During the years 1962-1965, he ranked third to eighth in the Golden Nightingale poll.

By the end of the 1960s, he began to have little space in popular music. He therefore took advantage of the offer of the Supraphon label and began to profile himself as a singer of Czech brass band music (a genre of so-called Czech folk music). During the 1980s he continued to record mainly brass bands, and in the 1990s he performed and recorded mainly with the Jiří Sládek Orchestra.

Zíma has also worked as a dubber and in 2008 received the František Filipovský Award for lifetime mastery in dubbing. He is also the recipient of the Thalia Award (2014) for lifetime achievement in the operetta-musical category. In 2019, the then President of the Czech Republic, Miloš Zeman, awarded him the Medal for Merit for the State in the Arts.

wikipedia/ gnews.cz - RoZ

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