Daniel Olbrychski


Daniel Marcel Olbrychski is a Polish actor best known for leading roles in several Andrzej Wajda movies and also known for playing a defector and spymaster Vassily Orlov, alongside Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie in the movie Salt.

Life and career

Olbrychski was born in 1945 in Łowicz, Poland to father Franciszek and mother Klementyna. He attended the Stefan Batory Gymnasium and Lyceum in Warsaw.
In 1965, he played the character of Rafał Olbromski, his first major film role in Andrzej Wajda's film The Ashes.
In 1971 he won the award for Best Actor at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival for his role in The Birch Wood.
He played one of the leading roles in Volker Schlöndorff's film The Tin Drum based on Günter Grass's novel Die Blechtrommel. He also appeared in one of the ten short films in Krzysztof Kieślowski's Dekalog and played a role in the film adaptation of The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
In 1986, he played one of the main roles in Margarethe von Trotta's film Rosa Luxemburg. The same year, Olbrychski received the French Legion of Honor. In 2007 he received the Stanislavsky Award at the 29th Moscow International Film Festival for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting and devotion to the principles of Stanislavsky's school. In 1998, he starred in Nikita Mikhalkov's film the Barber of Siberia.
In 2010, he received a diploma from the National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw. In addition to acting, Olbrychski has been well known for his abilities as an athlete. A keen horse-rider, a boxer and very able with the sabre, Olbrychski personally performed most of the stunt scenes in his movies.
He was selected to be on the jury for the Cinéfondation and short films sections of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Throughout his career, he appeared in five Academy Award-nominated films, two of which won the award. In a 1998 survey published by Polityka magazine he was ranked 7th on the list of the greatest Polish actors of the 20th century.

Personal life

In mid-1970s, he was in a relationship with singer Maryla Rodowicz. He has got son Victor with German theatre actress Barbara Sukowa. He has been married three times: with actress Monika Dziensiewicz with whom he has son Rafał; journalist Zuzanna Łapicka with whom he has daughter Weronika and since 2003 with theatrologist Krystyna Dembska. He lived for many years in France and speaks French fluently. He practices boxing as a hobby. During the 2015 Polish presidential election he officially endorsed the candidacy of Bronisław Komorowski. He supports the LGBT community.

Filmography