Karel Fiala is a Czech opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

tic tenor

Tenor

The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

 and film actor. He initially worked as a chimney sweeper before entering the Prague Conservatory

Prague Conservatory

Prague Conservatory, sometimes also Prague Conservatoire, in Czech Pražská konzervatoř, is a Czech secondary school in Prague dedicated to teaching the arts of music and theater acting.- Instruction :...

 in 1947. After earning his degree in 1952 he pursued further studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague

Academy of Performing Arts in Prague

The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague is a university level school of music, dance, drama, film, TV and multi-media studies.- Faculties :*Film and TV School - FAMU*Music Faculty - HAMU*Theatre Faculty - DAMU-Notable alumni:...

 for three years, graduating in 1955.

While still a student, Fiala began performing in operas at the National Theatre

National Theatre (Prague)

The National Theatre in Prague is known as the Alma Mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art.The National Theatre belongs to the most important Czech cultural institutions, with a rich artistic tradition which was created and maintained by the most distinguished...

 in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 in 1949. He was committed at that house through 1954 after which he joined the roster of principal artists at the Hudební divadlo Karlín where he performed roles for several decades. He was particularly successful in portraying parts in operettas and musicals, including such roles as Count Danilo in The Merry Widow

The Merry Widow

The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...

, Freddy in My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...

, and Jim Kenyon in Rose-Marie

Rose-Marie

Rose-Marie is an operetta-style musical with music by Rudolf Friml and Herbert Stothart, and book and lyrics by Otto Harbach and Oscar Hammerstein II. The story takes place in the Canadian Rockies and concerns Rose-Marie La Flemme, a French Canadian girl who loves miner Jim Kenyon...

.

Fiala is chiefly remembered for his numerous appearances in films of Czech operas, operettas, and musicals. His first film was in 1956 where he portrayed the title role in Dalibor

Dalibor (film)

Dalibor is a 1956 Czech film of the opera of the same name by Bedřich Smetana. Directed by Václav Krška, the film was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Václav Bednář - King Vladislav* Karel Fiala - Dalibor* Věra Heroldová - Milada...

, a movie version of Bedřich Smetana

Bedrich Smetana

Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...

's opera of the same name. A major success for him was the title part in the 1964 musical film Lemonade Joe

Lemonade Joe

Lemonade Joe , is a 1964 Czechoslovak comedy film, directed by Oldřich Lipský and written by Jiří Brdečka, based on his own novel and theatre play. The film, a parody of old-time westerns, became a cult classic in Czechoslovakia, and apparently Henry Fonda was amongst its foreign admirers...

. He notably appeared as Mozart's Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni

Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...

 in the 1984 Academy Award winning film Amadeus

Amadeus (film)

Amadeus is a 1984 period drama film directed by Miloš Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Adapted from Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the story is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the latter half of the...

. Fiala also appeared as a non-singing actor in a handful of Czech films during his career, mostly in smaller roles. His last film was Tichy spolecnik in 1989.

In 1988 Fiala was awarded the Medal of Merit

State decorations of the Czech Republic

State decorations of the Czech Republic recognize outstanding acts of service to the Czech Republic. They are awarded by the President of the Czech Republic, usually, but not necessarily, on the recommendation of the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate or the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic. ...

by the government of the Czech Repupblic. He has been married three times and has four sons.

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