Anna Dymna

Anna Dymna (née Dziadyk, born 20 July 1951 in Legnica) is a celebrated Polish television, film and theatre actress whose career spans more than five decades. She originally intended to study psychology, but after passing the entrance exam for the Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts in Kraków she devoted herself to acting. While still a student she performed at the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre, appearing as Isia and Chochoł in Stanisław Wyspiański's Wesele in 1969, and made her film debut in Henryk Kluba's Pięć i pół bladego Józka (1971), a work that never reached cinemas. Her first widely‑seen screen role was as Gabrysia in Szerokiej drogi, kochanie the same year, and she quickly became a household name through the TV series Janosik (1973) where she portrayed Klarysa. Subsequent iconic roles such as Ania Pawlak in the cult comedies Nie ma mocnych and Kochaj, albo rzuć cemented her popularity, while collaborations with director Jerzy Hoffman added dramatic depth to her résumé. Upon graduating, Dymna joined the National Helena Modrzejewska Old Theatre in Kraków, where she embodied a wide spectrum of characters—from the delicate Kora in Noc listopadowa to Chekhov's Ania in The Cherry Orchard, and later challenging parts in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain and Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. Over her prolific career she has accumulated roughly 250 theatrical and cinematic roles, admired for a natural charm that combines girlish freshness with mature emotional resonance. Beyond the stage, Dymna has devoted herself to cultural activism and humanitarian causes. In 2002 she founded the Cracow Poetry Salon, a weekly gathering that brings together distinguished actors and poets to read aloud, an initiative later honored with the Nike Award in 2003 for its regional cultural impact. Her charitable spirit materialised in the 1999 collaboration with the St. Brother Albert Foundation and the 2001 creation of the “Albertiana” National Festival of Theatre and Musical Works of Disabled Persons, and culminated in 2003 with the establishment of her own foundation Mimo Wszystko (“Against the Odds”), which seeks to improve living conditions for the poor and disabled while dismantling mental barriers between them and the broader society. Dymna also co‑authored the television programme Spotkajmy się (“Let's meet”), in which she engages ill and disabled guests in intimate conversations about love, acceptance, loneliness, happiness, faith and hope. Her extensive list of honours includes multiple Golden Mask awards, a Golden Lions prize, the Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2004), the Order of the Smile, the Silver Cross of Merit, and the Superwiktor, among many others, reflecting both artistic excellence and civic dedication. In her personal life she has been married three times—to artist Wiesław Dymny (1971‑1978), to Zbigniew Szota (1983‑1989) with whom she has a son, Michał (born 1985), and currently to actor‑director Krzysztof Orzechowski—continuing to blend a vibrant family life with an unwavering commitment to the arts and philanthropy.