Tomasz Beksiński

Tomasz Beksiński (26 November 1958 – 24 December 1999) was a popular Polish radio presenter, music journalist and movie translator. He was the son of painter Zdzisław Beksiński. On 24 December 1999 he committed suicide.

Biography

He was born in Sanok, Poland. Since he was 12 he was interested in music, especially rock music (progressive rock, gothic rock) and horror films. In one of his essays he wrote about how scared he was while watching his first horror movie (The Reptile) in 1970. He admitted it was the first and the last time he felt that way watching a horror film.

He studied English philology in Katowice.

Career

Music journalist

In the late '70s he became a music journalist and was one of the most charismatic Polish radio presenters. It was not a coincidence he chose such a career; he was known to be a music lover, who had an impressive collection of LP-records.
He debuted on air in Marek Niedźwiecki's programme in 1982. At the beginning he worked together with Polskie Radio and presented programmes Romantycy muzyki rockowej, and Wieczór płytowy.

He also wrote feature articles and reviews for Tylko Rock and Magazyn muzyczny magazines. From 1998 he wrote a column Opowieści z Krypty in Tylko Rock magazine, where his features were published. He also wrote for Machina magazine.

Translations

Tomasz Beksiński was also an English-Polish translator. He translated most of the James Bond and Harry Callahan films and Monty Python's Flying Circus comedy sketches and many other films e.g. Wild at Heart, Silence of the Lambs, Apocalypse Now, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Birdy, Die Hard, Don't Look Now, Frankenstein, Beyond the Poseidon Adventure, The Swarm, Someone's watching me!, Lethal Weapon, 1941, Pet Semetary, Reservoir dogs.
He also translated some lyrics of Marillion, Iron Maiden, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, The Doors, Joy Division and The Sisters of Mercy.

Suicide

On 24 December 1999 Tomasz Beksiński committed suicide. Shortly before his death he wrote a feature about modern culture, in which he unambiguously forewarned about his intention. He had showed some inclinations towards suicide much earlier; at the age of 16 he tried to poison himself with sleeping pills.

Trivia

On 2 November 1988 he survived a plane accident in Rzeszów, in which one person was killed and several others severely injured. He never travelled by plane again.