Jerzy Duszyński was one of the most popular actors in a post-war Poland. He starred in a number of film productions as well as theatrical plays.

Born in Moscow in the family of Felix and Maria Duszyński who were evacuated from Poland right before the offensive of the German Army during World War I. After the end of World War I, along with his parents he returned to Warsaw and then soon after the family moved to Minsk Mazowiecki, where he graduated in 1935 from I Gimnazjum Humanistyczne.

After finishing high school, he continued his education at the Municipal School of Arts and Decorative Painting in Warsaw (now the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw), where he studied for only one year. In 1936, he passed the entrance exam at the Theater Arts Department of the National Institute of Theatrical Arts, where he studied along with Hanka Bielicka and Danuta Szaflarska. He successfully completed his studies in June 1939.

His stage career began just before World War II, with a debut on 25 July 1939 in the role of the minister's cousin in ("Geneva") in Polish Theater in Warsaw and then in Wilno, where he performed between 1939-41 at Theater on Pohulanka together with Hanka Bielicka and Danuta Szaflarska. After Soviet troops entered the city, he played at Vilnius Polish Dramatic Theater. At the end of 1944 he moved with the theater's team to Białystok and by the end of 1944-45 season he performed in local theater. Between 1945-49 he was an actor of the Teatr Kameralny Wojska Polskiego of Łódź. Together with a team of theater (which changed its name to Współczesny) moved to Warsaw and performed in it until 1955. In the 1955-56 season and in the years 1958-60 he was an actor of Teatr Syrena, 1956-57 Teatr Narodowy, 1960–66 Teatr Ateneum, 1966-71 Teatr Klasyczny, 1971–78 Teatr Rozmaitości.

Jerzy Duszyński's film career was supposed to start in 1939 in Hania - a film directed by Józef Lejtes, for which the shooting began in summer of 1939, but - due to the outbreak of the war - the film was never completed.

After the war he played in two popular films:Skarb and Zakazane piosenki, that have made him the first male star of the post-war Polish cinema.

His last major film role was as Józef Piłsudski in Śmierć prezydenta directed by Jerzy Kawalerowicz in 1978.

He was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (Krzyż Kawalerski Orderu Odrodzenia Polski) and the Gold Cross of Merit (Złoty Krzyż Zasługi).

Family life

Jerzy Duszyński was married to actress Hanka Bielicka. Duszyński and Bielicka divorced in 1953.

In 1963 he married Helena Urbaniak, with whom he had only son: Marcin Duszyński.

Death

Jerzy Duszyński died on July 23, 1978 in Warsaw as a result of lung cancer.

Filmography

• Zakazane piosenki (1946), dir. Leonard Buczkowski, as Roman Tokarski;
• Dwie godziny (1946), dir. Stanisław Wohl, Józef Wyszomirski as Marek;
• Skarb (1948), dir. Leonard Buczkowski as Witek Konar;
• Warsaw Premiere (1951), dir. Jan Rybkowski as Wolski;
• Młodość Chopina (1952), dir. Aleksander Ford as Stefan Witwicki;
• Domek z kart (1953), dir. Erwin Axer as soldier;
• Żołnierz zwycięstwa (1953), dir. Wanda Jakubowska as Henryk Liciński;
• Autobus odjeżdża 6.20 (1954), dir. Jan Rybkowski as Wiktor Poradzki;
• Černý prapor (1958), dir. Vladimír Čech as Antek;
• Awantura o Basię (1959), dir. Maria Kaniewska as Stanisław Olszowski
• Cafe pod Minogą (1959), dir. Bronisław Brok as journalist Andrzej Zagórski;
• Mąż swojej żony (1961), dir. Stanisław Bareja as Kurkiewicz;
• Daleka jest droga (1963), dir. Bohdan Poręba as Strzałka;
• Panienka z okienka (1964), dir. Maria Kaniewska as Denhof;
• Przedświąteczny wieczór (1966), dir. Jerzy Stefan Stawiński as doctor;
• Dzieci z naszej szkoły (1968–1969);
• Człowiek z M-3 (1968), dir. Leon Jeannot;
• Paragon gola (1969), dir. Stanisław Jędryka as journalist;
• Jak rozpętałem drugą wojnę światową (1969), dir. Tadeusz Chmielewski as Italian officer;
• Do przerwy 0:1 (1970), dir. Stanisław Jędryka;
• Hydrozagadka (1970), dir. Andrzej Kondratiuk as Docent Frątczak;
• Gniewko, syn rybaka (1970), dir. Bohdan Poręba;
• Godzina szczytu (1973), dir. Jerzy Stefan Stawiński as Professor;
• Noce i dnie (1975), dir. Jerzy Antczak;
• Ocalić miasto (1976), dir. Jan Łomnicki as Hans Frank;
• Wielki układ (1976), dir. Andrzej Jerzy Piotrowski;
• Śmierć prezydenta (1977), dir. Jerzy Kawalerowicz as Józef Piłsudski;
• Układ krążenia (1977-1978), dir. Andrzej Titkow;
• Indeks. Życie i twórczość Józefa M. (1977), dir. Janusz Kijowski as uncle Karol;
• Wakacje (1977), dir. Anette Olsen;
• Co mi zrobisz, jak mnie złapiesz? (1978), dir. Stanisław Bareja as customer at the grocery store;
• Doktor Murek (1978), dir. Witold Lesiewicz.

Theatrical Plays

• Zielone lata, Claude A. Puget, premiere: 14.09.1939;
• Cieszmy się życiem, Moss Hart, George S. Kaufman, premiere: 3.11.1939;
• Pastorałka, Leon Schiller, premiere: 25.12.1939;
• Tessa, Margaret Kennedy, Basil Dean, premiere: 28.01.1940;
• Moralność pani Dulskiej, Gabriela Zapolska, premiere: 04.1940;
• Maria Stuart, Juliusz Słowacki, premiere: 1940;
• Ładna historia, Gaston A. de Caillavet, Robert de Flers, premiere: 7.07.1940;
• Zamiast komedii, teksty różnych autorów, premiere: 1.08.1940;
• Cyd, Pierre Corneille, premiere: 19.06.1941;
• Drzewa umierają stojąc, Alejandro Casona, premiere: unknown;
• Stara cegielnia, Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, premiere: 1946;
• Spotkanie, Jean Anouilh, dir. Kazimierz Rudzki, premiere: 26.11.1946;
• Homer i Orchidea, Tadeusz Gajcy, dir. Sławomir Wyszomirski, premiere: 22.01.1947;
• Szklana menażeria, Tennessee Williams, dir. Erwin Axer, premiere: 1.03.1947;
• Amfitrion 38, Jean Giraudoux, dir. Erwin Axer, premiere: 18.09.1947;
• Joanna z Lotaryngii, Maxwell Anderson, dir. Erwin Axer, premiere: 25.06.1948;
• Niemcy, Leon Kruczkowski, dir. Erwin Axer, premiere: 5.11.1949;
• Trzydzieści srebrników, Howard Fast, dir. Erwin Axer, premiere: 30.04.1952;
• Droga z Czarnolasu, Aleksander Maliszewski, dir. Erwin Axer, premiere: 27.07.1952;
• Niemcy, Leon Kruczkowski, dir. Erwin Axer, premiere: 18.02.1955;
• Diabli nadali, mixed program, dir. Stanisława Perzanowska, premiere: 10.07.1955;
• Rym-cym-cym!, Julian Tuwim, dir. Adolf Dymsza, premiere: 9.06.1956;
• Madame Sans-Gene, Victorien Sardou, dir. Andrzej Łapicki, premiere: 15.11.1958;
• Maestro, J.Minkiewicz, A.Marianowicz, dir. K.Krukowski, premiere: 23.10.1959;
• Jim strzela pierwszy, Jiri Brdecki, dir. Stanisław Wohl, premiere: 23.12.1959;
• Ryszard III, William Shakespeare, dir. Jacek Woszczerowicz, premiere: 17.10.1960;
• Śmierć komiwojażera, Arthur Miller, dir. Janusz Warmiński, premiere: 26.11.1960;
• Męczeństwo z przymiarką, Ireneusz Iredyński, dir. Jan Bratkowski, premiere: 14.01.1961;
• Kram z piosenkami, Leon Schiller, dir. Barbara Fijewska, premiere: 25.02.1961;
• Krucjata, Krzysztof Choiński, dir. Jan Bratkowski, premiere: 24.03.1961;
• Andorra, Max Frisch, dir. Janusz Warmiński, premiere: 2.05.1962;
• Duże jasne, Jarosław Abramow-Newerly, dir. Jerzy Markuszewski, premiere: 19.10.1962;
• Demony, John Whiting, dir. Andrzej Wajda, premiere: 2.03.1963;
• Marie-Octobre, J.Robert, J.Duvivier, H.Jeanson, dir. Janusz Warmiński, premiere: 24.10.1963;
• Za rzekę w cień drzew, Ernest Hemingway, dir. Jacek Woszczerowicz, premiere: 28.01.1964;
• Madame Bovary, Gustav Flaubert, dir. Ireneusz Kanicki, premiere: 23.11.1966;
• Dziś do ciebie przyjść nie mogę, Ireneusz Kanicki, Lech Budrecki, dir. Ireneusz Kanicki, premiere: 12.03.1967;
• Cudzołóstwo ukarane, Janusz Głowacki, dir. Lech Hellwig-Górzyński, premiere: 14.05.1972;
• Hultaj, G. Gottesman, A.Jarecki, dir. Andrzej Ziembiński, premiere: 19.11.1972;
• Żaby, Arystofanes, dir. Giovanni Pampiglione, premiere: 16.02.1973;
• Nieuczesani, Czesław Czapów, dir. Ludwik Rene, premiere: 17.02.1974;
• Zajmij się Amelią, Georges Feydeau, dir. Józef Słotwiński, premiere: 21.06.1976;
• Sen, Felicja Kruszewska, dir. Jerzy Dobrowolski, premiere: 12.11.1976;
• Happy End, Dorothy Lane, dir. Olga Lipińska, premiere: 4.05.1977;
• Czworokąt, Edward Redliński, dir. Marek Kostrzewski, premiere: 4.05.1977;
• Dyl Sowizdrzał, Grigorij Gorin, dir. Wojciech Pokora, premiere: 8.04.1978.