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.
as Václav Novotný(6 eps)
as Svatý Josef
as Čaroděj Kruciatus
as José
as Václav David(1 ep)
as Fotios(4 eps)
as Kruml(2 eps)
as Vilém Rieger
as Narrator (voice)(13 eps)
as Frederik
as Král Ferdinand
as král Dobromil
as Josef Hrabě(17 eps)
as Hotel Manager Brandejs
as Evžen Beneš
as král Filip I.
as kníže Karel
as soused Lupínek
as král lesního palouku
as král
as Jakub Silberstein
as Father
as Brandejs
as Edgar
as Faust
as Dirigent
as Evzen
as Jakub Jan Ryba
as Prokop
as Doctor
as Friend of Kafka
as Macheath
as Court Physician
as Narrator (voice) (uncredited) / Ivan Dmitrič Gromov (voice) (uncredited)
as Aksál
as Prince Alexej
as Karel Čapek
as Vaněk
as Robert
as MUDr. Vojtěch Albert(4 eps)
as Milan
as Leutnant Seuter(4 eps)
as Baron(4 eps)
as Jingle
as Himself(1 ep)
as Himself
as Šipučin
as sierżant Zajiček
as Lt. Lukás (voice)(9 eps)
as JUDr. Smutný, prokurátor
as Falsacappa
as Profesor Žalud
as otec Kašík
as Tomáš Krchňák
as Martin Hardy(6 eps)
as Narrator in Radio (voice)
as Kamil(3 eps)
as divadelní vědec
as Icharev
as Jaroslav Hilbert
as Eisenstein
as Capitano
as Steve Carella
as pyrotechnik Jaroslav Ticháček
as Narrator (voice)
as Dalibor Vrána
as Narrator (voice)(13 eps)
as Danda Jr.(8 eps)
as Tomáš Růžička, přítel Evy
as Count Boleslaw Barański
as Knotek
as Jack Worthing
as Petr
as Učitel Janda
as MUDr Rendl
as Engineer
as Rudi Lorenz(1 ep)
as Capt. Havránek (segment "Kapsář")
as Commentary (voice)
as Pacovský (voice)
as Marek
as Eddie
as Poručík Rudi Macháček
as Peter
as Parrot Trader
as inspicient
as (segment "Chlebové střevíčky")
as Vitalij (voice)
as Bernard Mulligan alias Bertík
as D.E. Huppert
as Karel (voice)
as Ptáček
as Zdeněk (voice)
as Priest (voice)
as Honza (voice)
as Borek
as Mára (voice)
as Slávek
as Kája Micka (voice)
as Jaroslav Hašek
as Pepik
as witness Jirka Ruml