In one song, Petr Rezek sings: “Friendship is sometimes more than love.” What does Vendula Křížová think about it?who has experience with both?
“There’s love in friendship, but if you mean romantic love, I wouldn’t give up a single thing with permission.” An example of one such loving friendship in her life was her close relationship with actress Jana Šulcováwho died last July.
What did these two ladies have in common the most? “In addition to joint work and theater tours, we were united by our love for animals and flowers. I admired Jana’s sense of humor, she was able to gloss any situation around her with wit and promptness.” says Vendula, adding: “She loved her job. Although she claimed to be a pessimist, she enjoyed life.”
They met while filming, when Vendula was in her twenties and Jana was in her forties. “Our meeting then was completely normal. Above all, I felt awe and respect, and probably also stage fright,” says Vendula.
At that time, Jana Šulcová was divorced from Oldřich Vízner, with whom she had two daughters – Tereza (52) and Rozália (49). How did they bear the breakup of the family? “Heavily. We have been working perfectly for twenty years,” Jana Šulcová told Bleska years ago.
And what, according to her, was behind the breakup of the relationship? “You know, my ex-husband and I started out with me being the more successful one, I was the one who flew to the festival in Monte Carlo, I was the one who filmed in India… And men take it hard,” revealed Šulcová and added: “I once said that life is about money, sex and frivolities. Minds hold a person back terribly, but everyone has them,” the movie star revealed I enjoy the world with you, Good light or series The secret of the wicker basket.
After the divorce, riding the subway became the actress’ hobby. “I didn’t enter the subway for five years because people were staring at me. It was enough for me at home. I walked with my dog, met two neighbors, greeted them and went on. And I just saw them looking behind me and their heads together,” recalled Šulcová and continued: “Everyone was arguing about how Olda couldn’t watch me and Bartoška anymore. Which was my film husband, but we were both so busy that we never even had time for coffee.” she was referring to the series We all have to go to school.
Second woman
Oldřich Vízner’s second wife was the script writer Zuzana. There was no doubt which of them was more famous. They had a daughter together, Viktoria, but the relationship did not last long. And finally, in the nineties, the life paths of Vendula Křížová and Oldřich Vízner were connected.
Together they were seduced by the theater stage. The game became a fateful performance Sylvie, which premiered in 1998 at the Ungelt Theatre. The young actress was a little over twenty-five years old and played in it the female Sylvia, whom her master wants to keep, although his wife is against it. The wife does not like that the master has a much more intimate and warm relationship with the mute face than with her. The loving antics on stage, when Vendula, in the role of a female, expressed boundless devotion to her master and he lovingly scratched her belly for it, also moved into a real love relationship.
From then on, Vendula Křížová and Oldřich Vízner were partners and paradoxically lived together in a dog’s book, i.e. without the blessing of the authorities or the parish priest. Their relationship gave rise to Vendula’s closer friendship with Jana Šulcová, and again dogs played a certain role in that. Jana Šulcová looked after their four-legged pets when they went on holiday, for example. “We looked after not only the dogs, but also the children,” says Vendula, adding: “My three children are uncles and aunts to her three grandchildren, and they are nephews to my children. We’ve made it so far that uncle and nephew are sitting together on the same desk at the gymnasium.”
Later, both actresses started going on vacation together. How is it possible that Jana Šulcová, who suffered a divorce from her husband, was able to get along so well with his new partner? “It is not a question of my character or generosity,” she confided and added: “She’s just a nice girl. She plays with me in the theater, I have no reason not to like her.’ When the actresses got together alone, Oldřich was a grateful topic of conversation.
They had plenty of time to talk. She was together with Jana Šulcová, for example, in Karlovy Vary, where they shared one bed. How did they spend their time in the spa town? “Perhaps by learning golf together, we spent a lot of time on it. And the moment Jana sprained her ankle and I lost my earring, we came to the conclusion that it was time to pursue more sedentary hobbies.”
Ex-wife of Vízner (76) Vendulka Křížová (51): We are still in contact! Markéta Reinischová
Men
When Jana Šulcová was asked whether she was looking for another man after the divorce, she answered: “She didn’t stand. Men who approach me are useless in my eyes. I sometimes have the feeling, from what I see and hear around me, that all men are useless.”
Vendula Křížová did not think so after breaking up with Vízner in 2017, and now she is married again. “My former colleague from the theater introduced us,” she says of a partner who doesn’t share her passion for travel, but she doesn’t mind. “I like to go wandering somewhere in nature. Take it easy by yourself or I’ll get my two dogs.’
During one of her travels with her children in Corsica, she learned the sad news that Jana Šulcová had died on 28 July 2023. “The news reached us at the pirate port of Bonifacio,” describes and concludes: “It was a special moment because the lighthouse lit up on the opposite cliff, then the first star came out and we went into the Eglise Sainte Marie Majoure and lit a candle for Jane.”
Oldřich Vízner has been struggling with severe health problems in recent years. He has problems with walking and he let it be known that due to the loss of strength he can no longer perform in the theater. Ex-partner Vendula Křížová does not considerately comment on his current state.
Shakespeare’s Juliet of the Cross
Vendula Křížová comes from Opava and studied acting at the drama department of the State Conservatory in Ostrava. Immediately after its completion, she joined the Vinohrady Theater in Prague, where she was a member for twenty years. She played in Crazy from Chaillotv A bang on the lagoon but above all she attracted attention in the early 1990s as the title character in the show Romeo a Julie.
Since the end of the eighties, Vendula Křížová has appeared in front of the camera. She played in TV movies, for example in fairy tales About the Myrtle Maiden, Beardless, Princess Camila. She appeared in the film with Jana Šulcová Bitter wine and in 2021 we could see her in the film Here we watch where she played a dog walker.
Famous couple and their villa
Šulcová and Vízner had two daughters, and they said in retrospect that they lived hand to mouth. For example, when 300 crowns came from Czechoslovak Radio, they cheered as if they had won a sports game. “I’m more happy than if you showed me your breasts!” said Vízner to Jane.
The famous couple had a dilemma regarding their livelihood even after August 1968. Both of them would have preferred to condemn the occupation and sign Charter 77, but this involved a stoppage of work. “We decided that one of us would sign and the other would support the family. Hour long debates! Being alone would have been easy, but we had two kids! I also couldn’t tell my husband that I was earning more, so let him be the hero. In the end, we decided not to sign her,” Jana explained pragmatism in thinking.
Earnings of movie stars I Enjoy the World with You they weren’t dizzying. At that time, there were strict tables for fees. Since Šulcová and other actors were not national or deserving artists, they received only 600 CZK per day of work. And so Jana cashed in on her most famous film 13,800 CZK.
The villa in Vokovice, where the family lived, also played a role in the film. Well, at least from the outside. In fact, Oldřich Vízner, who was in love, brought his new wife Jana to live there in 1967. They only had one room, the house was not a two-generation house, there was one toilet, one kitchen. The actor’s parents and brother and his family also lived here, but they emigrated a year later. Gradually, as money allowed, the actors reconstructed the house.
Vokovice was almost like an independent village back then. The rural character of living here has actually been preserved to this day. “We know each other. We are helping each other. It’s really nice, I live beautifully here. At Christmas we gather in the park and sing carols, everyone knows each other.” Šulcová enjoyed herself years ago.