Helena Vondrackova was born in Prague. She spent her childhood and youth in Slatinany near Chrudim. From childhood she played the piano and sang. In 1964 she won a singing competition “We are Looking for New Talents” and that was the turning point in her career. She immediately became popular with the song Red River / Cervena Reka, and in 1965 placed first in a music poll Zlaty Slavik. After graduation, she joined the Rococo Theater (1965-1968), followed by other successful hits taken from foreign productions (Pata, Chytila jsem na pasece motylka, Ruze kvetou dal) and from domestic production (Mam rada cestu lesni). Duets with theater colleague Marta Kubisova were especially popular. Together with Marta Kubisova and Vaclav Neckar she founded the Golden Kids group. In the 1980s, she focused on working in television and formed a popular couple with Jiri Korn at the time, with whom she sang several popular duets.
As a famous Czechoslovakian singer, Helena Vondrackova naturally also appeared in films. The most successful was her first role as Princess Helena in the fairy-tale musical The Incredibly Sad Princess / Silene smutna princezna (1968), where she played alongside singer Vaclav Neckar. From the beginning, the roles of prince and princess were conceived for young singers Vaclav Neckar and Helena Vondrackova, both at the beginning of their career.
Her next appearance in films was no longer so successful (Romance for a Crown / Romance za korunu (1975); Let Him Face the Music! / Jen ho nechte, at se boji! (1978)).
Thanks to the films, she also came to two key hits of her singing career. In 1974 she sang for an actress Jana Brejchova in the musical A Night at Karlstein / Noc na Karlstejne (1974; the song Lasko ma, ja stunu). Another hit was Sladke Mameni from the film I Enjoy the World with You / S tebou me bavi svet (1983). The accompanying song Znala Panna Pana from the film How to Drown Dr. Mracek / Jak utopit dr. Mracka (1975), which she recorded together with Vaclav Neckar, was also a success.
It is interesting that Helena Vondrackova auditioned for the role of Zdenka in the film Closely Watched Trains / Ostre sledovane vlaky. Few people know that she also successfully passed the screen tests for the role of Zdenka. However, she lost her role when director Jiri Menzel cast Vaclav Neckar in the film. Unfortunately, Helena is taller than Vaclav, which was said to be the main reason why she was not cast in the film in the end.
