The Tragic Life and Legacy of Eduard Cupák: From Family Tragedy to Forbidden Love

His colleagues always considered him a nice person who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Despite the fact that tragedy marked Eduard Cupák’s childhood. The Nazis discovered that his father and grandmother were printing fake food stamps. They ended up in front of the firing squadthe young boy became even more attached to his mother, who took him to the cinema from an early age, bought him books and wanted her son to be culturally educated.

After the tragic event, it was his mother who correctly guessed that the theater would be the right balm for the boy’s sensitive soul. She was right and she even woke Eduardo up lifelong passion and love. Although Cupák began his studies at the Brno Conservatory, he later “jumped” to studying acting at JAMU.

He enjoyed his time studying, but at the same time it became clear again that life would not be a walk in the park for him. Cupák has never made a secret of the fact that he prefers men to women in love. And that was completely unthinkable in Czechoslovakia at the time. Homosexuality was considered not only a crime, but also a disease. Despite the fact that his friends adored him, his achievements logically also aroused envy.

Just two weeks before the final exams, he ended up being interrogated, the secret police didn’t take napkins. An anonymous tip that probably came from one of the less popular classmates got him into trouble. He was expelled from schoolthe official reason was “forbidden intercourse with men.”

His career seemed to be in ruins before it even got off the ground. Cupák ended up in a factory, an environment in which he felt desperate. Rude men and informers at every turn, this was not something he wanted to live in. Fortunately, he met the director Václav Krška, who invited him to audition for the extras of the biographical film about the writer Alois Jirásk Mladá leta. But Cupák was exceptional, in the end he won the main role of Jirásk.

The actor became the idol of young people, despite the fact that a number of envious people appeared again, who pointed out that there could be more than just work matters connecting them with the director Krška. Bad language did not succeed this time, Cupák not only stayed in the industry, but settled in it permanently. He never made it to the National Theatreeven though his talent was destined for it.

Unfortunately, his comrades had him in the crosshairs and did not allow him to fly further because he loudly condemned the occupation of August 1968. Because of this, he was only allowed to make a maximum of one film per year. But his wonderful voice stood out even more in radio broadcasts and dubbing.

Eduard Cupák always longed for great love. He met his chosen Václav Květ in 1959, and even met his parents. They were surprisingly able to accept that their son brought home a man. They lived together in an apartment in Malá Strana, spent their free time at the cottage, which Cupák loved, and to its reconstruction he was giving all his saved money.

Unfortunately, he was never able to give up cigarettes, which eventually became fatal for him. When he was at the height of his popularity, he developed emphysema, which doctors discovered in the 1970s. But the actor ignored their advice and continued to smoke. When his condition worsened, his partner had to carry him home up the stairs, Cupák could hardly breathe.

For the last year, life was actually just in the hospital. But even the devices he was connected to were not helping him in the last months. When he died in June 1996his wish came true – the suffering was finally over.