Kazimierz Krukowski (2 February 1901 in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

– 24 December 1984 in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

), professionally known as Lopek, was a Polish

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

performer and writer, revue and film actor.

Career

He performed songs and monologues by famous poets and songwriters including

Marian Hemar Marian Hemar (1901–1972), born Marian Hescheles (other pen names: Jan Mariański, and Marian Wallenrod), was a Polish poet, journalist, playwright, comedy writer, and songwriter. Hemar himself stated that before the outbreak of World War II he ...

Jerzy Jurandot Jerzy Jurandot, born ''Jerzy Glejgewicht'' (19 March 1911 – 16 August 1979), was a popular Polish poet of Jewish ancestry, dramatist, satirist and songwriter. History Jurandot was born and died in Warsaw. He first became successful at th ...

Antoni Słonimski Antoni Słonimski (15 November 1895 – 4 July 1976) was a Polish poet, artist, journalist, playwright and prose writer, president of the Union of Polish Writers in 1956–1959 during the Polish October, known for his devotion to social justic ...

Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym Oldlen as a lyricist, was a Jewish-Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied ...

and

Andrzej Włast Andrzej Włast (aka Gustaw Baumritter) (17 March 1885 – 1942 or 1943) was a Polish Jewish songwriter. He wrote the lyrics for the 1929 hit song "Tango Milonga" / "Oh, Donna Clara". He died in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Biography ...

. He made his first movie in 1927 ('' Ziemia obiecana'') as part of a comedy duo, "Lopek and Florek," with

Adolf Dymsza Adolf Dymsza (born Adolf Bagiński; 7 April 1900 – 20 August 1975) was a Polish comedy actor of both the pre-World War II and post-war eras. He starred in both theatre and film productions, mainly before World War II. He and Kazimierz Krukowski ...

; they made several more movies together including ''Janko Muzykant; Ułani, ułani, chłopcy malowani,'' and '' Co mój mąż robi w nocy? (What does my husband do at night?)'' In 1935 he starred in the film ''

ABC miłości ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

''. He was engaged at the cabaret Qui Pro Quo by his cousin Julian Tuwim. He performed in theaters, kleynkunst, and cabarets including Morskie Oko, Banda, Cyganeria, Cyrulik Warszawski, Wielka Rewia, and in 1939 he founded his own theater, the Ali Baba.

"in the cabarets, a new genre of entertainment—the Jewish joke, monologue or sketch known as szmonces—rose to prominence. The szmonces, inevitably characterized by a more or less subtle ''żydłaczenie'', at its best turned the pretentious Jewish assimilator or the harried Jewish tradesman into universally accessible symbols of the dislocations of modern life; at its worst, it became vulgar antisemitic caricature. The performer Kazimierz Krukowski (1902–1984), known as Lopek, was among those acclaimed as a specialist in the genre."http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Theater/Polish_Theater , YIVO encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he appeared in one of the cabarets in the

Warsaw ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...

. He fought in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and subsequently lived in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, where he ran the ''El Nacional'' theater.

Books

He wrote several books: ''Mała antologia kabaretu (Small cabaret anthology), Z Melpomeną na emigracji (With Melpomene in exile)'' and ''Moja Warszawka (My Warsaw)''.

External links

* * by Szymon Kataszek and Henryk Gold * * Character Lopek gets in trouble in the big city

References

1901 births 1984 deaths Male actors from Łódź Jewish cabaret performers People from Piotrków Governorate Polish male film actors Polish male silent film actors Polish cabaret performers Entertainers from Łódź Jewish Polish male actors Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Warsaw Ghetto inmates Polish Holocaust survivors 20th-century Polish male actors 20th-century Polish male singers 20th-century Polish comedians Recipients of the Meritorious Activist of Culture badge Recipients of the Medal of the 40th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland Polish male comedians {{Poland-actor-stub