Krzysztof Kolberger; photo - PAP

Krzysztof Kolberger, one of the most prominent and popular Polish actors, has died at 60 after a two-decade battle with cancer.

His accounts of his two surgeries and treatment, and of the way he coped with the disease, working whenever his condition allowed him, were a source of hope for many people.

The director of the National Theatre Jan Englert said in his tribute: He fought with cancer in a heroic way as well as silently’. Actress Joanna Szczepkowska said there was something sacred in the way he endured his suffering. ‘There was always a smile on his face. We have to keep this in our memory because he was doing it for us. He chose to emanate the good."

Having graduated from the State Higher Theatre School in Warsaw in 1972,  Kolberger made his stage debut in the Silesian capital of Katowice, but very soon was engaged by the National Theatre in Warsaw where he skyrocketed to fame for his roles in Polish 19th-century repertoire, including Mickiewicz’s Forefathers’ Eve and Wypiański’s The Wedding.

He remained with the National Theatre company until 1982, and was later a member of the companies of Warsaw’s Waspółczesny (1982-87) and Ateneum (1988-2000) Theatres.

He gained a great reputation for his interpretations of poetry by Goethe, T.S. Eliot, Polish Romantic poets, Czesław Miłosz and Karol Wojtyła – Pope John Paul II.  During the days of mourning after the Pope’s death, he read out the Pope’s testament, which he later recalled as one of the most difficult challenges in his acting career.

He made numerous appearances as narrator  in oratorio performances (Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc and Penderecki’s St Luke Passion).

Kolberger had to credit numerous roles in TV Drama as well as in many films by such directors as Andrzej Wajda and Krzysztof Zanussi. He also started a career as an opera director.  (mk)