A graduate of the Warsaw School of Economics (SGH; 1948); he was also a law student but never graduated. In 1948 he won a competition for a job as a Polish Radio announcer. He passed his actor's exam in 1952, and his exam in directing in 1963 (both taken without enrolment in a formal course). In 1952-1960 he appeared at theatres in Warsaw, and occasionally in films (including Krzyżacy / Knights of the Teutonic Order). He was a director at TVP [Polish Television public TV company] from 1960, making many theatre plays and programmes about culture, including Młodzieżowe Studio Poetyckie / Young Poetry Studio which saw the debuts of Daniel Olbrychski, Magdalena Zawadzka, Marek Perepeczko, and others. He had his film directing debut in 1967 with the series Stawka większa niż życie / More Than Life at Stake, an adaptation of a cycle of TV shows in the Teatr Sensacji / Thriller Theatre format which had received an Award of the Minister of Culture and Art, second degree, in 1965 and a Golden Screen, awarded by "Ekran" weekly, in 1966. The series, co-directed with Janusz Morgenstern, is one of the most popular shows in the history of Polish Television, and received an Award of the Minister of National Defence, first degree, in 1968. Konic's costume drama TV series Czarne chmury / Black Clouds (1973) was just as popular.
Konic was among the directors of the TV series Najważniejszy dzień życia / The Most Important Day in Life (1974) - the episodes he made, Gra / The Game and Uszczelka / The Gasket (Award of the Minister of Culture and Art, second degree, 1974, for the series, Award of the Chairman of the Radio and Television Committee, 1975, plus the Special Jury Prize for Uszczelka / The Gasket at the Polish Film Festival in Gdańsk, 1974), and the controversial Broda / The Beard (Jantar award in the TV film category at the Youth and Film festival in Koszalin, 1975), are considered to be the best of the whole series. His noteworthy achievements also include other TV series: Życie na gorąco / Life Covered Live (1978), Rächer, Retter und Rapiere (1980-1981, East Germany), 1944 (1984), Pogranicze w ogniu / Borderland on Fire (1989-1991), and two cinematic projects: Motodrama (1971) and W te dni przedwiosenne / In the Days Before Spring (1975).
He received a Commander's Cross of the Polonia Restituta Order in 2001. He celebrated half a century of artistic activity in 2006, when he received the annual Award of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage for film.
Andrzej Konic was the father of Paweł Konic (1954-2005), a respected theatre critic, theatre manager and television theatre executive at the TVP television station.
Author: Konrad J. Zarębski, October 2010. Translated by Joanna Dutkiewicz, October 2010.