Andrzej Łapicki photographed by Piotr Grzybowski / Agencja SE / East News
Polish actor and director Andrzej Łapicki passed away in his home in Warsaw at the age of 88 on the 21st of July 2012
His wife Kamila confirmed the news of his death to the Polish Press Agency (PAP). He had 100 theatre roles to his credit, along with dozens of television and film parts.
Andrzej Łapicki was born on the 11th of November 1924 in Riga. He enrolled in the secret Polish Institute of Theatre Arts and debuted on the stage of the Kraków Theatre in 1945. His breakthrough came in 1956 with the double role of Horace and Frederic Jean Anouilh's Invitation to the Castle, directed by Stanislaw Daczyński at the Teatr Współczesny in Warsaw. He realised early on that he was not comfortable performing tragic roles in a traditionally romantic repertoire and looked towards more contemporary works for inspiration. In the 1960s he began directing theatre, looking towards the so-called "small classic", staging Tadeusz Rittner and Gabriela Zapolska.
His film debut came with the cameo role of a conspirator in Leonard Buczkowski's Forbidden Songs (Zakazane piosenki). Later he played various roles in the films of Jan Rybkowski, Jerzy Passendorfer, Janusz Morgenstern, Andrzej Wajda and Tadeusz Konwicki. He is best known for his drunkard role in Konwicki's Salto (Leap, 1965). He then played the lead in Konwicki's Jak daleko stąd, jak blisko (How Far Away, How Close, 1971). In Wajda's Everything for Sale he played the role of the director, said to be Wajda's alter ego.
He continued to act throughout his life, his last role in Jan Englert's staging of Chekhov's Ivanov in 2008.
Editor: Agnieszka Le Nart
Source: PAP