| Joanna Szczepkowska | |
| Birth Date: | 1 May 1953 |
| Birth Place: | Warsaw, Poland |
| Nationality: | Polish |
| Education: | National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw |
| Occupation: | Actress, writer |
| Years Active: | 1975-present |
| Awards: | Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2007) |
Joanna Szczepkowska (Polish pronunciation: ; born 1 May 1953) is a Polish film and theatre actress and writer. She appeared in more than thirty films since 1975.
She made her debut on television in 1975 by appearing in episode 1 of the cult 1970s TV series Czterdziestolatek (The Forty-Year-Old). The same year, she graduated from the National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw. She worked as a theatre actress for such institutions as Teatr Współczesny in Warsaw (1975–1981), the Polish Theatre (1981–1988), Teatr Powszechny (1988–1992, 2000–2004) and Teatr Dramatyczny (2006–2010).[1]
Throughout her career she appeared in numerous films including Jan Batory's 1975 film Con amore, Janusz Zaorski's 1982 film The Mother of Kings, Andrzej Wajda's 1986 film A Chronicle of Amorous Accidents, Krzysztof Kieślowski's 1988 , Izabela Cywińska's 1996 film Boża podszewka, Paweł Komorowski's 1998 film Syzyfowe prace, Rafał Wieczyński's 2009 biopic Popiełuszko. Wolność jest w nas and Juliusz Machulski's 2017 film Volta.[1]
In 1997, she published a collection of poetry titled Miasta do wynajęcia.
In 2007, she was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta.[2]
In 2010, she was elected President of the Union of Polish Stage Actors (ZASP), the first woman to hold this post.[3]
She runs her own theatre named Teatr Na dole.[4]
On 28 October 1989, during a live interview on the main state-run evening news programme Dziennik Telewizyjny (Television Journal), she made a historic statement in which she publicly announced the end of communism in Poland:
This statement went down in history as a symbol of the political changes which took place in the country after the 1989 Polish legislative election, the first partially free elections in Poland after the World War II.[5]
She is the daughter of actor Andrzej Szczepkowski, and Roma née Parandowska, and the granddaughter of Jan Parandowski.[6]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | The Mother of Kings | Marta Król | ||
| 1986 | A Chronicle of Amorous Accidents | Cecylia | ||
| 1998 | Syzyfowe prace | Borowicz's mother |