Holoubek, Gustaw

Born Apr. 21, 1923, in Kraków. Polish actor and stage director.

After graduating from the Higher Drama School in Kraków in 1949, Holoubek performed in various theaters in Kraków, Katowice, and Warsaw. He appeared with the National Theater (Teatr Narodowy) in Warsaw from 1959 to 1965. In 1969 he was engaged as an actor and stage director at Warsaw’s Teatr Drama-tyczny, serving as artistic director since 1972.

Holoubek imbues his willful, impetuous heroes with profound meaning and sharp intellectual insight. His roles have included Goetz in Sartre’s The Devil and the Good Lord, the title roles in Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus and Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Richard II, and Konrad in Mickiewicz’s Dziady (Forefathers’ Eve). His motion-picture roles have included the Professor in Gangsters and Philanthropists, Andrzej in The Law and the Fist, and Napoleon in Marysia and Napoleon. Holoubek has also directed Fredro’s Revenge and Garczyński’s Waclaw’s Story.

Since 1970, Holoubek has been chairman of the Union of Polish Theater and Motion-picture Actors. In 1966 he was awarded the State Prize of the People’s Republic of Poland.