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Jan Ladislav Rubeš CM (6 June 1920 – 29 June 2009) was a Czech-Canadian bass opera singer and actor. Rubeš was born in Volyně, Czechoslovakia, the son of Ružena (née Kellnerová) and Jan Rubeš. Not too long after World War II, he graduated from the Prague Conservatoire and joined the Prague Opera House as a bass singer. In 1948, he won first prize at the Geneva International Music Festival, and emigrated to Canada at the end of the year to pursue a career in a wider sphere. Beginning as a singer with the Canadian Opera Company, he subsequently directed and became director of... MORE

Jan Ladislav Rubeš CM (6 June 1920 – 29 June 2009) was a Czech-Canadian bass opera singer and actor. Rubeš was born in Volyně, Czechoslovakia, the son of Ružena (née Kellnerová) and Jan Rubeš. Not too long after World War II, he graduated from the Prague Conservatoire and joined the Prague Opera House as a bass singer. In 1948, he won first prize at the Geneva International Music Festival, and emigrated to Canada at the end of the year to pursue a career in a wider sphere. Beginning as a singer with the Canadian Opera Company, he subsequently directed and became director of touring, before switching to radio and television, where he became known as an actor and presenter well known in Canada. He is noted for his portrayal of an Amish patriarch in Peter Weir's major-market film Witness. On 22 September 1950, Rubeš was married to Susan Douglas Rubeš, by whom he has three sons, Dr. Christopher Jan Rubeš (M.D.; deceased, 1996), Jonathan Mark Rubeš, and Anthony Dean Rubeš. His nephew Jan Rubeš was worked in Czech Television programs and stayed in the foreign film market. He is also an actor. On 29 June 2009, Rubeš died after a stroke in Toronto General Hospital. LESS