Juraj Kukura was born on 15 March 1947 in Prešov. After graduating from the construction industry school in Bratislava, he studied acting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava. He started out in the Korze Theatre, later in the New Stage, and from 1976 to 1984 he worked in the Drama Theatre of the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava until he left for Germany. At the beginning he performed at the Kammerspiele in Munich, later in Basel, Bonn and since 1985 at the Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, where he still lives today. 

In 2002 he became the director of the Bratislava Aréna Theatre. He is married and has one son. He is one of the most popular theatre and television actors in Germany. He has starred in several episodes of the series Crime Scene, in the series Via Mala, Hotel Raj Helicops, Kobra 11. 

Awards:

- For his performance as Martin in The Goat or Who is Sylvia, he was awarded the 2004 Slabs Award for Best Actor in a Play. 

- For his leading role in the Prague Drama Club's production of The Brothers Karamazov, he won the prestigious Divadelních noviny award for the best acting performance of the 2014/2015 season, which is awarded regardless of genre. 

- For his performance as Fyodor Karamazov he was nominated for the annual Thalia Award of the Czech Actors' Association and for the Theatre Critics' Award 2015, awarded by the renowned Czech magazine Svět a divadlo (World and Theatre). 

- In 2017, he received the Medal of Merit from Czech President Miloš Zeman. 

- In 2025, President Peter Pellegrini awarded him the Pribina Cross of the First Class - for exceptional merits for the cultural development of the Slovak Republic.

Source: https://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juraj_Kukura
Photo source: Author: Pavol Frešo - flickr.com, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40943290