Jiří Šlitr

Jiří Šlitr
Czech songwriter, pianist, singer and actor Jiří Šlitr
Background information
Birth name	Jiří Šlitr
Born	(1924-02-15)15 February 1924
Origin	Zálesní Lhota, Czechoslovakia
Died	26 December 1969(1969-12-26) (aged 45)
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Pianist Composer Singer Actor
Instruments	piano

Jiří Šlitr (15 February 1924, in Zálesní Lhota near Jilemnice – 26 December 1969, in Prague) was a Czech songwriter, pianist, singer, actor and painter. Together with Jiří Suchý he significantly influenced Czech pop music and theatre in the 1960s.

Jiří Šlitr went to gymnasium in Jilemnice, then in Rychnov nad Kněžnou. He graduated in 1943 and worked as a clerk in Bělá pod Bezdězem until the end of World War II. He then studied Law at Charles University in Prague and in 1949 received a doctorate in Law (academic degree JUDr. — he never practiced as a lawyer, but was later nicknamed Doctor Piano). In 1948 he founded the Czechoslovak Dixieland Jazz Band with former classmates from Rychnov. He occasionally played with Akord Club, and toured with the Miroslav Horníček theatre ensemble as pianist. In 1957 Horníček introduced him to Jiří Suchý, and the Suchý + Šlitr duo began to perform in the Reduta theatre and Vltava café. Next year was the Brussels Expo 58: Šlitr was there as part of the Laterna Magika theatre. In 1959 he began to perform in the newly founded Semafor theatre, which became his principal venue.

Jiří Šlitr, with lyricist-playwright Jiří Suchý and clarinetist Ferdinand Havlík, was a key exponent of the "golden era" of the Semafor Theatre. His first work with Jiří Suchý was Píseň o Hamletovi (Song about Hamlet). Člověk z půdy (Man from Attic) — their first play for the Semafor, with music by Šlitr — was a remarkable success. The 1962 play Jonáš a tingl tangl (Jonáš and Tingl Tangl) featured Šlitr in his first acting role; he and Suchý became a well-known acting duo. In 1964 Šlitr won the 6th place in the Czechoslovak singer contest Zlatý slavík (The Golden Nightingale).