Nora Houfová

Nora was born in Vienna on 13 December 1924. She spent her youth in Greece, where her father Karel Ujka ran the Austrian branch of the Wertheim company operating the construction of elevators. In September 1939, the Ujkas returned to Vienna and Nora enrolled to study acting at the University of Music and Dramatic Arts, Institute for Drama and Drama Direction Max Reinhardt Seminar,{{Cite book |last=Langer |first=Friedrich |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=daQYAQAAIAAJ&q=eleonore+ujka |title=50 Jahre Max Reinhardt-Seminar: eine Festschrift |date=1979 |publisher=Bundesmin. f. Wissenschaft u. Forschung |language=de}} where she then studied in the years 40s and 43s. In 1943, Nora's father was sent to Karlovy Vary to keep elevators in operation in individual buildings. The spa town was then transformed into a military infirmary of the German army.{{Cite book |last1=Roessler |first1=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pJIaAQAAIAAJ&q=eleonore+ujka |title=Die vergessenen Jahre: zum 75. Jahrestag der Eröffnung des Max Reinhardt Seminars |last2=Einbrodt |first2=Günter |last3=Gföller |first3=Susanne |date=2004 |publisher=Max Reinhardt Seminar |language=de}} Nora was fluent in French, English, German and Czech.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4MAnAQAAIAAJ&q=Nora+Houf |title=Deutsches Bühnen-Jahrbuch |date=1978 |publisher=Druck und Kommissionverlag F.A. Günther & Sohn |language=de}}

In 1954, she joined the German troupe of the State Touring Theater in Prague-Hloubětín and worked there until its disbandment in 1962. At that time, the troupe toured the border region, the former Sudetenland, where it played for German-speaking residents. Nora's colleagues were, the later well-known director Otto Ševčík, Jindřich Narenta, František Pálka, Lenka Birková and others.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mOZbAAAAMAAJ&q=Nora+Houf |title=Die Bühne |date=1975 |publisher=Verlag Austria International |language=de}}

In 1960 she played in Jiří Krejčík's film Higher Principle{{Cite web |title=Nora Houfová |url=http://www.fofifo.wz.cz/vyssi_princip.htm |access-date=2023-08-20 |website=www.fofifo.wz.cz}}  and in 1962 in Jiří Lehovec's drama Mykoin PH 510. After returning to Vienna in May 1963, she continued to work in theater and film. In 1999, she played a supporting role in one episode of the crime TV series Tatort. She was active in the theater until 2011.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BfAmAQAAIAAJ&dq=Nora+Houf&pg=RA2-PA55 |title=Filmkunst |date=1992 |publisher=Österreichische Gesellschaft für Filmwissenschaft, Kommunikations- und Medienforshung |language=de}}{{Cite book |last=Cook |first=Robert Cecil |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5LSgAAAAMAAJ&q=Nora+Houf |title=Who's who in American Education |date=1948 |publisher=Who's Who in American Education |language=en}}

In Karlovy Vary Nora met the photographer Jaroslav Houf{{Cite web |title=Mapa stránek o reportérovi |url=http://www.fofifo.wz.cz/mapa.htm |access-date=2023-08-20 |website=www.fofifo.wz.cz}} and married him in November 1948. The wedding was conceived in a grand style with the participation of the townspeople, which did not quite fit in with the newly introduced order. Jaroslav continued to work as a private photographer and refused the offered position of chairman of the Fotografia cooperative, which was established in 1950.{{Cite web |title=Konec lovce senzací |url=http://www.fofifo.wz.cz/strana10a.htm |access-date=2023-08-20 |website=www.fofifo.wz.cz}} Two sons were born to the couple, Kristian in 1949 and Marcel two years later. In the turbulent post-February period, the peculiar photographer Houf became uncomfortable, in December 1953 he was arrested and in April 1954 he was sentenced to four and a half years of labor in the mines in the prison in Rtyn in Podkrkonoší. His sentence was later reduced, and after his release in 1957, the Houfs divorced.{{Cite web |title=Reportér, na kterého se mělo zapomenout |url=http://www.fofifo.wz.cz/strana8.htm |access-date=2023-08-20 |website=www.fofifo.wz.cz}}{{Citation |title=Hudba kolonád (1975) – Filmový přehled |url=https://www.filmovyprehled.cz/cs/film/397081/hudba-kolonad |access-date=2023-08-20 |language=cs}}

In 1964, Nora married Vladimír Švancar, after changing his last name, which was not very suitable for a German-speaking environment to Vladimír Car. Her son Marcel died in 2022{{Cite web |title=HOUF Marcel (1951-2022) sculptor, photographer, painter |url=https://www.arcadja.com/auctions/it/author-lots/auazgpby/ |access-date=2023-08-20 |website=Arcadja.com |language=en}} She retired from acting in 2018 and resided in Vienna, where she died on 29 May 2024, at the age of 99.{{cite news |title=Zemřela Nora Houfová |url=https://www.divadelni-noviny.cz/zemrela-nora-houfova |access-date=16 August 2024 |publisher=divadelni-noviny.cz |date=10 August 2024}}

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Category:1924 births

Category:2024 deaths

Category:20th-century Austrian actresses

Category:Austrian film actresses

Category:Austrian stage actresses

Category:Actresses from Vienna

Category:Austrian emigrants to Czechoslovakia

Category:Czech emigrants to Austria