Naďa Urbánková

Naďa Urbánková (born Naděžda Balabánová; 30 June 1939 – 3 February 2023) was a Czech singer and actress.

Naďa Urbánková
Urbánková in 2008
Born	Naděžda Balabánová (1939-06-30)30 June 1939 Nová Paka, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
Died	3 February 2023(2023-02-03) (aged 83) Prague, Czech Republic
Nationality	Czech

Life and career

Born in Nová Paka, Urbánková grew up in Borovnička and graduated as a nurse at the Higher Medical School in Trutnov.^[1] After some experience in amateur dramatics, she made her professional stage debut in 1959 in the Pardubice Theatre.^[1] After marrying the actor Karel Urbánek [cs] she moved to Prague, where she worked at Magician's Lantern and was part of the CSSPT (the Czechoslovak State Ensemble of Songs and Dances [cs]).

Urbánková had her breakout in 1964, when she started a ten-years-run in the stage company of the Semafor theatre, and made her film debut in the successful musical If a Thousand Clarinets.^[1] In the 1960s and 1970s, she appeared in Closely Watched Trains, Larks on a String and Seclusion Near a Forest. As a singer, her major hits were "Závidím" (Czech cover of "Il ragazzo della via Gluck") and "Drahý můj" (Czech cover of "A Dear John Letter"), in duet with Jiří Grossmann.^[1] She was later part of the Jiří Brabec [cs]'s Country Beat band.^[1][2] Starting from 1972, she won five Golden Nightingales in a row.^[2][3]

Urbánková died on 3 February 2023, from complications from cancer and COVID-19, at the age of 83.^[1]