Janczar, Tadeusz

(1926-1997)

   One of the most significant actors of the Polish School generation, Janczar gained critical recognition for his roles in Andrzej Wajda's A Generation (1955) and Kanal (1956). In A Generation, he played the most complex character, Janek Krone, the prototype of Wajda's heroic protagonist: doubtful, troubled, and eventually dying a tragic death. In Kanal he starred as the heroic Korab—the wounded platoon leader in the Warsaw Uprising. It is no coincidence that later, in 1970, he served as a narrator for Janusz Morgenstern's classic television series about the Warsaw Uprising—Columbuses. Janczar's other roles during the Polish School period include the lead in Wojciech Has's Farewells (1958), roles in Andrzej Munk's Eroica (the third part, Con bravura, 1958) and Bad Luck (1960), and Stanisław Lenartowicz's Oil (1961). In 1970 Janczar played a strong supporting role in another film by Wajda, Landscape after Battle, and he starred in Andrzej Jerzy Piotrowski's Signs on the Road (Znaki na drodze), the winner of the Locarno Film Festival. In the 1970s, Janczar acted in films directed by Jerzy Passendorfer (Kill the Black Sheep, 1972), Bohdan Poręba (Hubal, 1973), and Jan Rybkowski (Peasants, 1973), among others. His later screen appearances were rare and included a role in a celebrated television series, The House (1980-1996), directed by Jan Łomnicki.

   Historical Dictionary of Polish Cinema by Marek Haltof