In 1971 Polívka graduated at the Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in the play Podivné odpoledne dr. Zvonka Burkeho (Strange Afternoon of Dr. Zvonek Burke) by Ladislav Smoček. In 1969 he co-founded Divadlo Husa na provázku (Goose on a String Theatre) and became one of its leading personalities. In 1993 he founded his own theater, Divadlo Bolka Polívky (Bolek Polívka Theatre) in Brno. He is one of the most important exponents of Czech mime and frequently appears with foreign theatre ensembles.
Polívka's work as writer, director and mime performer is inspired by clowning, Commedia dell'arte, and early comedy films, but he occasionally introduces voice and words into his performances, which thus cross traditional theatrical boundaries into a form of "total acting". His unique theatrical style has been widely acclaimed in the Czech Republic and beyond.
He first appeared in films in the 1960s and has worked with the Czech director Vladimír Sís. Since the 1980s he has regularly worked with Věra Chytilová, who often casts him in the lead roles of her "moralistic comedies".
In 1997 he was awarded the Czech Lion, and voted Best Actor at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, for his performance as the priest Holý in Zapomenuté světlo. Polívka received his second Czech Lion for his role in the 2000 film Musíme si pomáhat by Jan Hřebejk. The film was also was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Bolek Polívka presents his own television shows - Manéž Bolka Polívky (Bolek Polívka's Arena) and Bolkoviny, both shown on Czech Television. He often organizes public events and entertainments at his farm in Olšany near Brno.
He has been married twice and has three children, one of whom, Anna Polívková is an actress. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.