Guido Lorraine (2 September 1912 – 31 December 2009) was a Polish-born actor, musician and singer, known primarily for his roles in war films. He was also sometimes known by the stage name Guy Borucki. Lorraine appeared in twenty-eight films during his career, as well as many theatre productions. Lorraine was born Gwidon Alfred Gottlieb in present-day

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

in 1912. He studied at the School of Foreign Trade in

Lwów Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

(Lviv), where he sang in restaurants to earn money. He learned to play the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a ree ...

and piano as a child. Lorraine founded a military theatre group during

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He is credited as the first singer to perform the song, "Red Poppy Flowers of Monte Cassino", in public. He adopted the pseudonym Guy Borucki after World War II and moved to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. He appeared on BBC radio, television and film. His film credits during the era included '' Hotel Sahara'' in 1951, 1955's ''

The Colditz Story ''The Colditz Story'' is a 1955 British prisoner of war film starring John Mills and Eric Portman and directed by Guy Hamilton. It is based on the 1952 memoir written by Pat Reid, a British army officer who was imprisoned in Oflag IV-C, Coldit ...

'' and ''

Blue Murder at St Trinian's ''Blue Murder at St Trinian's'' is a 1957 British comedy film, directed by Frank Launder, co-written by Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and starring Terry-Thomas, George Cole, Joyce Grenfell, Lionel Jeffries and Richard Wattis; the film also i ...

'' in 1957. He also starred in a number of musical comedies and other British productions during the 1950s. He arrived in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

in 1959 with the performance of a musical operetta ''

Grab Me a Gondola ''Grab Me a Gondola'' is a musical with book by Julian More, music by James Gilbert, and lyrics by James Gilbert and Julian More. The original production moved from the Theatre Royal, Windsor, where it opened on 30 October 1956, to the Lyric Ham ...

'' in which he had the main role, and made his home in Melbourne to pursue his acting career. Much of his career centred on entertainment for the Polish community living in Australia, including a series of theatre performances,

revues A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own durin ...

and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

s. He also starred in his own television show in 1960 called '' Tea for Two'', a musical programme on Melbourne station

HSV-7 HSV is a television station in Melbourne, Australia. It is part of the Seven Network, one of the three main commercial television networks in Australia, its first and oldest station. It launched in time for the 1956 Summer Olympic Games in Melb ...

. Guido Lorraine died in

Melbourne, Australia Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metr ...

, on 31 December 2009, at the age of 97.

Filmography

References

External links

''The Telegraph'': Lives Remembered - Guido Lorraine
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lorraine, Guido 1912 births 2009 deaths British male film actors British male stage actors Australian male stage actors Polish male stage actors Polish male film actors Male actors from Melbourne Male actors from London Male actors from Kraków Actors from Lviv Polish emigrants to Australia Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom Musicians from London Musicians from Melbourne 20th-century Australian musicians 20th-century English musicians Knights of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Polish military personnel of World War II