Forman is almost certainly the most famous director to come from the Czech Republic.
Forman came to the US in 1967 and thus was outside of Czechoslovakia during the 1968 Russian invasion. He became one of the most celebrated directors in Hollywood with films including: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Amadeus (1984), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) and Man on the Moon (1999).
Next: Fireman's Ball
Forman's parents, Rudolf Forman and Anna Svabova, were Protestant resisters to the Nazis, and both died in the concentration camps. Forman was brought up by his uncles and friends of his parents. He later discovered that his biological father was probably the architect Otto Kohn (making him half-brother of the Princeton mathematician Joseph Kohn).
After the war, Forman attended a prestigious school where be became a friend of Vaclav Havel (later president of the republic).
From there, he moved to FAMU. Between 1963 and 1967, Forman directed three very well received films: Black Peter (1963), Loves of a Blonde (1965) and Firemen's Ball (1967). All three are comedic but all provide increasing criticism of the communist regime.