Remembering Leon Niemczyk

Leon Stanislaw Niemczyk was born on December 15, 1923 in Warsaw, Poland. He served in the 444th 97 anti-aircraft battalion 3rd Infantry Division United States Army, commanded by General George Patton. After the war he returned to Poland and worked in Warsaw touring in the Theatre Musical Comedy (1948), the Coastal Theatre in Gdańsk (1949 ) and then in Bydgoszcz the Pomeranian Earth Theatre (1950-1953). From 1953 until 1979 he worked in the Common Theatre in Lodz. Since 1979 he has worked only in films.

 
Niemczyk appeared in over 500 films and television shows over the course of his very long career. His most memorable roles were Fulko de Lorche in Aleksander Ford's “The Teutonic Knights? and Andrzej in Roman Polanski's “Knife in the Water”. Among his many films were four Euro-westerns: “Apaches” (1973) as Ramon, “Death for Zapata” (1976) as Ariola, “Severino” (1977) as an army sergeant and “The Long Ride from School” (1981) where he played an outlaw.
 
In 1985 he was awarded the Officer's Cross, and in 1999 the Commander's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta Polish and in 1998, on the street. Piotrowska in Lodz, Poland they unveiled his star, in the newly created Walk of Fame.
 
His brother was the violinist Waclaw Niemczyk [1907-1978]. He was married twice, once to actress Tatiana Zuanar and had a daughter Monica. He was also the uncle of actress Monica Niemczyk and had three grandchildren.
 
Leon died of lung cancer on November 29, 2006 in Lodz.
 
Today we remember Leon Niemczyk on what would have been his 90^th birthday.