Pola Raksa

Apolonia "Pola" Raksa (born 14 April 1941) is a Polish movie star, singer, and model who was especially popular in Poland and abroad in the 1960s and 1970s.

Born to Edward Raksa, Pola was born in Lida. Her parents left German Nazi-occupied territory in 1943 and after the World War II settled in Wrocław (western Lesnica neighborhood).

Her career started in the 1950s, when she was spotted by a reporter of the Dookoła Świata magazine in a bar mleczny (Polish cafeteria). He took some shots of her and Raksa appeared in the magazine as Girl of the Week. Soon afterwards, she was offered her first cameos in movies. After graduating from the Liceum ogólnokształcące No.1 in Wrocław, she studied in the Wroclaw University, Department of Philologie (Polish Language). Raksa participated in the student theater Kalambur. Later she changed her major and moved to Łódź, to the National Film School in Łódź. She graduated in 1964 and in the same year debuted on stage. Between 1964 and 1968, she played in Teatr Powszechny in Łódź, then moved to Warsaw, to play in Teatr Wspolczesny (at Śródmieście, Warsaw). In 2003 readers of the Super Express daily chose her the best of all Polish blonde actresses. Raksa was awarded several prizes.

She has a son, Marcin Kostenko, with her first husband, Andrzej Kostenko.