Polish stage and screen actress and singer (soprano), outstanding comic actress renowned for her roles in both operettas and the classics. Cwiklinska, who came from a Polish theatrical family, made her debut in 1900 at the Teatr Ludowy (The People’s Theatre) in Warsaw in Michal Balucki’s play Grube Ryby. She toured Russia in 1906 and in 1910 went to Paris to study voice. In 1918, after appearing in various European cities, such as Dresden and Berlin, she returned to Warsaw and worked with several companies until she was invited to join the National Theatre in 1927, a position she held until 1939. Her screen debut was in 1933, and she rapidly became the most famous comic actress in pre-war Polish cinema. During the Occupation she left the stage and became a waitress, and after the war did return and worked till the spring of 1971 when she made her farewell tour in USA. (bio by: Alexey Gusev)