Final farewell to veteran Polish actor-turned-priest

Father Kazimierz Orzechowski, one of Poland’s most popular clergymen who doubled as an actor, was laid to rest at a cemetery in Skolimów near Warsaw last week.

Fr. Kazimierz Orzechowski, pictured in 2015. Photo: Powar [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]

via Wikimedia Commons

The Warsaw suburb of Skolimów was where he spent the last 14 years of his life in a home for retired actors in which he previously served as a chaplain for many years.

Acting was Orzechowski’s first vocation in life. A 1952 graduate of the renowned drama school in the central Polish city of Łódź, he worked in theatre for several years before enrolling at a seminary.

He was ordained a priest in 1968 but continued his acting career, appearing in several TV film series and in Oscar-winning director Andrzej Wajda’s feature films Man of Iron and The Maids of Wilko.

Orzechowski’s last film role was in a 2009 feature by Jacek Bławut set in the Skolimów home for retired actors.

Father Orzechowski was also known as an efficient organiser and leader of religious pilgrimages.

He died in Skolimów on August 4, aged 90.

(mk/gs)