Lidia Wysocka

Biography

Polish stage and film actress, singer, cabaret performer and creative director, theatre director and costume designer, editorialist. Successfully debuted on film in 1935 (the song she performed was available on soundtrack album released by Syrena Record in 1936) while she was still studying acting under Aleksander Zelwerowicz (who was very reluctant to allow his students to start their acting career before they finish school). Graduated Panstwowy Instytut Sztuki Teatralnej (State Institute of Theatrical Arts, Warsaw) in 1936. Debuted on stage in Polish Theatre in Warsaw in 1936 (with Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers", as Mary), where she performed until the war (see: other works). Her roles were a proof of her versatility, as she would find herself both in drama and comedy. The production of her 9th movie, "Szczescie przychodzi kiedy chce" (directed by Mieczyslaw Krawicz ) was canceled by the outbreak of World War 2. As most of the actors who boycotted German-controlled theaters during the war, she had to find another way to make a living: she worked as waitress in "Na Antresoli" café, this also meant giving performances alongside other artists. That place was also a contact point for Polish resistance. She was taken hostage by Gestapo and held in the Pawiak prison (her husband Zbigniew Sawan ended up in Auschwitz camp) as a result of German retaliatory action for the Polish resistance assassination of the Nazi spy Igo Sym, her co-star from Zlota maska (1940) (she also rejected his offers to start working for German UFA, at that time dealing mostly with pro-Nazi propaganda movies). After the war she started performing in Teatr Maly in Warsaw alongside her husband, later also in Miniatura Theatre in Warsaw and Teatr Nowy. They moved next (1947-1949) to Polish Theatre in Szczecin, where Sawan would take the manager seat. The couple returned to Warsaw in 1949 and started working in Ludowy Theatre: Sawan again as manager, while she started directing plays. She had spent the years 1951-1953 in Buffo revue theatre, what launched her career as cabaret star. In 1956 she created the "Wagabunda" cabaret, which gathered such actors and satirists as Edward Dziewonski, Jacek Fedorowicz, Bogumil Kobiela, Maria Koterbska, Wieslaw Michnikowski, Stanislaw Tym, Jeremi Przybora, Mieczyslaw Wojnicki, Zbigniew Cybulski, Marian Zalucki. Popular in Poland, it also toured USA (1957), Canada, Great Britain, Israel and Czechoslovakia. She was its art director and also performed sung poetry or versions of popular songs with Polish lyrics. During that time (1961) she made a guest appearance in Regnier's play "Les Petites Tetes" in Comedy Theatre, Warsaw. After "Wagabunda" dissolved in 1968 she had problem finding work in Warsaw theaters despite her experience and fame. Finally she found her way to the stage of Syrena Theatre in Warsaw, where she played in revues in 1974 through 1981. After W obronie wlasnej (1982) she was to star in another movie, but it was stuck in a pre-production limbo. During her career she also worked with Polish public broadcaster Polskie Radio, taking part in concertos and other broadcasts. She appeared in radio dramas already in late 1930s; listeners of Program 1 station could still catch her in 1980s & 1990s reading her own editorials on cultural news, displaying literary and satirical talent. People she worked with describe her as a hard-working and demanding professional, elegant and well mannered, brilliant and with a great sense of humor.