Saskia Burešová Celebrates 80th Birthday and Reflects on Television Career

Sunday mornings on ČT1 would feel incomplete without the familiar, honeyed voice of Saskia Burešová guiding viewers through the historical anniversaries of the week on her long-running program Kalendárium. Reaching her 80th birthday, the celebrated broadcaster looks back on a life spent largely in front of the camera, maintaining a professional standard rooted in meticulous speech preparation and a signature personal style that has refused to age.

From Theater Aspirations to Television Announcements

Burešová originally trained at DAMU with ambitions of pursuing a career in acting. Her entry into television came entirely by chance after a casting call for a television adaptation of Babička caught the attention of producers in the military broadcasting unit who needed a fresh face for the program Poštovní schránka. She won that live broadcast audition in 1967 alongside co-host Eduard Hrubeš, establishing a popular pairing for viewers. Rodačka ze slovenského města Tornaľa is connected with Czechoslovak and later Czech television for nearly half a century.

Before settling into her role as a television announcer, Burešová worked widely across the entertainment sector. She hosted major cultural events, including the Karlovy Vary film festival, Zlatý slavík, and Děčínská kotva, and joined Vladimír Dvořák in the entertainment department to co-host the popular program Televarieté between 1971 and 1975. In the 1990s, she also hosted programs such as Vstupte, prosím and Neznámé osudy známých.

Her film and television credits include roles in Velká filmová loupež (1986), the television adaptation of the play Poslední (1991), 3 plus 1 s Miroslavem Donutilem (2009), Vyprávěj (2012), Vyšehrad Fylm (2022), and Vyšehrad Dvje (2025). Little known is the fact that she was also one of the first Czechoslovak models, working on a project while still in high school organized by television director Milan Tomsa, who needed clever young girls.

Milestones in Czech Broadcasting History

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, announcing required a perfect memory and a perfectly clean delivery. A major career milestone arrived at the turn of 1992 and 1993, when Burešová was chosen to announce the creation of the independent Czech Republic during a live New Year broadcast. She continued as a television announcer until leaving the position in 2000 following the introduction of a new weekly shift system that was incompatible with her other professional activities.

Over her career, she earned widespread recognition, winning the TýTý audience popularity poll five times in the Hlasatel / hlasatelka dne category. Her enduring presence on Sunday mornings continued through Kalendárium, a historical weekly program she has presented since 1993. Her husband was Petr Obdržálek (1941–2025), who was the mastermind and director of the Kalendárium program, and who operated as a producer of Tvůrčí skupiny č. 20 (Obdržálek–Hlava) in the 1990s.

Fashion Identity and Timeless Style

Beyond her broadcast work, Burešová built a distinct public profile as a style icon, maintaining an elegant wardrobe of classic suits, sheath dresses, elegant blouses, and well-tailored trouser suits that never succumbed to short-lived trends. She never experimented with her hairstyle or hair color, remaining faithful to them. Most frequently she reaches for single-color models or subtle patterns, and while she does not avoid black or dark blue, she is often seen in emerald green, royal blue, raspberry, deep pink, and red. Her look is accented by striking jewelry, silk scarves, and dark, often angular oversized glasses with fine metal frames and brown tinting—a shape she has remained loyal to since she first entered television, with next year marking an incredible 60 years.

Reflecting on her milestone birthday in an interview, she stated: „Užívám si ho krásně, ale říkám si, že tohle výročí je vlastně tryzna. Není to nic veselého. Vůbec si nechci připustit, že by mi mohlo být tolik let. Nikdy jsem si nedokázala představit, že se toho vůbec dožiju – se svým stylem života… Když se ráno probudím, řeknu si: Fajn, dobrý, hlavně že mi to ještě myslí, to jsem ráda. A hned nato mě napadne – to přece není možné, že je mi tolik! Tělíčko trochu chátrá, to je normální, to k tomu patří. Ale mysl funguje. A to klepu na dřevo, ať to nezakřiknu.

Discussing her secret to youth, she added: „Samozřejmě jsou to geny! Ale hlavně je důležité uzavřít smlouvu se svým vnitřním já, protože to vám poradí nejvíc. Musíte si věřit a musíte být povznesený nad různé maličkosti. Neutápět se v blbostech, řeknu to takhle přímo.“ She also recalled her family background, noting that her father was a translator who knew eight world languages and held state exams in all of them, a linguistic skill she unfortunately did not inherit aside from pronunciation, though her family was very cohesive.”

In response to her ongoing public reception, she shared: „Popularity si velmi vážím. Nesetkala jsem se nikdy s negativními reakcemi nebo averzí. Lidé mi píší, že za Kalendárium děkují, že je obohacuje a oceňují, že takový pořad na obrazovce existuje.