Eugeniusz Bodo
Encyclopedia
Eugeniusz Bodo was a film director
, producer
and one of the most popular Polish
actor
s and comedian
s of the inter-war period. He starred
in some of the most popular Polish film productions of the 1930s, including His Excellency, The Shop Assistant
, Czy Lucyna to dziewczyna? and Pieśniarz Warszawy
. A skilled singer, he became one of the icons of Polish musical comedies of the time and a symbol of Polish commercial cinema. Towards the end of that decade he also became a successful entrepreneur, a co-owner of a successful film studio, a café and a producers company. Arrested by the Soviets in the aftermath of the German and Soviet invasion of Poland, he perished in the Gulag
.
, Łódź and Geneva
, Switzerland
.. His mother was Jadwiga Anna Dorota née Dylewska. His father, Teodor Junod, was a Swiss citizen (possibly of Jewish ancestry) who moved to Russian-held Poland
and in 1903 settled in Łódź. There he opened a revue-cinema Urania - the first permanent cinema
theatre in that city. It was there that Bodo made his stage debut at the age of six.
In 1917 Junod moved to Poznań
where he joined "Teatr Apollo". In 1919 (under a new stage name of Eugeniusz Bodo, the surname created from the initials of his own first name Bohdan and his mother's - Dorota) he started acting in various Warsaw
-based theatres, variété
s and cabarets (Qui Pro Quo, Perskie Oko and Cyrulik Warszawski being the most famous). He also played major roles in Warsaw-based "Teatr Polski" and Wilno-based "Teatr Lutnia".
He is best known for his film roles; he played in more than thirty films. His screen debut was a 1925 silent film Rywale. With the advent of sound film
Bodo in a matter of years became one of the best-known Polish actors. Usually appearing in musical comedies, already in 1932 he was voted the King of Polish Actors by the Film magazine's readers. His popularity rose following three mistaken identity comedies: 1933 His Excellency, The Shop Assistant
, 1935 His Excellency, the Chauffeur (both directed by Michał Waszyński and co-starring Ina Benita) and 1934 Czy Lucyna to dziewczyna? (co-starring Jadwiga Smosarska). Always appearing well-dressed, in 1936 Bodo was awarded the title of King of Style by the readers of Film magazine.
In 1931 Bodo became a co-founder of the B.W.B. film studio, and, in 1933, he opened a private producers' company "Urania", named after his fathers' cinema in Łódź. His best-known film was 1937 Piętro wyżej, which he wrote and produced himself. On January 10, 1939 Bodo with his business partner Zygmunt Woyciechowski opened a restaurant and a café - the "Café Bodo" - at Warsaw's prestigious Pierackiego street (modern Foksal). By that time his popularity reached far beyond the borders of Poland, to the extent that Yugoslavia
n press dubbed him Polish Maurice Chevalier
. Bodo himself toured Germany promoting Polish-made feature films on that market.
During the Invasion of Poland
he organized recitals for the Polish soldiers and civilians during the Siege of Warsaw
. He then fled to Lwów, where he joined the Tea-Jazz band led by Henryk Wars
. With that troupe he toured Soviet Union in 1940, he also published a record containing Russian language versions of his songs. Simultaneously he started efforts to leave the Soviet Union using his Swiss passport. However, shortly after the German invasion of the Soviet Union he was arrested by the NKVD
and sentenced to 5 years. Initially imprisoned in Butyrki prison in Moscow, he was not released following the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement
as the Soviet authorities argued that he was not a Pole but rather a Swiss citizen and hence the Amnesty for Polish citizens in the Soviet Union did not apply to him. Eugeniusz Bodo starved to death on his way to a remote Soviet
GULag
death camp, near Arkhangelsk
. He was declared dead on October 7, 1943.
His whereabouts remained unknown for another 50 years, before the collapse of communism in 1989 the Soviets gave the false version that Bodo had been murdered by the Germans in 1941. This version is repeated even in some modern publications. It was only in 1991 that the Soviet authorities revealed his fate. The tragic circumstances surrounding Bodo's death became the subject of a documentary by Stanisław Janicki Eugeniusz Bodo: Za winy niepopełnione (For Crimes Not Committed). The title of the 1997 documentary refers to a 1938 film in which Bodo starred.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and one of the most popular Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
s of the inter-war period. He starred
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
in some of the most popular Polish film productions of the 1930s, including His Excellency, The Shop Assistant
His Excellency, The Shop Assistant
His Excellency, The Shop Assistant is a 1933 Polish romantic comedy film directed by Michał Waszyński.-Cast:*Eugeniusz Bodo ... Jurek, the shop assistant*Konrad Tom ... Mr. Porecki*Mieczyslawa Cwiklinska ... Mrs. Idalia Porecka...
, Czy Lucyna to dziewczyna? and Pieśniarz Warszawy
Piesniarz Warszawy
Pieśniarz Warszawy is a 1934 Polish film directed by Michał Waszyński.-Cast:*Eugeniusz Bodo ... Julian Pagórski*Maria Gorczyńska ... Peppita*Barbara Gilewska ... Zosia*Michał Znicz ... Eustachy, Julian's uncle*Władysław Walter ... Duży Antoś...
. A skilled singer, he became one of the icons of Polish musical comedies of the time and a symbol of Polish commercial cinema. Towards the end of that decade he also became a successful entrepreneur, a co-owner of a successful film studio, a café and a producers company. Arrested by the Soviets in the aftermath of the German and Soviet invasion of Poland, he perished in the Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
.
Biography
Bohdan Eugène Junod was born December 28, 1899. His birthplace however is not certain, sources mention WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Łódź and Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.. His mother was Jadwiga Anna Dorota née Dylewska. His father, Teodor Junod, was a Swiss citizen (possibly of Jewish ancestry) who moved to Russian-held Poland
Congress Poland
The Kingdom of Poland , informally known as Congress Poland , created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, was a personal union of the Russian parcel of Poland with the Russian Empire...
and in 1903 settled in Łódź. There he opened a revue-cinema Urania - the first permanent cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
theatre in that city. It was there that Bodo made his stage debut at the age of six.
In 1917 Junod moved to Poznań
Poznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
where he joined "Teatr Apollo". In 1919 (under a new stage name of Eugeniusz Bodo, the surname created from the initials of his own first name Bohdan and his mother's - Dorota) he started acting in various Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
-based theatres, variété
Varieté
Variety is a 1925 silent drama film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont based on the novel Der Eid des Stephan Huller by . Jannings portrays "Boss Huller," an ex-trapeze artist who runs a seedy carnival with his wife and child...
s and cabarets (Qui Pro Quo, Perskie Oko and Cyrulik Warszawski being the most famous). He also played major roles in Warsaw-based "Teatr Polski" and Wilno-based "Teatr Lutnia".
He is best known for his film roles; he played in more than thirty films. His screen debut was a 1925 silent film Rywale. With the advent of sound film
Sound film
A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades would pass before sound motion pictures were made commercially...
Bodo in a matter of years became one of the best-known Polish actors. Usually appearing in musical comedies, already in 1932 he was voted the King of Polish Actors by the Film magazine's readers. His popularity rose following three mistaken identity comedies: 1933 His Excellency, The Shop Assistant
His Excellency, The Shop Assistant
His Excellency, The Shop Assistant is a 1933 Polish romantic comedy film directed by Michał Waszyński.-Cast:*Eugeniusz Bodo ... Jurek, the shop assistant*Konrad Tom ... Mr. Porecki*Mieczyslawa Cwiklinska ... Mrs. Idalia Porecka...
, 1935 His Excellency, the Chauffeur (both directed by Michał Waszyński and co-starring Ina Benita) and 1934 Czy Lucyna to dziewczyna? (co-starring Jadwiga Smosarska). Always appearing well-dressed, in 1936 Bodo was awarded the title of King of Style by the readers of Film magazine.
In 1931 Bodo became a co-founder of the B.W.B. film studio, and, in 1933, he opened a private producers' company "Urania", named after his fathers' cinema in Łódź. His best-known film was 1937 Piętro wyżej, which he wrote and produced himself. On January 10, 1939 Bodo with his business partner Zygmunt Woyciechowski opened a restaurant and a café - the "Café Bodo" - at Warsaw's prestigious Pierackiego street (modern Foksal). By that time his popularity reached far beyond the borders of Poland, to the extent that Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
n press dubbed him Polish Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Chevalier
Maurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, singer, entertainer and a noted Sprechgesang performer. He is perhaps best known for his signature songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine, and Thank Heaven for Little Girls and for his films including The Love Parade and The Big Pond...
. Bodo himself toured Germany promoting Polish-made feature films on that market.
During the Invasion of Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
he organized recitals for the Polish soldiers and civilians during the Siege of Warsaw
Siege of Warsaw (1939)
The 1939 Battle of Warsaw was fought between the Polish Warsaw Army garrisoned and entrenched in the capital of Poland and the German Army...
. He then fled to Lwów, where he joined the Tea-Jazz band led by Henryk Wars
Henryk Wars
Henryk Wars was a Polish and later American pop music composer. He wrote the music for 50 films in the interwar period in Poland and sixty more in the United States...
. With that troupe he toured Soviet Union in 1940, he also published a record containing Russian language versions of his songs. Simultaneously he started efforts to leave the Soviet Union using his Swiss passport. However, shortly after the German invasion of the Soviet Union he was arrested by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
and sentenced to 5 years. Initially imprisoned in Butyrki prison in Moscow, he was not released following the Sikorski-Mayski Agreement
Sikorski-Mayski Agreement
The Sikorski–Mayski Agreement was a treaty between the Soviet Union and Poland signed in London on 30 July 1941. Its name was coined after the two most notable signatories: Polish Prime Minister Władysław Sikorski and Soviet Ambassador to the United Kingdom Ivan Mayski.- Details :After signing...
as the Soviet authorities argued that he was not a Pole but rather a Swiss citizen and hence the Amnesty for Polish citizens in the Soviet Union did not apply to him. Eugeniusz Bodo starved to death on his way to a remote Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
GULag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
death camp, near Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
. He was declared dead on October 7, 1943.
His whereabouts remained unknown for another 50 years, before the collapse of communism in 1989 the Soviets gave the false version that Bodo had been murdered by the Germans in 1941. This version is repeated even in some modern publications. It was only in 1991 that the Soviet authorities revealed his fate. The tragic circumstances surrounding Bodo's death became the subject of a documentary by Stanisław Janicki Eugeniusz Bodo: Za winy niepopełnione (For Crimes Not Committed). The title of the 1997 documentary refers to a 1938 film in which Bodo starred.
Films
- Rywale (as Geniuś) (1925)
- Czerwony błazen (1926)
- Uśmiech losu (as the dancer in a cabaret) (1927)
- Człowiek o błękitnej duszy (as the sculptor) (1929)
- Policmajster Tagiejew (as Markovskiy) (1929)
- Kult ciała (as Franciszek, Czesław's helper) (1930)
- Na Sybir (as the worker) (1930)
- Niebezpieczny romans (the main villainVillainA villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
) (1930) - Uroda życia (1930) (as Roszow) (1930)
- Wiatr od morza (as Otto) (1930)
- Bezimienni bohaterowie (as the police captain) (1932)
- Głos pustyni (as sheik Abdullah) (1932)
- Jego ekscelencja subiekt (Jurek, the title role) (1933)
- Zabawka (Kuźma, son of the forest worker) (1933)
- Czarna perła (as Stefan) (1934)
- Czy Lucyna to dziewczyna? (as Stefan Żarnowski) (1934)
- Kocha, lubi, szanuje (as pharmacy terminator Władysław) (1934)
- Pieśniarz Warszawy (as Julian) (1934)
- Jaśnie pan szofer (as Boratyński) (1935)
- Amerykańska awantura (as Paweł) (1936)
- Książątko (as Tadeusz Rolski) (1937)
- Piętro wyżej (as Henryk Pączek, radio speaker) (1937)
- Skłamałam (as Karol Borowicz) (1937)
- Paweł i Gaweł (as Paweł) (1938)
- Robert i Bertrand (as Bertrand) (1938)
- Strachy (as Zygmunt Modecki) (1938)
- Za winy niepopełnione (as Torence, Holski's friend and partner) (1938)