Jiří Voskovec

A Czech-American actor, writer, playwright, and lyricist inextricably linked with Jan Werich and Jaroslav Ježek. In 1926, alongside Jan Werich, he joined the avant-garde Osvobozené divadlo (The Liberated Theatre), where they used humor to address the political and social issues of the time. Because their performances were openly anti-fascist, they were forced to close the theatre in 1938. In early 1939, both emigrated to the USA. They returned to Czechoslovakia in 1946. After two years of trying to revive the Liberated Theatre with Jan Werich, he emigrated for the second and final time. He lived briefly in France.