Emil Havlík graduated from the Smíchov Grammar School in 1946 and went on to study at Charles University – initially Russian and Serbo-Croatian studies at the Faculty of Art, later transferring to the Faculty of Education and majoring in Czech. Emil’s relationship with the theatre started to develop during his childhood when his father was involved in establishing the Puppet Theatre of the Smíchov I Sokol Unit’s Puppetry Section, whose activities Emil revived in 1993. Havlík’s main engagement during his professional career was with the Central Puppet Theatre, which Jan Malík founded in Prague in 1949. Here Emil remained active from the theatre’s earliest days in 1949 until his official retirement in 1987, although he continued collaborate with the theatre even after that. Emil was also involved in educational activities at the Academy of Performing Arts. He performed in more than fifty productions and also translated a number of plays and professional texts.

Emil’s brother, Václav (1921-1996), was a puppet designer.