The representative of Dr. Králové from the series Hospital on the outskirts of the city was the oldest of them. Their father, the legendary actor Zdeněk Stepanek (†71) had it with his first wife Elena Hálková (†78).
Love caroms
Jana has not been in contact with her half-brother Petr for many years. She put them together Zlata Adamovská, with whom she played in the Theater in Vinohrady and Ungelta. “Paradoxically, she experienced my divorce with me Radek John and other love carambolas,” recalls Adamovská. When Štěpánková found out that Zlata was going to marry Petr, she just clapped her hands and exclaimed with delight: “So we’re going to be brothers-in-law? That is beautiful…” “I dare to say that I brought them a little closer together with Peter. She didn’t really maintain a relationship with him because of his ex-wife (director Vlasta Janečková, 14 years her senior, editor’s note), but maybe there were other reasons as well.” admits Adamovská. “But when she found out he was dating me, she started seeing him a lot more often. So I would say that I kind of cemented the family together,” adds the actress happily.
He (didn’t) stay alone
But it wasn’t for long. Five years after the wedding of Peter and Zlata, Jana succumbed to severe pneumonia. It crushed Štěpánek all the more because his other sister Kristina was fighting cancer. “She, poor little thing, was reeling with the worst disease there could be. And I admire her because she fought the disease for over twenty years. Always up for a while, then some chemotherapy…” says a visibly moved Štěpánek in the documentary. Kristina moved in with Jana this January. “Her death hit Peter very hard. He often sits at home on the sofa and says – I don’t really have anyone anymore. First Martin, then Jana, then Kristina… It’s terrible when you’re alone in the world,” says Adamovská. “And I tell him – but you are not alone! You have me and my family, who of course accepted him. He is slowly watching over my grandchildren more than their real grandfather!” his wife Zlata, who is Peter’s greatest love in life, takes care of him. You can see the documentary today at 10:25 p.m. on ČT1.
Zlata Adamovská & Petr Štěpánek: How did they get together and how is it going at home?
Brother Martin Štěpánek (†63): First emigration and then suicide!
Petr lost his older brother Martin Štěpánek (†63) twice. For the first time in 1981, when the actor emigrated with his family to Austria, from where he returned only after 13 years. And the second time – definitively – in September 2010, when he shot himself… For Peter, it’s still a painful topic that he doesn’t like to talk about. “Actually, I only know Martin’s emigration from the stories that Petr occasionally stirs up a memory like this,” confirms his wife Zlata. “He once recalled that when Martin wanted to emigrate, he brought all the antique furniture, carpets and valuables to him. So Peter knew what was going to happen. And he also knew he was going to get into trouble. But he arranged all the inventory around the apartment so that it looked like the things had always been there. And after emigration, of course, he handed over everything to Martin,” Adamovská says, adding that Petr could not travel after Martin’s emigration.
“The whole family was affected by this,” recalls the actress. The worst thing was that the communists did not even let Martin go to the funeral of his and Peter’s mother Sonia Grossová, married to Štěpánková. “There are things I can answer. And there are things that will remain unanswered for me forever. For example, when Martin was in emigration, our mother died, I call him and I can’t imagine what was going on inside him when he learned that the mother was no longer there and that he couldn’t even attend her funeral …” Petr Štěpánek confides at his mother’s grave. “And then the revolution came and the first thing we did when the borders to Austria opened was to go to Vienna, where we saw Martin after all these years. And it was beautiful. We had Wiener schnitzel and felt like we were in paradise. When Martin came back, I was as happy as a flea,” recalls Peter. But even this joy did not last long. “The fact that everyone opened their arms to him – whether it was theater, television, writing for newspapers, I take it all. But not the end of it. I can’t let it go and it’s true that I still miss it,” admits Štěpánek. “When Peter got the news that Martin had committed suicide, he immediately called me. He was completely in shock and I think he is in shock to this day,” Adamovská confirms his words.
He didn’t even play football with his dad
Petr was the youngest of Zdenek Štěpánek’s four children. Even though he can’t let his father down, he says he will never forget one thing… “That I couldn’t play football with him,” says Petr Štěpánek. “You know, I was born to my father when he was fifty-two years old,” recalls the actor, who celebrated his 75th birthday last week and has no children himself.
In the beginning there was sex
They first starred together in The Rose Garden 2 and then got together in real life. “When we started dating, Petr told me – it will be beautiful, we will travel together… And I said to him – yes, I really like that too!” recalls Adamovská. “And he continued – I’ll always go into that hotel, take the keys and we’ll go to the room… I’m just afraid you won’t see much of those cities. In the beginning, probably only ceilings!” adds Zlata with a laugh.
Krnáčová on cancer and the chance of a cure. And the actor couple has quietly fought covid and is angry with colleagues
2023-10-15 18:21:00
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