LEON NIEMCZYK - PROLIFIC POLISH ACTOR NIEMCZYK DIES

PROLIFIC POLISH ACTOR NIEMCZYK DIES

Polish actor LEON NIEMCZYK, who starred in director ROMAN POLANSKI's KNIFE IN THE WATER and hundreds of other films, has died. He was 82. Niemczyk died on 29 November (06) of lung cancer at his home in Lodz, the Polish news agency PAP has reported. The actor, who was considered a master of supporting roles, starred in more than 400 movies in Poland and in numerous foreign films, including this year's DAVID LYNCH movie INLAND EMPIRE. He made a name for himself in Polanksi's first feature film, 1962's Knife In The Water, playing ANDRZEJ, a bored, ambitious man and remained active until recently. During World War II, he fought the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, an ill-fated attempt to overthrow Nazi rule and after the war briefly served in the US Army in occupied Germany before returning to communist-ruled Poland. A later attempt to flee was thwarted, landing him in prison. He remained a critic of the communist rule, a stance which is believed to have cost him leading roles for four decades.