US-based actor Jan Triska dies after fall from Prague bridge

By Associated Press

Sep 25, 2017 4:34 AM CDT

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FILE - In this March 24, 2017, file photo, Czech actor Jan Triska attends a press conference during Febio film festival in Prague, Czech Republic. Jan Triska, a Czech born actor who moved to the United States after banning by the Czechoslovak Communist regime has died at age 80. Prague theater director... (Associated Press)

PRAGUE (AP) — Jan Triska, an actor who moved to the U.S. after being banned by the Czechoslovak Communist regime, has died, more than a day after he fell from Prague's iconic Charles Bridge. He was 80.

Prague theater director Jan Hrusinsky confirmed the death Monday. Triska died in Prague's military hospital overnight due to injuries from Saturday's fall, the circumstances of which are unclear.

Triska emigrated in 1977 after signing a human rights manifesto inspired by his close friend, dissident playwright Vaclav Havel.

He settled in Los Angeles and appeared in dozens of movies, including "Ragtime" and "The People vs. Larry Flynt" by his fellow Czech Milos Forman.

After the anti-Communist 1989 Velvet Revolution led by Havel, Triska regularly returned home to play in movies and theaters, including a leading role in "The Elementary School," nominated for an Academy Award.