Biography

Eva Gerová, whose real name was Eva Branbergerová, was born on March 4, 1920, in Prague. Her father was the music critic, composer, and music professor Jan Branberger (1877–1952), who, among other works, composed the scores for the films “Bílá nemoc”, “Filosofská historie”, “Karel Hynek Mácha”, and “Co se šeptá”. Her mother was Doubravka Branbergerová, née Černochová (1885–1945), a soprano at the National Theatre in Prague. Until 1936, she attended an English-language secondary school, after which she transferred to the Prague State Conservatory, where she was accepted. She began performing at a young age, for example in the graduation production “Panenský večírek”, in which she played a child alongside Marie Glázrová. Her first film role came at the age of 16, alongside Zita Kabátová in “Manželství na úvěr” (1936). This was followed by roles in films such as “Otec Kondelík a ženich Vejvara” (1937), “Kariéra matky Lízalky” (1937), “Karel Hynek Mácha” (1937), “Harmonika” (1937), “Svatební cesta” (1938), “Slečna matinka” (1938), “Pán a sluha” (1938), “Neporažená armáda” (1938), “Jarka a Věrka” (1938), and “Bílá vrána” (1938). Her last film was “Venoušek a Stázička” (1939). After completing her final film, she made guest appearances in three productions at the Vinohrady Theater. She subsequently married Jaroslav Šanovec, and that same year, she gave birth to a son, followed by a daughter two years later. After divorcing Jaroslav Šanovec, she married Jiří Páv, with whom she remained until his death in 2009. Her family and the political situation at the time were the main reasons she ended her acting career. For a while, she worked as a saleswoman in a jewelry store. She then worked part-time at the National Library. She later took a position at the library of the University of Economics, before moving to the Municipal Library. There, she initially worked in the theater and film department and eventually spent 16 years in the youth department. Even so, she changed jobs several more times, eventually taking a position at the library of the Mechanika manufacturing cooperative, where she retired at the age of 73. Eva Gerová spent her final years surrounded by her family in Prague. She died there on June 5, 2013, at the age of 93.