Kazimierz Krukowski (born 2 February 1901 in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

— died 24 December 1984 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

), professionally known as Lopek, was a Polish

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

performer and writer, revue and film actor.

Career

He performed songs and monologues by famous poets and songwriters including

Marian Hemar Marian Hemar (1901–1972), born Marian Hescheles (other pen names: Jan Mariański, and Marian Wallenrod), was a Polish poet, journalist, playwright, comedy writer, and songwriter. Hemar himself stated that before the outbreak of World War II he ...

Jerzy Jurandot Jerzy Jurandot, born ''Jerzy Glejgewicht'' (19 March 1911 – 16 August 1979), was a popular Polish poet of Jewish ancestry, dramatist, satirist and songwriter. History Jurandot was born and died in Warsaw. He first became successful at the ...

Antoni Słonimski Antoni Słonimski (15 November 1895 – 4 July 1976) was a Polish poet, artist, journalist, playwright and prose writer, president of the Union of Polish Writers in 1956–1959 during the Polish October, known for his devotion to social justic ...

, Julian Tuwim and

Andrzej Włast Andrzej Włast (aka Gustaw Baumritter) (17 March 1885 – 1942 or 1943) was a Polish Jewish songwriter. He wrote the lyrics for the 1929 hit song "Tango Milonga" / "Oh, Donna Clara". He died in the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II. Biography W� ...

. He made his first movie in 1927 (''Ziemia obiecana'') as part of a comedy duo, "Lopek and Florek," with

Adolf Dymsza Adolf Dymsza (born Adolf Bagiński; 7 April 1900 – 20 August 1975) was a Polish comedy actor of both the pre-World War II and post-war eras. He starred in both theatre and film productions, mainly before World War II. He and Kazimierz Krukowski ...

; they made several more movies together including ''Janko Muzykant; Ułani, ułani, chłopcy malowani,'' and '' Co mój mąż robi w nocy? (What does my husband do at night?)'' In 1935 he starred in the film '' ABC miłości''. He was engaged at the cabaret Qui Pro Quo by his cousin Julian Tuwim. He performed in theaters, kleynkunst, and cabarets including Morskie Oko, Banda, Cyganeria, Cyrulik Warszawski, Wielka Rewia, and in 1939 he founded his own theater, the Ali Baba.

"in the cabarets, a new genre of entertainment—the Jewish joke, monologue or sketch known as szmonces—rose to prominence. The szmonces, inevitably characterized by a more or less subtle ''żydłaczenie'', at its best turned the pretentious Jewish assimilator or the harried Jewish tradesman into universally accessible symbols of the dislocations of modern life; at its worst, it became vulgar antisemitic caricature. The performer Kazimierz Krukowski (1902–1984), known as Lopek, was among those acclaimed as a specialist in the genre."http://www.yivoencyclopedia.org/article.aspx/Theater/Polish_Theater , YIVO encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe

During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

he appeared in one of the cabarets in the

Warsaw ghetto The Warsaw Ghetto (german: Warschauer Ghetto, officially , "Jewish Residential District in Warsaw"; pl, getto warszawskie) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the G ...

. He fought in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and subsequently lived in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, where he ran the ''El Nacional'' theater.

Books

He wrote several books: ''Mała antologia kabaretu (Small cabaret anthology), Z Melpomeną na emigracji (With Melpomene in exile)'' and ''Moja Warszawka (My Warsaw)''.

External links

* * by

Szymon Kataszek Szymon Kataszek (1898–1943) (born Boruch Szymon Kataszek), was a Polish-Jewish composer, bandleader, pianist, a pioneer of Polish jazz. Born in Warsaw 1898; studied piano at the Warsaw Music Institute and Rome's St. Cecilia Academy. He returned ...

and

Henryk Gold Henryk Gold (19029 January 1977 in New York City, United States) was a Polish-born American composer, arranger, and orchestra director. He was born in Warsaw to a musical family: his mother Helena was of the famous Warsaw klezmer Melodysta fami ...

* * Character Lopek gets in trouble in the big city

References

1901 births 1984 deaths Actors from Łódź Jewish cabaret performers People from Piotrków Governorate Polish male film actors Polish male silent film actors Polish cabaret performers Entertainers from Łódź Jewish Polish male actors Knights of the Order of Polonia Restituta Warsaw Ghetto inmates Holocaust survivors 20th-century Polish male actors 20th-century Polish male singers 20th-century comedians Recipient of the Meritorious Activist of Culture badge {{Poland-actor-stub