JUNOSZASTĘPOWSKI, KAZIMIERZ

(1882-1943)

Kazimierz Junosza-Stepowski's name is inseparably linked with prewar Polish cinema. He started his career in 1902, acting in the first Polish narrative film produced byKazimierz Prószyński,The Return of a Merry Fellow, and continued until the war, making several films per year (ten in 1938), including some of the best-known prewar Polish works. He appeared in films directed byRyszard Bolesławski(7heHeroism of a Polish Boy Scout, 1920, andMiracle on the Vistula, 1921),Józef Lejtes(TheYoung Forest, 1934, andThe Rose, 1936),Michał Waszyński(TheQuack, 1937, andProfessor Wilczur, 1938), and several other leading prewar Polish directors.At the beginning of his career, Junosza-Stępowski, also a respected Warsaw theatrical actor, starred withPola Negriand thenJadwiga Smosarskain several films produced by theSfinks studio. He was arguably the most accomplished and the most versatile prewar actor and succeeded in several genres and in silent as well as sound films. Although during his long career he appeared in fifty-seven films (twenty-two of which were silent), perhaps his most memorable creation was the character of a noble surgeon, Professor Wilczur, inThe Quackand its two sequels,Professor WilczurandProfessor Wilczur's Last Will(1939,Leonard Buczkowski). Junosza-Stępowski was killed in 1943 by the members of the Polish Home Army (AK) while trying to protect his wife, a gestapo informer. His wife, who survived the assassination attempt, was killed nine months later. In 1989 Jerzy Sztwiertnia madeDaze(Oszołomienie), a feature film inspired by Junosza-Stepowski's life and the circumstances of his death.