Božidara Turzonovová is a daughter of a female medician from Serbia and a reputable architect with origins in Macedonia. As the oldest of three descendants, she was born in the Kingdom of Bulgaria. After thirteen months spent in Sofia, her mother followed the spouse to Bratislava, where he worked since 1939. From 1943, Turzonovová was therefore raised in Slovakia. According to the actress, she was often called "that Bulgarian" at that time that led her to a state of feeling rather humbled. Although, she originally planned to study art history at the Palacký University of Olomouc in western part of then-Czechoslovakia, for which she would also apply, Turzonovová continued with drama eventually at the Slovak Academy of Performing Arts. While one of her classmates was Emília Vášáryová, her teacher became :sk:Ján Borodáč|Ján Borodáč who taught the Stanislavski's method. However, as the artist later disclosed, she found difficult to couple with partners on the scene, and wanted to abandon the college. In 2012 for SME she said: "For me 'partnering stuff' has always been a problem in acting, especially when I was yet a student."
1961-69: Career beginnings and the National Theater
The actress made her official debut on the screen in black-and-white movie entitled Most na tú stranu by Vladislav Pavlovič, to be premiered in January the following year. The psychological drama starred :sk:Jozef Adamovič|Jozef Adamovič; a three years older actor whom Turzonovová would marry. Her initial appearance for television came along with :sk:Ján Klimo|Ján Klimo's Mladé letá, another drama based on an autobiographical novel by Martin Kukučín. While on college, she was cast in two plays at a chamber theatre of the Slovak National Theater, called Malá scéna. Following her graduating in September 1963, the actress signed a contract with the professional ensemble while being pregnant. As a result, she was accused of cheating as revealed. After return from parental leave, Turzonovová was cast in the follow-up project by Pavlovič Senzi Mama, while for TV productions taking part in comedies. In 1969, she would join the crew of Volpone, the only directorial attempt of :sk:František Dibarbora|František Dibarbora.
The filmography of Turzonovová chronicles her work through the artist's 50 years as a film, television and stage actress. She entered film industry in 1961, and made her official cinematic debut in Vladislav Pavlovič's production of Most na tú stranu. Overall, she appeared in one-hundred-sixty-five films to date, of which thirty-four are feature, and one-hundred-thirty-one television films or series. While on stage, Turzonovová was cast in one-hundred plays or musicals, eight of which have been also televised.
;Notes
A The original show ran until 1989..
B The winners of the 77' edition were awarded in 1979.
Awards
Božidara Turzonovová has received a number of awards and accolades in recognition of her success in the film industry. As of March 2017, she has accumulated a total of 24 awards out of 28 nominations.
