Helena Vondrácková
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 100/76, 1976. Photo: Linke.
Helena Vondráčková (1947) is a Czech singer and actress whose career has spanned five decades. She is the best-selling singer ever in her country. The Czech pop diva also appeared in films and stage musicals.
Helena Vondráčková was born in 1947, in Prague, Czechoslovakia (present day Czech Republic). Vondráčková spent her childhood years in the town of Slatiňany. She took piano lessons from an early age. In 1964 Vondráčková came to prominence when she won a national talent contest. She made her first recording: a Czech rendering of "Red River Valley" entitled "Červená řeka". In 1965, the year she graduated from high school, Vondráčková was voted the most popular singer in Czechoslovakia by the readers of the magazine Mladý svět earning the Golden Nightingale award. Vondráčková would subsequently earn second or third place a total of twenty-seven times with eleven Silver Nightingale awards and sixteen Bronze Nightingale awards. In the summer of 1966 Vondráčková began her music festival career competing in the inaugural Bratislavská Lýra festival as a duo with Marta Kubišová: their entry "Oh Baby Baby" earned the second-place Silver Lyre award. Vondráčková's music festival debut as a solo act was at the Rio de Janeiro International Music Festival in November 1967 where her entry "Vzdálený hlas" received the Golden Rooster award: in June 1968 Vondráčková returned to Bratislavska Lyra in a duo with Waldemar Matuška. It resulted in a Bronze Lyre award for their song "To se nikdo nedoví". In 1969, Vondráčková participated in the European Cup Festival in Knokke Belgium. In 1968, she also appeared in the witty and charming fairytale film Sílene smutná princezna/The Incredibly Sad Princess (Borivoj Zeman, 1968). In communist Czechoslovakia talented filmmakers often took refuge from politically problematic films in the genre of fairy-tales, which became extremely celebrated and well known in the Eastern block. Vondrácková later appeared also in such films as Zpívající film (Vladimír Sís, 1973), with Waldemar Matuska, and Jen ho nechte, at se bojí/Let Him Face the Music! (Ladislav Rychman, 1978).
Vondráčková reached #1 on the Czechoslovakian hit parade in September 1967 with "Nedoufej" a rendering of the Sonny & Cher hit "Little Man": this was one of a number of Czech language cover versions Vondráčková cut for the Supraphon label, others being ""Pátá"" ("Downtown"), "Chytila Jsem Motýlka" ("I Only Want to Be with You") and "Růže kvetou dál", a rendering of the Gilbert Becaud hit "L'Important c'est la Rose" which afforded Vondráčková a second #1 in November 1967 and remaining in the Top Ten until March 1968. Vondráčková returned to the Top Ten in 1968 with "Hej, Pane Zajíci!" a duet with Marta Kubišova and also with a Czech-language rendering of "Gli Occhi iei" entitled "Utíkej". Vondráčková's debut album appeared in 1969: entitled "Růže kvetou dál it was a compilation of her singles released from 1964 on. Vondráčková had met up with singers Václav Neckář and Marta Kubišová through performing at the Rokoko Palace in Prague and had on occasion collaborated with one or both of them since December 1965, Vondráčková and Kubišová having reached #2 on the Czechoslovakian hit parade in the summer of 1966 with their duet "Oh Baby Baby". In January 1968 Vondráčková performed as a group with Neckář and Kubišová at a Czech music showcase presented at the MIDEM trade fair in Cannes with a resultant month-long gig for the trio at the Olympia Theatre in Paris. On 1 November 1968 Vondráčková, Neckář and Kubišová officially consolidated as an act known as the 'Golden Kids', the group recording two albums and making extensive live and televised appearances in Czechoslovakia and Germany before being forced to disband in February 1970 as Kubišová was banned from performing due to her outspoken opposition to the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. On 3 November 1994 the members of the Golden Kids reunited for a concert at the Lucerna Palace in Prague which was filmed for television broadcast with a concert album also being released.
In the aftermath of the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Helena Vondráčková and other veteran Czech pop stars underwent a career decline due to being closely associated with Czechoslovakia's period of Communist rule. In 1992 Vondráčková made her stage musical debut as Fantine in a production of Les Misérables mounted at the Vinohrady Theatre in Prague. She reprised the role in a revival of Les Misérables in 2003. From 1997 Vondráčková was frequently showcased on TV Nova and in 2000 she returned to the mainstream recording scene with Vodopád, a fifteen track album of Czech original dance tracks which, spearheaded by the single "Dlouhá noc", reached Platinum status selling 35,000 copies. Over the course of the first decade of the new century, Vondráčková continued to release records to commercial acclaim as well as performing in a number of well-received concerts. In 2000, she also published her memoir "I Remember and I Don't Regret Anything". In 2006, Vondráčková appeared in the Slovak version of the TV show Dancing With the Stars, and a year later she also appeared in the Polish version. In 2007 she was awarded the Diamond Record for half million sold records in 2007. In 2009 Vondráčková returned to the musical stage in an original musical entitled Mona Lisa written by Josef Bohuslav and Michal David, and from 2015 on, she played the lead role of Donna in the Czech production of Mamma Mia! Helena Vondráčková lived with lyricist Zdeněk Rytíř for four years parting in 1969. Her first husband was East German musician Helmut Sickel whom she met at the Sopot International Song Festival in 1977 (he was then the bass player for Kreis). They married in 1983, but divorced in 2001. In 2003 Vondráčková married Martin Michal a businessman twelve years younger than her, who she had met in 2000 and who has since acted as her manager. Helena is the aunt of actress Lucie Vondrácková.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Helena Vondrácková
East-German postcard by VEB Progress Film-Vertrieb, Berlin, no. 100/76, 1976. Photo: Linke.
Helena Vondráčková (1947) is a Czech singer and actress whose career has spanned five decades. She is the best-selling singer ever in her country. The Czech pop diva also appeared in films and stage musicals.
Helena Vondráčková was born in 1947, in Prague, Czechoslovakia (present day Czech Republic). Vondráčková spent her childhood years in the town of Slatiňany. She took piano lessons from an early age. In 1964 Vondráčková came to prominence when she won a national talent contest. She made her first recording: a Czech rendering of "Red River Valley" entitled "Červená řeka". In 1965, the year she graduated from high school, Vondráčková was voted the most popular singer in Czechoslovakia by the readers of the magazine Mladý svět earning the Golden Nightingale award. Vondráčková would subsequently earn second or third place a total of twenty-seven times with eleven Silver Nightingale awards and sixteen Bronze Nightingale awards. In the summer of 1966 Vondráčková began her music festival career competing in the inaugural Bratislavská Lýra festival as a duo with Marta Kubišová: their entry "Oh Baby Baby" earned the second-place Silver Lyre award. Vondráčková's music festival debut as a solo act was at the Rio de Janeiro International Music Festival in November 1967 where her entry "Vzdálený hlas" received the Golden Rooster award: in June 1968 Vondráčková returned to Bratislavska Lyra in a duo with Waldemar Matuška. It resulted in a Bronze Lyre award for their song "To se nikdo nedoví". In 1969, Vondráčková participated in the European Cup Festival in Knokke Belgium. In 1968, she also appeared in the witty and charming fairytale film Sílene smutná princezna/The Incredibly Sad Princess (Borivoj Zeman, 1968). In communist Czechoslovakia talented filmmakers often took refuge from politically problematic films in the genre of fairy-tales, which became extremely celebrated and well known in the Eastern block. Vondrácková later appeared also in such films as Zpívající film (Vladimír Sís, 1973), with Waldemar Matuska, and Jen ho nechte, at se bojí/Let Him Face the Music! (Ladislav Rychman, 1978).
Vondráčková reached #1 on the Czechoslovakian hit parade in September 1967 with "Nedoufej" a rendering of the Sonny & Cher hit "Little Man": this was one of a number of Czech language cover versions Vondráčková cut for the Supraphon label, others being ""Pátá"" ("Downtown"), "Chytila Jsem Motýlka" ("I Only Want to Be with You") and "Růže kvetou dál", a rendering of the Gilbert Becaud hit "L'Important c'est la Rose" which afforded Vondráčková a second #1 in November 1967 and remaining in the Top Ten until March 1968. Vondráčková returned to the Top Ten in 1968 with "Hej, Pane Zajíci!" a duet with Marta Kubišova and also with a Czech-language rendering of "Gli Occhi iei" entitled "Utíkej". Vondráčková's debut album appeared in 1969: entitled "Růže kvetou dál it was a compilation of her singles released from 1964 on. Vondráčková had met up with singers Václav Neckář and Marta Kubišová through performing at the Rokoko Palace in Prague and had on occasion collaborated with one or both of them since December 1965, Vondráčková and Kubišová having reached #2 on the Czechoslovakian hit parade in the summer of 1966 with their duet "Oh Baby Baby". In January 1968 Vondráčková performed as a group with Neckář and Kubišová at a Czech music showcase presented at the MIDEM trade fair in Cannes with a resultant month-long gig for the trio at the Olympia Theatre in Paris. On 1 November 1968 Vondráčková, Neckář and Kubišová officially consolidated as an act known as the 'Golden Kids', the group recording two albums and making extensive live and televised appearances in Czechoslovakia and Germany before being forced to disband in February 1970 as Kubišová was banned from performing due to her outspoken opposition to the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. On 3 November 1994 the members of the Golden Kids reunited for a concert at the Lucerna Palace in Prague which was filmed for television broadcast with a concert album also being released.
In the aftermath of the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Helena Vondráčková and other veteran Czech pop stars underwent a career decline due to being closely associated with Czechoslovakia's period of Communist rule. In 1992 Vondráčková made her stage musical debut as Fantine in a production of Les Misérables mounted at the Vinohrady Theatre in Prague. She reprised the role in a revival of Les Misérables in 2003. From 1997 Vondráčková was frequently showcased on TV Nova and in 2000 she returned to the mainstream recording scene with Vodopád, a fifteen track album of Czech original dance tracks which, spearheaded by the single "Dlouhá noc", reached Platinum status selling 35,000 copies. Over the course of the first decade of the new century, Vondráčková continued to release records to commercial acclaim as well as performing in a number of well-received concerts. In 2000, she also published her memoir "I Remember and I Don't Regret Anything". In 2006, Vondráčková appeared in the Slovak version of the TV show Dancing With the Stars, and a year later she also appeared in the Polish version. In 2007 she was awarded the Diamond Record for half million sold records in 2007. In 2009 Vondráčková returned to the musical stage in an original musical entitled Mona Lisa written by Josef Bohuslav and Michal David, and from 2015 on, she played the lead role of Donna in the Czech production of Mamma Mia! Helena Vondráčková lived with lyricist Zdeněk Rytíř for four years parting in 1969. Her first husband was East German musician Helmut Sickel whom she met at the Sopot International Song Festival in 1977 (he was then the bass player for Kreis). They married in 1983, but divorced in 2001. In 2003 Vondráčková married Martin Michal a businessman twelve years younger than her, who she had met in 2000 and who has since acted as her manager. Helena is the aunt of actress Lucie Vondrácková.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.