Raoul Schránil


Raoul Marian Kristian Schránil was a Czech film actor.

Life

Schránil was born in Most on 24 March 1910. His father Rudolf Schránil was a government secretary. His mother Alexandra Poláková was a singer. Shortly after his birth he moved to Vienna with his parents. During the World War I he was sent to live with his grandmother in Chotětov. After the war his family moved to Prague. His family friend was an opera singer Emmy Destinn. Schránil was expelled from high school in Prague and went to study in Germany and later in Dijon, France. He spoke Czech, French, German and English. After a recommendation from his cousin, a film director Karl Anton, he was hired in Vlasta Burian's theatre in 1935.
His first role was in the film Milan Rastislav Štefánik, where he played a French officer. In the 1930s and 1940s he was often typecast as a romantic lead. During the German occupation he founded his own cinema in Chotětov called Vlast. He was a member of Czechoslovak resistance and was hiding two escaped British soldiers until the end of the war. After the communist coup he was arrested, due to a suspicion that he wanted to emigrate. He spent one year in custody. He was not allowed to be hired by theatres, because of his bourgeois origins. He had to work as a labourer until he was able to find work in a cabaret and small provincial theatres.
He died in Prague on 20 September 1998.
His daughter Xandra Schránilová was an actress in Semafor theatre.

Selected filmography