Josef Vlastimil Burian, better known as Vlasta Burian (April 9th, 1891, Liberec - January 31st, 1962, Prague) was a Czech stage and film actor and director, singer, sportsman, businessman, author and imitator. His boundless spontaneity and urge to win turned him into a real star on the Czech film and theatre scene. One of the most popular Czechoslovak stars between the two world wars, he was unjustly sentenced for Nazi collaboration. Vlasta Burian, winner of the King of Comedians award, as well as movies starring him are still widely popular among Czech audiences. He is well known in the Czech Republic for his comic roles in many movies before and during World War II. He ran a popular comic theatre until 1944, when the Nazis closed down all Czech-language theatres. After the war Burian was charged and convincted of collaboration with the Nazis. He was briefly imprisoned, and then not permitted to return to the stage until 1950. He was officially exonerated of all charges in 1994. His famous movie partner was Jaroslav Marvan, with whom he made many movies. Thank you Stan for this nice card with the commemorative stamp and the special postmark.
