Ota Jirák at the wheel of a vintage car on stage, with Matouš Ruml, in Dědeček automobil at the Municipal Theatre in Mladá Boleslav. Photo: Michal Škvor, Městské divadlo Mladá Boleslav, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Otakar Jirák, the Czech Voice of Alf, Manny and Obelix, Dies at 77. His Screen Daughter Asks That He Be Remembered as More Than a Voice

Marcus Delgado · October 19, 2026 · 5 min read

Otakar Jirák, the Czech voice of Alf, of Manny the mammoth in Ice Age and of Obelix in Asterix and the Vikings, has died at 77. To Czech children he was also Hele, the orange half of a puppet double act on Czech Television. A screen daughter who said goodbye on Sunday asked people to remember that he was more than a voice.

Jirák died on Saturday, October 17, after a long illness. His wife, Drahomíra, told the Czech News Agency on Sunday. The family has asked for a private farewell.

Ota Jirák, as almost everyone called him, had stepped back from public life in recent years because of his health. His death comes a week after Czech dubbing lost another of its best known voices, Jiří Štěpnička, who spoke for Harrison Ford.

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