Jerzy Oskar Stuhr (; born 18 April 1947) is a Polish film and theatre actor. He is one of the most popular, influential and versatile Polish actors. He also works as a

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, ...

and drama professor. He served as the

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts in Kraków for two terms: from 1990 to 1996 and again from 2002 to 2008.

Life and career

Stuhr was born in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

. His ancestors, Leopold Stuhr and Anna Thill, migrated within

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

from Mistelbach to Cracow shortly after their wedding in 1879. Having obtained a degree in Polish literature from the Jagiellonian University in 1970, Stuhr spent the next two years studying acting at the Academy for the Dramatic Arts in Kraków ( often shortened to ''PWST''), where he became a professor. From the early 1970s, Stuhr appeared in Polish theatre and worked in film productions, making his debut with the role of Beelzebub in

Adam Mickiewicz Adam Bernard Mickiewicz (; 24 December 179826 November 1855) was a Polish poet, dramatist, essayist, publicist, translator and political activist. He is regarded as national poet in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. A principal figure in Polish ...

's directed by Konrad Swinarski. Having met film director Krzysztof Kieślowski in the mid-1970s, he continued to work with him until Kieślowski's death in 1996. To an international audience, Stuhr may be best known for his minor role as thick-witted hairdresser Jurek in Kieślowski's '' Three Colors: White'', in which he starred alongside

Julie Delpy Julie Delpy (; born 21 December 1969) is a French-American actress, film director, screenwriter, and singer-songwriter. She studied filmmaking at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and has directed, written, and acted in more than 30 films, includ ...

, Janusz Gajos, and Zbigniew Zamachowski. In Poland and nearby countries, he is probably best known for the part of Max in Juliusz Machulski's 1984

dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

n cult comedy (one of the most popular Polish movies), and – to a younger audience – for lending his voice to the talking donkey in the dubbed Polish version of the Shrek trilogy. Other important films include Kieślowski's '' The Scar'' (, 1976), '' Camera Buff'' (''Amator'', 1979) and Part 10 of '' The Decalogue'' series (1988), Machulski's ''Kingsize'' (1987), '' Kiler'' (1997) and ''Kiler 2'' (1999), and Zanussi's ''Life for Life'' (1988). Stuhr also worked with Polish directors Agnieszka Holland, Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Zanussi. In 1985, Stuhr made his own directorial debut staging the Polish version of Patrick Süskind's play ''

The Double Bass ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

'', in which he also played the (only) role. In spite of the production's success, it was not until 1995 that Stuhr began directing films as well, with ''List of Adulteresses'' () based on a novel by

Jerzy Pilch Jerzy Pilch (; 10 August 1952 – 29 May 2020) was a Polish writer, columnist, and journalist. Critics have compared Pilch's style to Witold Gombrowicz, Milan Kundera, or Bohumil Hrabal. Early life and education Born and raised in the small ...

. Critics favourably compared his next effort ''Love Stories'' (, 1997) to Kieślowski's work. The film consists of four unconnected episodes with Stuhr playing the lead role in each. Further movies directed by Stuhr are '' Big Animal'' (, 2000 – based on a Kieślowski screenplay), and ''Tomorrow's Weather'' (, 2003). For these two, Stuhr employed the Polish

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band Myslovitz who composed the title tracks and also had walk-on roles in the latter. In an interview with '' The Krakow Post'' Stuhr admitted that Italian cinéaste Nanni Moretti influenced his approach to filmmaking. From 1990 to 1997, and again from 2002, Stuhr held the position of

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

at the Kraków National Drama School, where he had learned his craft two decades before. He formally obtained the title of professor in Dramatic Arts in 1994. Stuhr's son Maciej (born 1975) is an actor in his own right, who has played alongside his father in Kieślowski's ''Decalogue X'' (1988), (2003), and ''Love Stories'' (1997). His daughter, Marianna (born 1982) is an artist, painter. In 2004 he was a member of the jury at the

26th Moscow International Film Festival The 26th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 18 to 27 July 2004. The Golden George was awarded to the Russian film '' Our Own'' directed by Dmitriy Meshiev. Jury * Alan Parker (United Kingdom – Chairman of the Jury) * Jerzy Stu ...

. He is the chairman of the board of supervisors at Cracow's Józef Tischner Children's Hospice and has been a supporter of this foundation since 2004. He was head of the jury of the 2nd Odessa International Film Festival which took place in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrat ...

from 15 to 23 July 2011. He has worked with RMF FM and has also written books such as ''Escape forward!'' () and ''The Stuhrs: Family Stories'' (). In Autumn 2011 Stuhr suffered what he thought was a severe throat infection, but eventually he was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. He spent most of the following eight months in hospitals in

Gliwice Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional cap ...

and Zakopane, undergoing treatment including surgeries,

radiotherapy Radiation therapy or radiotherapy, often abbreviated RT, RTx, or XRT, is a therapy using ionizing radiation, generally provided as part of cancer treatment to control or kill malignant cells and normally delivered by a linear accelerator. Ra ...

, and

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

. His daughter, herself a cancer survivor, advised him to write a diary to keep himself mentally busy during that difficult time. In 2012 it was published by

Wydawnictwo Literackie Wydawnictwo Literackie (abbreviated WL, lit. "Literary Press") is a Kraków-based Polish publishing house, which has been referred to as one of Poland's "most respected". Company history Since its foundation in 1953, Wydawnictwo Literackie has ...

publishing house under the title ''Tak sobie myślę...'' (which roughly translates as ''So I am thinking...''). His illness was widely covered by Polish media, and he received feedback from cancer patients around the country for whom his openness was comforting. Eventually he described his cancer as "the most important role of my life". As of April 2013, his cancer is in remission and he resumed both stage and voice acting.

Awards and recognition

11 November 1997, by decision of President

Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule, he was active in the Socialist Union of P ...

, in recognition of his prominent addition to Polish national culture Jerzy Stuhr was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta. 12 November 2008 he received Złota Kaczka (Golden Duck) being chosen the ''century's best actor of comedy''. Stuhr was appointed to the European Film Award for his fourfold role in '' Love stories''. He is a laureate of the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

. He also has received numerous other Polish and international awards in recognition of his work, including: * Polish Academy Life Achievement Award (2018) *

Order of the Smile The Order of the Smile ( Polish: ''Order Uśmiechu'') is an international award given by children to adults distinguished in their love, care and aid for children. History The idea of the Order of the Smile was established in 1968 by the Polis ...

(2014) *Special Award of the

Gdynia Film Festival The Gdynia Film Festival (until 2011: Polish Film Festival, Polish: ''Festiwal Polskich Filmów Fabularnych w Gdyni'') is an annual film festival first held in Gdańsk (1974–1986), now held in Gdynia, Poland. It has taken place every year si ...

for his film ''Obywatel'' (2014) *Honoris Gratia Award (2012) *

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2011) *

Honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad ho ...

of the

University of Silesia in Katowice The University of Silesia in Katowice ( pl, Uniwersytet Śląski w Katowicach, UŚ) is an autonomous state-run university in Silesia Province, Katowice, Poland. The university offers higher education and research facilities. It offers undergra ...

(2007) *Best Script Award at the

to the film ''Korowód'' (2007) *Golden Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2005) * Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2000) *

Paszport Polityki Paszport Polityki (Polityka's Passport) is an annual Polish cultural award presented by the weekly magazine '' Polityka'' since 1993. It is presented in six major categories: literature, film, theatre, classical music, popular music, visual ar ...

(1997) *Golden Lions Award at the

for his role in the film '' Love stories'' (1997) *Special Award of the

for his role in the film ''Spis cudzołożnic'' ("List of Adulteresses") (1994) *Golden Cross of Merit (1989) * Witkacy Prize - Critics' Circle Award (1988)

Voice acting

Jerzy Stuhr became very popular with younger viewers after he provided the voice for Donkey in the Polish dubbed version of '' Shrek'' (as well as in '' Shrek 2'', '' Shrek the Third'' and in video games, based on the Shrek movies). Stuhr also provided the voice of Mushu the dragon in Disney's ''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history. According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as ...

'' and '' Mulan 2'', and for the Larry Laffer character in '' Larry 7'' game.

Filmography

Actor

Director and screenplay writer

Voice

References

External links

* *Giuseppe Sedia
''An Interview with Jerzy Stuhr''
in
''The Krakow Post''
March 26, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuhr, Jerzy 1947 births Living people Male actors from Kraków Polish film directors Polish screenwriters Polish male film actors Polish male stage actors Polish male voice actors Polish people of Austrian descent