Tomasz Karolak (born Karolak Tomasz Pawel on 21 June 1971 in

Radom Radom is a city in east-central Poland, located approximately south of the capital, Warsaw. It is situated on the Mleczna River in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), having previously been the seat of a separate Radom Voivodeship (1975� ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

) is a Polish actor.

Biography

He was born in Radom, where his parents – Hanna and Andrzej Karolak – were officers of the

Polish People's Army The Polish People's Army ( pl, Ludowe Wojsko Polskie , LWP) constituted the second formation of the Polish Armed Forces in the East in 1943–1945, and in 1945–1989 the armed forces of the Polish communist state ( from 1952, the Polish Pe ...

during the

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...

(they served in the Air Regiment and Missile Squadron). He appeared in the comedy television series ''

Bao-Bab, czyli zielono mi ''Bao-Bab, czyli zielono mi'' is a Polish comedy television series broadcast in 2003. Twelve episodes were aired on TVP1. It was directed by Jan Kidawa-Błoński and Krzysztof Lang and revolves around the adventures of the first female unit ...

'' in 2003. He lived among others in Ustronie Morskie,

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 ...

and

Mińsk Mazowiecki Mińsk Mazowiecki () "''Masovian Minsk''") is a town in eastern Poland with 40,999 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999) and is a part of the Warsaw Agglomeration. It is the capital of Mińsk County. Locate ...

, where he was involved in drama club work. After the failed exam to theater school in Warsaw, he got a degree in rehabilitation at the

University of Warsaw The University of Warsaw ( pl, Uniwersytet Warszawski, la, Universitas Varsoviensis) is a public university in Warsaw, Poland. Established in 1816, it is the largest institution of higher learning in the country offering 37 different fields o ...

. On his fourth try, he got into Kraków's

National Theatre School The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, french: École nationale de théâtre du Canada) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants aw ...

, graduating in 1997. He worked as a salesman and builder, and in college he was a bodyguard.

Career

He has performed in theaters 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 1596 ...

: in the Julius Slovak (1997–1999), Scenes STU (1997–1999), New in Lodz (1999–2003, 2005) and at theaters in Warsaw: Assembly Plant (2002), National (2003-2004), Variety (2005) and Art Centre M25 insk 25(2006). In 2003, during the XXVIII Opole Theatre Confrontations in Opole received the award for her role acting in the play "The Water Hen" Witkiewicz at the New Theatre in Lodz. He made his big screen debut in the film role of sentinel The Big Animal (2000). He became popular in the TV series Kryminalni (2004-2007) as a senior midshipman Szczepan Żałoda. He appeared in three seasons of the series 39 i pół in the Darek Jankowski role. In September 2008, he was the fourth jury member in the show "Jak oni śpiewają" (Soapstar Superstar). In March 2010 he opened his own theater called Teatr IMKA. In 2010 he won the prize for the most beautiful guy not in the competition "Szymon Majewski Show". He was an Ambassador of the Polish Championships in long distance triathlon on Drought Herbalife Triathlon 2011 and a member of the triathlon AT Team. On 1 February 2013 he released the first single, titled "Just Be", promoting the debut studio album. The lyrics were written by

Paweł Kukiz Paweł Piotr Kukiz (born 24 June 1963) is a Polish politician, singer and actor. He is the leader of Kukiz'15, a non-partisan political alliance campaigning for single-member districts, and was a candidate in the 2015 presidential election, in whi ...

. In addition, the song was also made in the Valentine's Day episode Rodzinka.pl. The premiere will take place as announced in the autumn of the same year. The album will be released by the record label Magic Records. He started his music career creating a band called "Pączki w Tłuszczu" and realising a single "Tylko bądź", which text is written by

. In 2019, he made a guest appearance on the Big Brother show. In 2020, he was nominated for the Telekamera "TeleTygodnia" in the "actor" category.

Awards

* 2009 –

Telekamery Telekamery awards are Polish awards presented annually by '' TeleTydzień'' magazine since 1998. Its ceremonies were broadcast by TVP2 between 1998–2009 and 2015–2016, and by TV Puls in 2020. The 2010 ceremony was streamed via Interia.pl In ...

Award in the Actor category * 2014 – Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karolak 1971 births Living people People from Radom Polish male film actors Polish male singers Polish male stage actors Polish television actors Recipients of the Bronze Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis