Eugeniusz Bodo

Infobox Person
name=Eugeniusz Bodo


caption=King of Polish Actors
quotation=
birth_date=birth date|1899|12|28|mf=y
birth_place=Geneva, Switzerland
dead=dead
death_date= 1943
death_place=near Kirov, Soviet Union

Eugeniusz Bodo (born Bohdan Eugène Junod) (December 28, 1899 – 1943) was a film director, producer and one of the most popular Polish actors of the inter-war period.

He was probably born in Geneva, Switzerland, as the only son of a Polish emigrant. In 1910 his family moved to Łódź, where his father opened a revue-cinema. In 1917 Junod moved to Poznań where he joined "Teatr Apollo". In 1919 (under a new name of Eugeniusz Bodo) he started acting in various Warsaw-based theatres 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. In 1932 he was granted with a title of King of Polish Actors and with King of Style in 1936. 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.

In the spring of 1939 he opened a prestigious "Cafe Bodo" in Warsaw. During the Invasion of Poland he organized recitals for the Polish soldiers and civilians during the Siege of Warsaw. During the German occupation initially he ran his cafe, mostly to let other famous Polish artists earn some money after their theatres and film companies were closed. However, the place became so popular that in 1941 Germans decided to turn it into a "Nur für Deutsche" (literally "for Germans only") cafe for the Wehrmacht and other Nazi organizations.

Bodo rented out his Cafe and moved to Lwów, where he joined the "Tea-Jazz" band led by Henryk Wars. However, he was soon arrested by the NKVD (26 June 1941), accused of espionage and, despite being a Swiss citizen, was deported to a remote Soviet GULag death camp, near Arkhangelsk.

Sentenced for 5 years in the Soviet labour camp. He was jailed in Butyrski prison in Moscow, in Ufa and Arkhangelsk; then sent to the Gulag where he died of hunger. Before the communism collapse 1989 the Soviets contend that Bodo was murdered by Germans, now we know it is not true.

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 villain) (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)

External links

* [http://www.dziennik.com/www/dziennik/kult/archiwum/07-12-04/pp-07-23-03.html"Szwajcarski paszport na Sybir,"] "Swiss passport to Siberia" by Diana Poskuta-Włodek in Nowy Dziennik, New York, 23 July 2004; in Polish.
*
* [http://www.filmpolski.pl/fp/index.php/21720 www.filmpolski.pl]

Persondata
NAME= Bodo, Eugeniusz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Actor
DATE OF BIRTH=1899-12-28
PLACE OF BIRTH=Geneva, Switzerland
DATE OF DEATH= 1943
PLACE OF DEATH=near Kirov, Soviet Union