Marian Mikołaj Łącz (5 December 1921 – 2 August 1984) was a Polish international footballer who played as a forward, and later a theater and film actor.

Football

Born in

Rzeszów Rzeszów ( , ) is the largest city in southeastern Poland. It is located on both sides of the Wisłok River in the heartland of the Sandomierz Basin. Rzeszów is the capital of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship and the county seat, seat of Rzeszów C ...

, Łącz started his footballing career with his local team Resovia Rzeszów. The outbreak of World War II put his footballing career on hold until 1944, when he started playing for Sokół Rzeszów with his brother, Tadeusz. In 1946 he moved to

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

to play for

Lechia Gdańsk Lechia Gdańsk () is a Polish football (soccer), football club based in Gdańsk. As of the 2025–26 Ekstraklasa, 2025–26 season, they compete in the Ekstraklasa. The club was founded in 1945 by people Polish population transfers (1944–1946 ...

. He made his Lechia debut on 9 September 1945 against WKS 16 Dyw. Gdańsk in a 9–1 win. While being Łącz's first game for the club, it was also the club's first ever competitive game. He spent 6 months with Lechia, during which time he made 10 appearances and scored 25 goals, scoring six hat-trick in his 10 games and finishing as the club's top scorer for the season. After his time with Lechia he joined

ŁKS Łódź ŁKS Łódź (''Łódzki Klub Sportowy Łódź''; ) is a Polish sports club based in Łódź. They are best known for their football club but are represented in many sports such as basketball, volleyball, boxing, and in the past ice hockey, ...

. He had a successful time with ŁKS putting in good performances which got him the attention of the Polish media at the time. He helped ŁKS Łódź achieve promotion to the top division in 1948, playing in the I liga for ŁKS in 1949. During his time at ŁKS he proved himself to be a valuable forward finishing as the top scorer in 1948 with 17 goals and 1949 with 18 goals. In 1950 Łącz moved to

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

to join

Polonia Warsaw Polonia Warsaw (, ), founded on 19 November 1911, is the oldest existing sports club in Warsaw, the capital of Poland, best known for its Association football, football and basketball teams. It also has track and field, Swimming (sport), swimm ...

, a decision partly made due to Warsaw having the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy. While with Polonia he again showed his goal-scoring prowess, finishing as the club's top scorer in 1951 and 1952. In 1952 Polonia were both relegated from the

I liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

and won the

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

, beating rivals

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

in the final 1–0. It is documented that at times while playing for Polonia he was substituted before half-time so he was able to meet his acting commitments at the theater. He continued to play for Polonia in the II liga until he retired to focus on his acting career in 1956. Łącz made three international appearances for

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, making his debut on 8 May 1949 against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. The other two games came in 1950, against

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

and

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, with all three of his international caps coming in defeats for Poland.

Acting

He started acting in 1945, performing in the Rzeszów theater. He moved to

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

and studied at the

National Film School in Łódź National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ...

, eventually moving to

to perform and study at the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy. After retiring from football his acting roles became more prevalent. He mainly retired from acting in 1981, but held small roles until his death in 1984.

Personal life

His father was an officer in the army and his mother worked in theater. He had a brother, Tadeusz, who was a footballer, and had two sisters. His daughter, Laura Łącz, is an actress.

Honours

Polonia Warsaw *

: 1952

Filmography

A list of TV shows and films Łącz has had a role in. A list of TV shows and films in which Łącz was part of the cast, but not as an acting role.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Łącz, Marian 1921 births 1984 deaths People from Rzeszów Footballers from Subcarpathian Voivodeship Male actors from Subcarpathian Voivodeship Polish men's footballers Polish male stage actors Polish male television actors Polish male film actors Poland men's international footballers Men's association football forwards Resovia (football) players Lechia Gdańsk players ŁKS Łódź players Polonia Warsaw players Ekstraklasa players Recipients of the Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the People's Republic of Poland Burials at Powązki Cemetery 20th-century Polish sportsmen