Bolesławski, Ryszard

(Ryszard Srzednicki, 18891937)

(In the United States he was known as Richard Boleslawski/ Boleslawsky/Boleslavsky.) Director, scriptwriter, and actor trained at the famous Moscow Art Theater. Bolesławski established himself in Poland with propagandist, patriotic pictures dealing with the 1920 Polish-Soviet war, such as The Heroism of a Polish Boy Scout (Bohaterstwo polskiego skauta, 1920) and Miracle on the Vistula (Cud nad Wisłą, 1921). Bolesławski moved to the United States in 1922. A year later he created the American Laboratory Theatre in New York to promote Stanislavski's method acting. In 1933 he published a popular textbook, Acting: The First Six Lessons. After the advent of sound, Bolesławski accepted a Hollywood offer to direct films. He became successful with films made for MGM and Fox, such as Rasputin and the Empress (1933), The Painted Veil (1934), and The Garden of Allah (1936), and he worked with some of the biggest Hollywood stars, including Greta Garbo, Marlene Dietrich, Lionel Barrymore, and Charles Laughton.

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof