| Lidia Wysocka | |
|---|---|
Lidia Wysocka in Złota Maska, 1939 |
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| Born | June 24, 1916 Rogaczew |
| Died | January 2, 2006 (aged 89) Warsaw, Poland |
| Occupation | actress, singer, voice actor, director |
| Spouse | Zbigniew Sawan (1943–1984) |
Lidia Wysocka (June 24, 1916 – January 2, 2006) was a Polish stage, film and voice actress, singer, cabaret performer and creative director, theatre director and costume designer, editorialist.[1]
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In 1934 she replaced Madeleine Carroll's voice (playing the leading role of Martha Cnockhaert) in British thriller film I Was a Spy (1933),[2] the first movie dubbed in Poland (Siostra Marta jest szpiegiem).
The production of her 9th movie, Szczęście przychodzi kiedy chce (directed by Mieczysław Krawicz) was cancelled by the outbreak of World War II[3].
She was to star in another movie, Jacek Bławut's Lili (production title), telling the story of veteran actors, but it was still in pre-production phase at the time of her death; it was finally completed as Jeszcze nie wieczór as late as in 2008.[4]
(daily dates for premiere performances only)
One of the top finalists of the beauty contest organized by the Kino magazine in 1933.[2] After recording a dubbing, she debuted on film in 1935 while she was still studying acting under Aleksander Zelwerowicz (who was very reluctant to allow his students to start their acting career before they finish school). Graduated Państwowy Instytut Sztuki Teatralnej (State Institute of Theatrical Arts, Warsaw) in 1936.
Debuted on stage in Polish Theatre in Warsaw in 1936 (with Dickens' The Pickwick Papers as Mary, starting a three-year contract), where she performed until the war. During her stage career the roles she played were a proof of her versatility, as she would find herself both in drama and comedy.
Her movie roles included singing parts; the songs she performed were available on gramophone record released by Syrena Record as early as in 1936.[5][6]
Her admirers could hear her not only on Polskie Radio (e.g.: from November 1936 she was reading the first serialized novel written for Polish radio, Dni powszednie państwa Kowalskich (The Daily Life of the Kowalskis, released in print in 1938) by Maria Kuncewiczowa), but also by dialing... the speaking clock number[7] (she was the voice of the improved telephone device launched in Poland, in 1936[8]).
As most of the actors who boycotted German-controlled theatres during the war, she had to find another way to make a living: she worked as waitress in "Na Antresoli" café. She rejected offers to start working for German UFA,[9] at that time dealing mostly with pro-Nazi propaganda movies. Blacklisted, she was taken hostage (along with other Polish artists) by Gestapo in 1941 and held in the Pawiak prison[10] (her husband Zbigniew Sawan ended up in Auschwitz concentration camp) as a result of German retaliatory action for the Polish resistance assassination of the Nazi spy Igo Sym, her co-star from Złota Maska.
After the war she started performing in Teatr Mały in Warsaw alongside her husband, later also in Teatr Miniatura in Warsaw and Teatr Nowy. They moved next (1947–1949) to Polish Theatre in Szczecin, where Sawan would take the manager seat. The couple returned to Warsaw in 1949 and started working in Teatr Ludowy: Sawan again as the manager, while she started directing plays. She had spent the years 1951-1953 in Buffo revue theatre, what launched her career as cabaret star.
In 1956 she created the Wagabunda cabaret (in Poland meaning: a mixture of stand up comedy, theatre and music, with a prominent addition of political satire), which gathered such actors and satirists as Edward Dziewoński, Wiesław Michnikowski, Kazimierz Rudzki, Jacek Fedorowicz, Bogumił Kobiela, singer Maria Koterbska, Jeremi Przybora, Mieczysław Wojnicki, Marian Załucki, Mieczysław Czechowicz, Zbigniew Cybulski, etc.; texts for songs, monologues and sketches supplied by Stefania Grodzieńska or poets Julian Tuwim and Jan Brzechwa. Popular in Poland for over a decade, it also toured USA and Canada (1957, 1962, 1964), United Kingdom (1965, 1966), Israel (1963), USSR (1968) and Czechoslovakia (1956)[11] (in total over 2 million tickets sold, according to its manager, W.Furman)[12]. She was its art director and a leading star, often performing sung poetry or versions of popular songs (particularly French ones[13]) with Polish lyrics.
After Wagabunda dissolved in 1968 she had problem finding work in Warsaw's theatres despite her experience and fame. Finally she found her way to the stage of Teatr Syrena in Warsaw, where she played in revues in 1974 through 1981. She also toured USA with it.
Apart from TV broadcasts of her recitals (as early as in 1956, while Telewizja Polska was still in the test stage of its second - post war - launch) and interviews, she appeared on satirical TV shows such as Teatr Rozrywki.
Her last TV interview was released by Kino Polska channel in 2011.
During her career she also worked with Polish public broadcaster Polskie Radio, taking part in concerts and other broadcasts. She appeared in radio dramas as early as in late 1930s; listeners of Program 1 station could still catch her in 1980s/1990s reading her own editorials on cultural news, displaying literary and satirical talent.
Teacher of Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Teatralna (State Academy of Drama, today: Aleksander Zelwerowicz Theatre Academy), Warsaw (teaching song at Show Business Department)[14].
Awarded with Order of Polonia Restituta, Officer's Cross, for outstanding achievement in artistic work (1999), Gold Cross of Merit (1978) and other honors.