Biography

Andrzej Seweryn was born on 25 April 1946 in Heilbronn, Germany. His parents Zdzisław and Zofia were captured and forced into slave labor in Germany during World War II. After the birth of Andrzej, they returned to Poland. In 1968 he graduated from the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Warsaw and worked at Teatr Ateneum where he continued to act until 1980.

Already in the 1970s he gained much fame following his appearance in numerous films directed by Andrzej Wajda, notably Without Anesthesia, The Promised Land and the Man of Iron. For his role in Wajda's 1980 Dyrygent Seweryn received the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the 30th Berlin International Film Festival. In 1980 Seweryn also made his stage debut in France following the staging of Wajda's interpretation of plays by Stanisław Witkiewicz at the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers.

The imposition of the Martial law in Poland in 1981 found Seweryn in France. A sympathiser of the outlawed Solidarity, he decided to stay abroad and settle in France. With time he also applied for French citizenship. During his stay in France he collaborated with some of the most renowned theatre directors. Among them were Claude Régy (La Trilogie du revoir and Grand et Petit by Botho Strauss), Patrice Chéreau (Peer Gynt by Ibsen), Peter Brook (Mahabhharata), Bernard Sobel (Nathan the Wise by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, The Good Person of Szechwan by Bertold Brecht, Tartuffe by Molière), Deborah Warner (A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen), Antoine Vitez (L'Échange by Paul Claudel), Jacques Rosner (The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov and Breakfast with Wittgenstein based on a novel by Thomas Bernhard), and Jacques Lassalle (Jedermann by Hugo von Hofmannsthal and The Misanthrope by Molière).

Since 1993 he has performed in Comédie Française in Paris (receiving full membership in 1995, as the third non-French in the history of that theatre) and taught at the Paris Conservatoire. For his contribution to French culture in 2005 was awarded with Légion d'honneur, in addition to Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and Ordre national du Mérite.

Andrzej Seweryn appeared in over fifty motion pictures, most them Polish, French and German productions. He is best known in the United States for his portrayal as Julian Scherner in the film Schindler's List. Seweryn was allegedly chosen for the role of Scherner since he bore a striking physical resemblance to the actual Julian Scherner, based upon photographic evidence from World War II. He has also portrayed the French Revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre, in the film and mini-series La Révolution française (1989) aka (The French Revolution).

His 2006 film Who Never Lived was entered into the 28th Moscow International Film Festival.

Filmography

• Beata (1965) as Pupil
• Album polski (1970) aka Polish Album as Tomek
• Przejście podziemne (1974) (TV) aka The Underground Passage
• Zaklęte rewiry (1975) aka Hotel Pacific (voice) as Henek
• Opadły liście z drzew (1975) aka Leaves Have Fallen as Smukły
• Noce i dnie (1975) aka Nights and Days as Anzelm Ostrzenski
• Ziemia Obiecana (1975) aka The Promised Land as Maks Baum
• Obrazki z życia (1975) aka Pictures From Life as Writer
• Długa noc poślubna (1977) (TV) aka Long Honeymoon
• Człowiek z marmuru (1977) aka Man of Marble (voice) as Reader
• Polskie drogi (1977) TV Series as Sturmbannführer Kliefhorn
• Bez znieczulenia (1978) aka Without Anesthesia as Jerzy Rosciszewski
• Granica (1978) aka The Limit as Zenon Ziembiewicz
• Rodzina Połanieckich (1978) TV Series as Bukacki
• Kung-Fu (1979) as Marek Kaminski
• Bestia (1979) aka Beast as Priest
• Roman i Magda (1979) aka Roman and Magda as Roman
• Dyrygent (1980) aka Orchestra Conductor as Adam Pietryk
• Golem (1980)
• Peer Gynt (1981) (TV) as Le cuisinier/Le propriétaire d'Haegstad/Le père de la mariée
• Człowiek z żelaza (1981) aka Man of Iron as Kapt. Wirski
• Dziecinne pytania (1981) aka Childish Questions as Bogdan
• Najdłuższa wojna nowoczesnej Europy (1982) TV Series as Hipolit Cegielski
• Danton (1983) as Bourdon
• Haute Mer (1984)
• La Coda del diavolo (1986) aka The Malady of Love as The pedlar
• La Femme de ma vie (1986) aka Women of My Life as Bernard
• Qui trop embrasse... (1986) as Marc
• Na srebrnym globie (1987) aka The Silver Globe as Marek
• La Révolution française (1989) aka The French Revolution as Maximilien-Marie-Isidore De Robespierre
• The Mahabharata (1989) (mini) TV Series as Yudhishthira
• La bonne Âme de Setchouan (1990) (TV) as Wang
• La Condanna (1991) aka The Conviction as Giovanni, Public attorney
• Napoléon et l'Europe (1991) (mini) TV Series
• L'Échange (1992)
• Indochine (1992) as Hebrard
• Schindler's List (1993) as Julian Scherner
• Amok (1993) as Steiner
• Le Fils du cordonnier (1994) (mini) TV Series as Célestin
• Podróż na wschód (1994) aka A Journey East as Jakub
• Total Eclipse (1995) as Mr. Maute De Fleurville
• Généalogies d'un crime (1997) aka Genealogies of a Crime as Christian
• Lucie Aubrac (1997) as Lt. Schlondorff
• Billboard (1998) as Agency Manager
• Pan Tadeusz aka Tadeusz or the Last Foray in Lithuania (1999) as Judge Soplica
• Ogniem i mieczem (1999) aka With Fire and Sword as Jeremi Wiśniowiecki
• Prymas - trzy lata z tysiąca (2000) aka The Primate as Stefan Wyszyński
• Zemsta (2002) aka The Revenge as Rejent Milczek
• Par amour (2003/I) (TV) as François
• À ton image (2004) as Professor Cardoze
• Ekipa as President Juliusz Szczęsny
• You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet! (2012)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]