Joanna Kanska (born 1 April 1957) is a Polish-British actress who has worked in films, television, theatre and radio. She migrated to the United Kingdom in 1984.
Career
Born in
Nowy Sącz, she attended the
National Film School in Łódź from 1976 to 1980.
Kanska's best known roles on television were as a Polish academic, Grete Gretowska, in the second series of the BBC's ''
A Very Peculiar Practice'' (1988) (and a sequel, ''A Very Polish Practice'' in 1992), ‘’
The New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
, as Sirkka Nieminen in ''
Capital City
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses t ...
'' (1990) and as
KGB
The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...
Major Nina Grishna in the BBC's mini-series ''
Sleepers
''Sleepers'' is a 1996 American legal crime drama film written, produced, and directed by Barry Levinson, and based on Lorenzo Carcaterra's 1995 book of the same name. The film stars Kevin Bacon, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Robert De Niro, Dustin H ...
'' (1991).
She also played the part of Greta Beaumont, a
Sudeten German woman, in the first episode of
Foyle's War
''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by '' Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...
.
Personal life
Shortly after her arrival in the UK, Kanska married Polish artist Kaz Kanski after a romance of a few weeks. They were divorced five years later, but she retained her married name (the feminine version of Kanski). She has a son named Christopher from a subsequent relationship.
Notes
External links
*
1959 births
Living people
English television actresses
Polish emigrants to the United Kingdom
{{UK-tv-actor-stub