Kazimierz Wichniarz

Before The Deluge

Kazimierz Wichniarz was born in Poznań on 18 January 1915 and died in Warsaw on 26 June 1995. He studied at the Polish Theatre’s acting studio in Poznań in 1931–1934. From 1957 until the end of 1988 he belonged to Warsaw’s National Theatre company¹.

Zagłoba on screen

He played Jan Onufry Zagłoba in The Deluge². Mieczysław Pawlikowski played the character in Colonel Wołodyjowski³. Each Trilogy adaptation has its own cast.

Zagłoba invites comparison between comedy and influence on other characters. In the novel, his speech can be boasting, a trick or a way to change a situation; a screen performance communicates this through intonation, reaction and conversational timing. Compare moments when he talks about himself with those when he acts for his friends⁴.

Theatre, radio and an anniversary

PAP lists Czepiec in The Wedding, Claudius in Hamlet and the mayor in The Government Inspector. Wichniarz marked fifty years of acting in 1984 with Dyndalski in The Revenge. The account also reports 270 radio roles¹. Zagłoba belongs within a long career spanning screen, stage and voice.

The Deluge guide places his performance within the adaptation and the whole crew’s work.

Why did the actor playing Zagłoba change?

In Hoffman’s 1975 account, Pawlikowski was to return to the role but withdrew after a heart attack. Wichniarz replaced him⁵.

Moustache, eyelid and simulated riding

Wichniarz described Maria Lasnowska’s make-up: a larger, forked moustache and an applied forehead scar; he lowered his eyelid himself. Hoffman explained that the most demanding riding shots placed the actor on a car, filmed alongside mounted officers⁶. These practical details come from participants in the production.

Zagłoba before Hoffman

Wichniarz already knew the character from radio: he played Zagłoba in Edward Płaczek’s radio Trilogy. In the 1975 report he regretted the reduction of the character’s adventures, particularly the mission to Lubomirski with Wołodyjowski⁷.

What did he look like as Zagłoba?

Photographs in FINA’s repository show Wichniarz as Zagłoba, including pictures with Braunek, Olbrychski and Łomnicki. The archive credits photographers including Jerzy Troszczyński and Franciszek Kądziołka⁸.