He graduated from DAMU, after which he played for three seasons at the Vinohrady Theatre (then the Czechoslovak Army Theatre). He then anchored at the Drama Club until 1992, where his performances won him critical acclaim. He briefly performed at the National Theatre, but left the theatre permanently in August 1994.
He became popular with the public mainly thanks to his appearances in film and television. His first major film role was given to him in 1962 by director Brynych in the film Transport from Paradise (1962). This was followed by the roles of the expectant father in The Scream (1963) and the writer Hašek, whom he played in The Great Journey (1963). In the film Man Against Destruction (1989) he played the main role of the writer Karel Čapek. From 1990 to 1995 he performed in accompanying programmes at exhibitions (Herbert Masaryk, T. G. Masaryk - Man and Art) organised by the Masaryk Democratic Movement.
In 2006 he was nominated for the Czech Lion in the category of supporting actor.
After an eight-year relationship with Nadia Urbánková, he was married to actress Libuša Šafránková from 1976 (until her death in June 2021). They have a son Josef (* 1977), who has 4 children - two sons with his first wife Denisa Grimmová, a director, sons Josef (* 2006) and Antonín (* 2009) and a daughter Laura and a son Benjamin with his second wife Ludmila.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Josef Abrhám, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Hotel Manager Brandejs
Pepik
Rudi Lorenz
Capt. Havránek (segment "Kapsář")
Jakub Jan Ryba
Peter
Václav David
Profesor Žalud
král Dobromil
Jaroslav Hašek
Pacovský (voice)
Borek
Kája Micka (voice)
Parrot Trader
Saint Joseph
inspicient
Ptáček
Faust
pyrotechnik Jaroslav Ticháček
Narrator in Radio (voice)
Prince Alexej
José
král lesního palouku
Robert
Knotek
Dirigent
Eisenstein
Učitel Janda
Josef Hrabě
Danda Jr.
Prokop
(segment "Chlebové střevíčky")
Slávek
Eddie
Zdeněk (voice)
Icharev
Priest (voice)
Vitalij (voice)
MUDr. Vojtěch Albert
Král Ferdinand
Friend of Kafka
Honza (voice)
Bernard Mulligan alias Bertík
Evzen
Čaroděj Kruciatus
Mára (voice)
Engineer
Karel (voice)
Martin Hardy
Vaněk
D.E. Huppert
Leutnant Seuter
JUDr. Smutný, prokurátor
hrabě Schönstein
Narrator (voice) / Ivan Dmitrič Gromov (voice)
Count Boleslaw Barański
Brandejs
Kamil
Marek
divadelní vědec
Evuen Benes
Dalibor Vrána
Jakub Silberstein
Aksál
Doctor
Tomáš Růžička, přítel Evy
Commentary (voice)
Kruml
Jaroslav Hilbert
Petr
MUDr Rendl
Falsacappa
Tomáš Krchňák
Narrator (voice)
Fotios
Court Physician
Vilém Rieger
Macheath
Narrator (voice)
Poručík Rudi Macháček
soused Lupínek
Václav Novotný
witness Jirka Ruml
král
Father
Šipučin
Narrator (voice)
Milan
Karel Čapek
Capitano
Jack Worthing
otec Kašík
Jingle
Steve Carella
král Filip I.
Himself
Himself