Jack Recknitz (born Hans-Joachim Recknitz; 1931-2013) was a German and Polish actor. Born 25 May 1931 in

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

to a family of actors: Hans-Joachim Zinke senior and Katharina Recknitz. Early in his youth he started working for the Leipzig Radio as a speaker and news anchor, as well as appearing in various theatres in the

German Democratic Republic East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. In 1953 he graduated from Schauspielschule in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

and passed his actors' exams as an extramural student. He appeared on stage in Annaberg, Parchim, Bautzen and Karl-Marx-Stadt (modern Chemnitz). In 1965 he moved to Poland, where he appeared in over 80 feature films, mostly in the roles of foreigners: Germans, Britons or Americans. While in Poland he was sometimes credited as Jacek Recknitz. Between 1966 and 1968 he also worked at the

Polish Radio The Polish Radio (PR; Polish: ''Polskie Radio'', PR) is a national public-service radio broadcasting organization of Poland, founded in 1925. It is owned by the State Treasury of Poland. On 27 December 2023, the Minister of Culture and Nationa ...

. In addition to his film work, in 1967 he became a permanent member of the

Jewish Theatre Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not simply a faith-based religion, but an orthopraxy and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identi ...

in Warsaw, where he remained until 1980. Perhaps his greatest acting success was the role of unnamed "foreign journalist", based on the real-life experiences of

Julien Bryan Julien Hequembourg Bryan (23 May 1899 in Titusville, Pennsylvania – 20 October 1974) was an American photographer, filmmaker, and documentarian who documented the daily life in Poland, Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany between 1935 and 1939, in t ...

, in the 1978 film ''...Gdziekolwiek jesteś Panie Prezydencie'' (Wherever you may be, Mr. President) by Andrzej Trzos-Rastawiecki. For this role he received the Special Prize at the

Polish Film Festival The Gdynia Film Festival aka FPFF (until 2011: Polish Film Festival, Polish: ''Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych w Gdyni'') is an annual film festival first held in Gdańsk (1974–1986), now held in Gdynia, Poland. It has taken place every ...

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

. Late in his life he moved back to his native Baden-Baden in Germany, where he died on 13 January 2013.

References

External links

Stills from films featuring Jack Recknitz
{{DEFAULTSORT:Recknitz, Jack 1931 births 2013 deaths German male stage actors Polish male film actors German radio presenters Polish radio presenters Polish male stage actors