Anupras Lauciūnas (born 10 January 1926) is a Lithuanian former stage and film actor, and director of the first Lithuanian television broadcast along with

Vitalis Gruodis Vitalis Gruodis (24 March 1921 – 30 December 2011) was a Lithuanian theater actor and director of the first Lithuanian television broadcast. He is the father of director Rimantas Gruodis. Gruodis is responsible for creating around thirty docume ...

Biography

Early life and theatre career

Anupras Lauciūnas was born on 10 January 1926 in the town of Panemunis of the

Rokiškis district Rokiškis () is a list of cities in Lithuania, city in northeastern Lithuania, close to the Latvia–Lithuania border, with a population of 11,606 (2023). The city is a capital of the Rokiškis District Municipality with a population of 28,715 (20 ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. In 1944 Lauciūnas graduated from the

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

School of Fine Arts. In 1949 he graduated from the Lithuanian National Drama Theatre studio headed by

Kazimiera Kymantaitė Kazimiera Kymantaitė (June 29, 1909 – May 21, 1999) (Surname by the first marriage: Gregorauskienė, by the second marriage: Banaitienė) was a Soviet and Lithuanian stage and film actress, Lithuania's first female professional stage director.

and began working as an actor in an official capacity for a total of ten years. Here he met fellow actors

and . Lauciūnas also studied at the Borisas Dauguvietis drama studio based in Vilnius. Although Lauciūnas often played roles in children's plays, he also played parts in plays directed by Kazimiera Kymantaitė, , , and Vitalis Gruodis. Lauciūnas underlined plays such as

Konstantin Simonov Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov, born Kirill Mikhailovich Simonov (, – 28 August 1979), was a Soviet author, war poet, playwright and wartime correspondent,Константин Михайлович Симонов // " Литературна� ...

's ''"Po Prahos kaštonais"'',

Boris Gorbatov Boris Gorbatov (1908–1954) was a Soviet novelist. Born in the Donbas region in Ukraine, he moved to Moscow at the age of 18 and joined the Communist Party in 1930. He was a military correspondent during World War Two. Legacy Gorbatov is best ...

's ''"Tėvų jaunystė"'' and especially

Antanas Vienuolis Antanas Vienuolis (born Antanas Žukauskas; 7 April 1882 — 17 August 1957) was a Lithuanian writer, dramatist and one of the most famous realistic prosaists. Biography Vienuolis was born on April 7, 1882, in Ažuožeriai, Anykščiai Di ...

' ''"Paskenduolė"'', the latter being described by Lauciūnas, who acted as a priest, as the first time Lithuanians were exposed to a mass of operators, assistants, lights and filming machinery in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. The performance in Moscow inspired Vitalis Gruodis to pursue a similar style of production at home, and he suggested they go to

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

for additional studies.

Television career

Vitalis Gruodis was made responsible for assembling a team that would prepare broadcasts. From 20 February 1957, Lauciūnas began working as Gruodis' assistant. In the summer of the same year, along with cameraman Jurgis Čepulis, Lauciūnas broadcast the first television broadcast in Lithuania from

Šiauliai Šiauliai ( ; ) is a city in northern Lithuania, the List of cities in Lithuania, country's fourth largest city and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, sixth largest city in the Baltic States, with a population of 112 581 in 202 ...

along with Vitalis Gruodis. Lauciūnas described working in the newly founded television studio as working "in a team of fire-fighters", due to the amount of pressure he received from being assigned difficult tasks. He further worked in various television editorials as senior director. In 1963 he acted in the film ''Beržai svyruokliai''.

Later years

Lauciūnas acted in the 1993 TV show ''Giminės''. Lauciūnas worked as the manager of the television directors' department from 1994. Lauciūnas also directed the TV show ''Nakviša''. In 1996 Lauciūnas received the ''Auksinė bitė'' (Golden bee) award. He retired from television on 9 August 1999. In 2013 he acted in '' Laiškai Sofijai'', a movie dedicated to

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (; – ) was a Lithuanian composer, painter, choirmaster, cultural figure, and writer in Polish. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and Art Nouveau, and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. ...

. In 2018 Lauciūnas received the ''Auksine bitė'' award for the second time.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauciūnas, Anupras 1926 births Living people Lithuanian actors Lithuanian television presenters Lithuanian directors