The Most Famous

ACTORS from Poland

This page contains a list of the greatest Polish Actors. The pantheon dataset contains 13,578 Actors, 95 of which were born in Poland. This makes Poland the birth place of the 17th most number of Actors behind Sweden, and Türkiye.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Polish Actors of all time. This list of famous Polish Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Polish Actors.

1. Klaus Kinski (1926 - 1991)

With an HPI of 75.81, Klaus Kinski is the most famous Polish Actor. His biography has been translated into 56 different languages on wikipedia.

Klaus Kinski (German: [klaʊs ˈkɪnskiː] , born Klaus Günter Karl Nakszynski 18 October 1926 – 23 November 1991) was a German actor. Equally renowned for his intense performance style and notorious for his volatile personality, he appeared in over 130 film roles in a career that spanned 40 years, from 1948 to 1988. He is best known for starring in five films directed by Werner Herzog from 1972 to 1987 (Aguirre, the Wrath of God; Nosferatu the Vampyre; Woyzeck; Fitzcarraldo; and Cobra Verde), who would later chronicle their tumultuous relationship in the documentary My Best Fiend. Kinski's roles spanned multiple genres, languages, and nationalities, including Spaghetti Westerns, horror films, war films, dramas, and Edgar Wallace krimi films. His infamy was elevated by a number of eccentric creative endeavors, including a one-man show based on the life of Jesus Christ, a biopic of violinist Niccolò Paganini directed by and starring himself, and over twenty spoken word albums. Kinski was prone to emotional and often violent outbursts aimed at his directors and fellow cast members, issues complicated by a history of mental illness. Herzog described him as "one of the greatest actors of the century, but also a monster and a great pestilence." Posthumously, he was accused of physically and sexually abusing his daughter Pola. His notoriety and prolific output have developed into a widespread cult following and a reputation as a popular icon.

2. Pola Negri (1897 - 1987)

With an HPI of 71.67, Pola Negri is the 2nd most famous Polish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 50 different languages.

Pola Negri (; born Barbara Apolonia Chałupiec [apɔˈlɔɲa xaˈwupʲɛt͡s]; 3 January 1897 – 1 August 1987) was a Polish stage and film actress and singer. She achieved worldwide fame during the silent and golden eras of Hollywood and European film for her tragedienne and femme fatale roles. She was also acknowledged as a sex symbol of her time. Raised in the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Negri's childhood was marked by several personal hardships: After her father was sent to Siberia, she was raised by her single mother in poverty, and suffered tuberculosis as a teenager. Negri recovered, and went on to study ballet and acting in Warsaw, Poland, becoming a well-known stage actress there. In 1917, she relocated to Germany, where she began appearing in silent films for the Berlin-based UFA studio. Her film performances for UFA came to the attention of Hollywood executives at Paramount Pictures, who offered her a film contract. Negri signed with Paramount in 1922, making her the first European actress to be contracted in Hollywood. She spent much of the 1920s working in the United States appearing in numerous films for Paramount, establishing herself as one of the most popular actresses in American silent film. In the 1930s, during the emergence of sound film, Negri returned to Europe, where she appeared in multiple films for Pathé Films and UFA, and also began a career as a recording artist. She made only two films after 1940, her last screen credit being in Walt Disney's The Moon-Spinners (1964). Negri spent her later life largely outside the public sphere. She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1951, and spent the remainder of her life living in San Antonio, Texas. In 1987, aged 90, she died of pneumonia secondary to a brain tumor for which she refused treatment.

3. Hanna Schygulla (b. 1943)

With an HPI of 70.16, Hanna Schygulla is the 3rd most famous Polish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 46 different languages.

Hanna Schygulla (German: [ˈhana ʃyˈɡʊla] ; born 25 December 1943) is a German actress and chanson singer associated with the theater and film director Rainer Werner Fassbinder. She first worked for Fassbinder in 1965 and became an active participant in the New German Cinema. Schygulla won the 1979 Berlin Silver Bear for Best Actress for Fassbinder's The Marriage of Maria Braun, and the 1983 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for the Marco Ferreri film The Story of Piera.

4. Daniel Olbrychski (b. 1945)

With an HPI of 65.82, Daniel Olbrychski is the 4th most famous Polish Actor. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Daniel Marcel Olbrychski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈdaɲɛl ˈmart͡sɛl ɔlˈbrɨxskʲi]; born 27 February 1945) is a Polish film and theatre actor who is widely considered one of the greatest Polish actors of his generation. He appeared in 180 films and TV productions and is best known for leading roles in several Andrzej Wajda movies including The Promised Land and also known for playing a defector and spymaster Vassily Orlov alongside Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie in the movie Salt.

5. Lilli Palmer (1914 - 1986)

With an HPI of 65.62, Lilli Palmer is the 5th most famous Polish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 35 different languages.

Lilli Palmer (German: [ˈlɪ.li ˈpal.mɐ] ; born Lilli Marie Peiser; 24 May 1914 – 27 January 1986) was a German actress and writer. After beginning her career in British films in the 1930s, she would later transition to major Hollywood productions, earning a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance in But Not for Me (1959). Other notable roles include in the comedy The Pleasure of His Company (1961), the Spanish horror film The House That Screamed (1969), and in the miniseries Peter the Great (1986), which earned her another Golden Globe Award nomination. For her career in European films, Palmer won the Volpi Cup, and the Deutscher Filmpreis three times.

6. Barbara Brylska (b. 1941)

With an HPI of 65.02, Barbara Brylska is the 6th most famous Polish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Barbara Brylska (born 29 May 1941) is a Polish actress who gained critical acclaim in the 1960s and was featured in numerous films throughout the countries of the Warsaw Pact including the Soviet Union. She is noted especially for her role as Nadya in the 1976 Soviet comedy film Irony of Fate.

7. Krystyna Janda (b. 1952)

With an HPI of 64.39, Krystyna Janda is the 7th most famous Polish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Krystyna Jolanta Janda (Polish: [krɨˈstɨ.na ˈjan.da]; born 18 December 1952) is a Polish film and theatre actress, director, and singer. She is best known internationally for playing leading roles in several films by Polish film director Andrzej Wajda, including Man of Marble (Człowiek z marmuru, 1976) and Man of Iron (Człowiek z żelaza, 1981). She is widely considered one of the most popular and successful Polish actresses of her generation and an icon of Polish cinema. In 1981, she played in the Academy Award-winning movie Mephisto. In 1982, she played the lead character in Ryszard Bugajski's film Przesłuchanie (Interrogation), which first premiered seven years later in 1989, following the collapse of communism. Despite the film's late release, she garnered international acclaim for her performance, including winning Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival and Polish Film Festival in 1990. Janda is also known for her leading role in the second episode of Dekalog series of Krzysztof Kieślowski. In 2020, she won the Polish Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in drama film Dolce Fine Giornata. Her accolades and honours also include the Zbigniew Cybulski Award (1978), Gold Cross of Merit (1989), Gloria Artis Gold Medal for Merit to Culture (2005), Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta (2011), and Special Jury Award for Acting at the Sundance Film Festival (2019). Because of her prominent role in Polish culture, has been described as a "legend of Polish cinema and theatre" and a "national treasure".

8. Anny Ondra (1903 - 1987)

With an HPI of 63.02, Anny Ondra is the 8th most famous Polish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Anny Ondra (born Anna Sophie Ondráková; 15 May 1903 – 28 February 1987) was an Austrian (German) and Czech film actress. She began her career in 1920 and appeared in Czech, German, Austrian, French and English films. In 1933, she married German boxing champion Max Schmeling.

9. Aleksander Krupa (b. 1947)

With an HPI of 62.79, Aleksander Krupa is the 9th most famous Polish Actor. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Aleksander Krupa (born 18 March 1947), often credited as Olek Krupa, is a Polish-American actor, active in film and television roles and best known for playing villains and/or criminals, such as in Eraser, Blue Streak, Home Alone 3 as Peter Beaupre and The Italian Job as Mashkov. He also notably portrayed a Bosnian Serb general engaged in genocide against Bosnian Muslims in 2001's Behind Enemy Lines and portrayed the President of Russia in 2010's action thriller film Salt. Krupa continued to have minor roles in many Hollywood movies, such as X-Men: First Class, Hidden Figures, and The Fate of the Furious.

10. Dita Parlo (1906 - 1971)

With an HPI of 62.79, Dita Parlo is the 10th most famous Polish Actor. Her biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Dita Parlo (born Grethe Gerda Kornstädt or Gerda Olga Justine Kornstädt; 4 September 1908 – 12 December 1971) was a German film actress.

People

Pantheon has 95 people classified as Polish actors born between 1757 and 1995. Of these 95, 49 (51.58%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Polish actors include Hanna Schygulla, Daniel Olbrychski, and Barbara Brylska. The most famous deceased Polish actors include Klaus Kinski, Pola Negri, and Lilli Palmer. As of April 2024, 95 new Polish actors have been added to Pantheon including Klaus Kinski, Pola Negri, and Hanna Schygulla.