Alina Janowska (16 April 1923 – 13 November 2017) was a Polish actress. She appeared in more than 35 films and television shows between 1946 and 2017.

Biography

Janowska was born in 1923 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

into a wealthy family. She was arrested on the night of 23 April 1942, accused of collaborating with the underground and helping a Jewish family. She was imprisoned for 7 months in

Pawiak Pawiak () was a prison built in 1835 in Warsaw, Congress Poland. During the January 1863 Uprising, it served as a transfer camp for Poles sentenced by Imperial Russia to deportation to Siberia. During the World War II German occupation ...

in Warsaw. She took part in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

, acting as a liaison officer for the Battalion "Kiliński". In 1963 she married Polish architect and fencer Wojciech Zabłocki. The couple had two children. She has had a daughter from her first marriage.

Career

She debuted in theatre in 1943. From 1945 to 1965 she was employed in the Warsaw theater Teatr Syrena. Later she played in ''

Zakazane piosenki Zakazane piosenki (, ''Forbidden Songs'') is a 1946 Polish musical film directed by Leonard Buczkowski. It was the first feature film to be created in Poland following the six years of World War II. The film, set during the German occupation o ...

'' (1946), the first Polish film after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In the 1940s she acted in movies, such as ''

Treasure Treasure (from la, thesaurus from Greek language ''thēsauros'', "treasure store") is a concentration of wealth — often originating from ancient history — that is considered lost and/or forgotten until rediscovered. Some jurisdictions leg ...

'' (dir. by

Leonard Buczkowski Leonard Buczkowski (5 August 1900 – 19 February 1967) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. He directed 23 films between 1928 and 1966. His 1959 film ''The Eagle'' was entered into the 1st Moscow International Film Festival. Selec ...

). Her most important role from this period was the Yugoslav Dessa in ''

The Last Stage ''The Last Stage'' (Polish: ''Ostatni etap'') is a 1948 Polish feature film directed and co-written by Wanda Jakubowska, depicting her experiences in the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. The film was one of the early cinematic e ...

'' (1947) directed by

Wanda Jakubowska Wanda Jakubowska (10 November 1907 – 25 February 1998) was a Polish film director. Although she directed as many as 15 films over 50 years, Jakubowska is best known for her work on the Holocaust. Her 1948 film ''The Last Stage'' was an early an ...

. The film was nominated for the Grand International Award at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...

in 1948, and for a

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

for Best Film from any Source in 1950. In the early 1950s she disappeared from the screens and stages to take care of her family. She only dubbed in a few Polish-language version Soviet films. After eleven years, she returned to the cinema. She played the main character Lucyna in ''

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

'' (1961) directed by

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the ...

. The film was nominated for a

Golden Lion The Golden Lion ( it, Leone d'oro) is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguishe ...

in 1961 at the Venice Film Festival. In the same year she dubbed Drizella in a Polish-language version of ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

''. In the years 1965-1966 she appeared in the popular TV series '' Wojna domowa''. From 1966 to 1981 she was employed in the Polish Teatr Komedia w Warszawie. From 1997 to 2010 she played in soap opera '' Złotopolscy'' as Eleonora Gabriel. From 2010 to 2011 she played in ''

Plebania Plebania () is a Polish soap opera broadcast from October 5, 2000 to January 27, 2012 on TVP1 TVP1 (TVP Jeden, ''Program I Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Jedynka"'') is the main public television channel of TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.), Poland's ...

''. Alina Janowska died on 13 November 2017, aged 94, from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Janowska, Alina 1923 births 2017 deaths Polish film actresses Actresses from Warsaw Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in Poland