Waklaw Kowalski is a cult figure in the history of Polish cinematography. Although the role of Pawlak, beloved by viewers, made the actor always associated with comedy, his private life was filled with painful tragedies… Personal drama changed him forever. At a young age he lost his father and sister, and after becoming an adult man and father of two sons, he also had to say goodbye to one of his sons. His wife, Stanislava, helped him through all these tragedies. She was the woman of his life. Only the actor’s death separated them.
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Wacław Kowalski: Growing up, losing his father and sister
Wacław Kowalski has created many iconic roles. Today, he is referred to as a legend of Polish cinematography. During the many years of his career, he played peasant roles, mostly in supporting and third roles, but in 1967, with the role of Kazimierz Pavlik in Sami swoi, he won the viewers’ love and became one of the most popular actors. Fans of this popular and popular production unanimously admit that it was not Kowalski who played, but Pawlak.
Although he was a born comedian, he didn’t immediately plan to become one in his career. Neighbors from Gnojno said of him: “Wacek was projective, cheerful, communicative and witty, just for everything”.
“When Wasek sat down at the guitar, young people from Knojno gathered around him. He sang and made everyone laugh. I remember very well that his mother often left the house and calmed him down. And he turned everything into a joke anyway, “recalls Kazimierz Szpora, the second of his neighbors (quoted from www.filmsamiswoi.wixsite.com).
Unfortunately, as a young boy, he suffered a great loss, as a result of an unfortunate accident his father, Wclav Kowalski, passed away.
“While working in the foundry, a piece of metal fell into my grandfather’s eye. Shortly after the operation in Warsaw, he contracted meningitis and his body gave up,” Jan Bartomeg Kowalski, the son of the actor, recalls on Wesly.republika. website.pl.
Another heavy blow was the death of one of the three sisters. 12-year-old Sister Josia was washed away by the rushing current of the Bog River. “Returning from a church fair in Niemirow with her friends, she decided to take a bath. I told her then: ‘Come home’, but she didn’t listen. More than that, near the cliff” – said Leokadia Jakoniuk from Gnojno.
In 1937, Wacław Kowalski graduated from the teachers’ seminar and began working at the Institute for Special Education. The war thwarted his plans. Then the guy was sent to a cadet school in Siedlce. Little did he know then that this phase would change his life forever.
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Wacław and Stanisława Kowalski, Love Story
At that time, during World War II, while learning at the Siedlce School, Wacław Kowalski met his namesake, Wacław Osikowski from Biała Podlaska, who in turn introduced him to his sister, Stanisława. Young Kowalski immediately fell in love with the girl.
In 1943, the couple got married in Saint Bayaa Church. Anna, and soon after they leave for Konstantynów, where they start a new life together. To make money for this start, Wacław Kowalski started working on ear tags for animals. However, they did not stay in the new city for long. After liberation, they returned to Biała Podlaska. Years later, the actor told his eldest son about the events of that time.
“A German ran out on a frothy horse into the yard and asked for soap. After he washed, a car drove up and took him away. The horse stayed, but not for long. During the bombing, the animal disappeared. Immediately after that, Red Army soldiers passed the village.” towards Biała Podlaska. What we saw along the way was shocking. There were a lot of dead bodies everywhere. We got to know the real nightmare of war. “
In 1946, Wacław and Stanisława Kowalski welcomed their first son into the world, and Jan was born to them. Soon after, the actor decided to make more changes in his life.
Wacław Kowalski decided to return to his studies. He sang a baritone and dreamed of playing in operas, so he entered the Łódź Conservatory. Soon his idiosyncratic personality was noticed by Leon Schiller who, after Kowalski’s many appearances on one of his shows, offered Podlasianin a full-time job.
According to his son Wacław Kowalski, the greatest influence on his father’s acting career was had by Kazimierz Dejmek, who hired him at Teatr Nowy. Viewers could watch it there until the mid-fifties, and then the actor decided to move with his family permanently near the capital. They settled with his wife and son in Brwinów, in a house bought by Aleksander Osykowski, Stanisława’s father.
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Wacław Kowalski: acting career and family life
It was then, in 1956, that Wajlow Kowalski became a father for the second time. Maciej was born. The boys were his pride from the start – from the moment they were young and totally dependent on their parents, until their teens, when they were great at school, and then they both studied medicine.
Wacław Kowalski moved from Brwinów to the Warsaw Theatre. The biggest stage in his career was still ahead of him and he acquired it not thanks to the stage, but thanks to the films. Learn lines most often on trains. “He was able to shut down and absorb individual issues. When he had doubts about playing it, he referred to the opinion of his mother, who was a strict auditor,” his son, Jean, recalled years later.
In the second half of the sixties, the whole of Poland heard about Wacław Kowalski, and that’s when the movie “Sami swoi” appeared on the screens. Viewers went crazy over the character of Kazimierz Pawlak, and the Podlasie accent, so well played by Kowalski, reminded the residents of Biała Podlaska and the surrounding area that the actor comes from their homeland.
“Dad suggested the dialect during the filming of the first scenes. The prototype for the character of Pawlak was Kazimierz Waszczuk from Serpelice, with whom we stayed when we came to the summer resort. Dad often teased him, and then he imitated him wonderfully. Although at home, he was He speaks pure Polish, without him and he would have liked Podlasie more, because it’s hard not to love this region ”- says Jan Bartomiej Kowalski.
It was said that Wacław Kowalski was born to play Pawlak. Despite the great popularity and recognition that he received after participating in the cult trilogy Sylwester Chusinsky, the actor did not receive any film awards for this role.
This sudden and great popularity also had its dark side. In his village, the actor heard his neighbors shouting after him: “Hey Pavlik, come to the fence.” Over time, it began to tire him out greatly. The actor’s eldest son recalls: “Because in everyday life he was not as cheerful as in the movies. I remember him as a strict father who demands order and keeps his distance from his son.”
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Wacław Kowalski: Loss of a Boy, Sudden Death
In 1982, the Wacław Kowalski family suffered an unimaginable tragedy. His youngest son, Maciej, died in a car accident. He was only 26 years old. The loss of a child also had a significant impact on the actor’s career. Kowalski no longer wanted to perform, had lost all joy and was depressed. He couldn’t get over the loss.
The last time Wacław Kowalski appeared in the series “Dom” by Jan Łomnicki, where he played Popiołek, a caretaker. The creators of the series tried to persuade him to return, but the actor did not want to hear about it. During one of his visits, he showed them a television set that had flipped up against the wall. He reportedly said, “It doesn’t matter to me anymore.”
The distinguished artist died on October 27, 1990, on her way to the hospital. The cause of death was a stroke.
“Father sometimes reported pain in the sternum, but despite his 74-year-old age, he was in good health. He loved working in the house and garden, beekeeping, and shopping. On October 27, 1990, I happened to stop by my parents’ house to check on him.” On them, my father was dozing. As I was leaving, I looked at him through the half-open door, and nothing in my doctor’s eye looked right. I went up to him and touched him. “I saw he was breathing hard and passing out,” said his son, an anesthesiologist by profession. “.
Wacław Kowalski is buried in Brwinów in the family tomb.
“Even now, I miss my father very much, this great moral authority. Just as we have (…) because my parents loved each other very much, I could always count on them and I was never disappointed. It was a wonderful marriage, “John Bartholomew Kowalski admitted.
Maria Zbyszewska and Wacław Kowalski in “Nie ma mocnych” in 1974.
picture. Maria Zbyszewska as Mania and Wacław Kowalski as her film husband Kazimierz Pawlak in Nie ma mocnych, 1974, Photo: POLFILM / EAST NEWS
sources: filmamiswoi.wixsite.comAnd chat
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