2024-07-17 07:57:42
Polish actor, director and screenwriter Jerzy Stuhr, best known in the Czech Republic for his role in the sci-fi comedy Sexmise, died at the age of 77. In the 1980s, tens of millions of Eastern European viewers flocked to the cinemas. The actor suffered a heart attack a few years ago, and now doctors have diagnosed him with cancer of the larynx. His son Maciej Stuhr reported the death on the Polish server Onet.
Sexmise was declared the best local comedy of the century in Poland in the early 1980s, Stuhr won the award for best comedy actor. The film became a hit in the former Eastern Bloc thanks to its humor, criticism of the system, but also daring scenes. “It was a problem in Russia. For distribution there, the film had to be renamed New Amazons. Under the title Sexmise, the film could only be released when Gorbachev came to power. Film Polski, however, allowed bold erotic scenes. Polish censors were never as prudish as Soviet ones, ” commented the actor in an interview for Hospodářské noviny.
In Sexmis, Stuhr portrayed one of the volunteers who wakes up later than planned for a scientific experiment after being artificially frozen. They find themselves in the 21st century, where only women live. Men died out on Earth and women became self-sufficient, the “stronger sex” is their enemy.
Jerzy Stuhr and Marek Eben at the Karlovy Vary Festival in 2011. | Photo: René Volfík
In addition, Jerzy Stuhr acted in the film Big Animal from 2000, which he also directed himself, in Andrzej Wajda’s drama Without Anesthesia or in the dramas Klid and Amatér by the award-winning director Krzysztof Kieslowski. In Poland, he was also known for dubbing the donkey in the animated fairy tale Shrek.
Stuhr visited the Karlovy Vary festival in 2011, and two years later, Prague’s Febiofest awarded him the Kristián award for his contribution to world cinema. On that occasion, four of his films were screened in the Czech capital.
The Polish native spoke in front of the local audience, for example, about the impact Sexmise had on his career. “This role didn’t change my life, but it changed my position. I was included in the rank of comedy actors, even though I’m not one. I’ve been shooting in Italy for the last few years, and when they once presented Sexmisi there, everyone at the festival in Trieste was surprised that I could act comedy role,” he said.
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