Monday September 25 update: Tříska has unfortunately been pronounced dead at Prague’s Central Military Hospital.
80-year-old Czech actor Jan Tříska is currently being hospitalized after falling from Prague’s Charles Bridge into the Vltava river on Saturday afternoon, according to local media reports.
On Saturday, details of the incident and rescue were made public, but did not reveal Tříska’s name. Today, Prague Police confirmed the actor’s identity.
Prague firefighters initially tweeted that the man had jumped, while other sources reported a fall. The tweet has since been edited, but photos from the rescue operation can be viewed on the official Hasiči Praha account.
In a daring rescue, two men from a passing cruise ship lept into the Vltava to assist Tříska and pull him to shore. He was reportedly not breathing when taken from the water, and CPR was performed.
The actor has subsequently been placed in an artificially-induced coma at Prague’s Central Military Hospital. A police spokesperson referred to the actor in “very serious condition” while the Hospital confirmed that he was being treated in intensive care.
Precise details of the incident are still being investigated by Prague police.
On Monday, Tříska was scheduled to begin shooting the movie Na střeše (On the Roof) for director Jiř Mádl. Filming has been indefinitely postponed, according to a spokesperson for the project.
Tříska is an acclaimed stage and screen actor who emigrated to the United States in the late 1970s after signing the anti-communist petition Charter 77. In Hollywood, he has had featured supporting roles in films such as Reds, Ronin, Apt Pupil, and Miloš Forman’s The People vs. Larry Flynt.
While he still primarily resides in Los Angeles, Tříska has returned to Prague in the years following the end of Soviet rule to act in theater and films including Šílení, Horem pádem, and the Oscar-nominated Želary.
The actor can most recently be seen in director Jan Svěrák’s Po strništi bos (Barefoot), still playing in Prague cinemas, where he plays the curmudgeonly grandfather of the lead character.
Lead photo: Tříska in Po strništi bos via Bioscop
