Profile Text
Birth Name: Jan Ladislav Rubeš
Date of Birth: 6 June, 1920
Place of Birth: Volyně, Czechoslovakia
Date of Death: June 29, 2009
Place of Death: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Ethnicity: Czech
Jan Rubeš was a Czech-Canadian bass opera singer and actor, of stage and screen. He was mostly known for his 1980s/1990s performances. His roles included the films Forbidden Journey , Lions for Breakfast , Mr. Patman , The Amateur (1981), Witness (1985), One Magic Christmas , Dead of Winter (1987), The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick , Blood Relations , Something About Love , The Experts (1989), Courage Mountain , The Amityville Curse (1990), Class Action , Deceived (1991), D2: The Mighty Ducks , Roommates (1995), Never Too Late (1996), Snow Falling on Cedars , and The Burial Society ; the made-for-tv movies Catsplay (1978), Charlie Grant’s War , The Marriage Bed , Two Men (1988), Coming of Age (1993), The Birds II: Land’s End , Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story , The Christmas Secret , and Our Fathers ; and the series Kay O’Brien , Max Glick , and Due South .
He was the son of Ružena (Kellner/Kellnerová) and Jan Rubeš. After WWII, he graduated from the Prague Conservatoire, and was a bass singer at the Prague Opera House. He moved to Canada c. 1948.
Jan was married to Austrian-Canadian actress and producer Susan Douglas Rubeš (born Zuzka Zenta Bursteinová), until his death, with whom he had three children, including actor Anthony Dean Rubeš. Susan was born in Vienna, to a Jewish family, and moved to New York City, New York c. 1940, and then Toronto.
He is said to have been the great-uncle of Czech reporter, documentarist, vlogger, tour guide, and director Janek Rubeš.
Source: Genealogy of Jan Rubeš – https://www.geni.com