Jerzy Nowak

Jerzy Nowak (20 June 1923 – 26 March 2013) was a Polish film and theatre actor and teacher. During World War II, Nowak fought with the Polish partisans. In 1948, he graduated from the Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts in Kraków.

From 1994 on, Nowak primarily and continuously played the role of Singer Hirsch, who is a historic character in the legacy of Polish theater.In cinema, he mostly took on supporting roles as a Jew, often set during World War Two, such as in Schindler's List (directed by Steven Spielberg), or as a 'bumpkin farmer' in Three Colors: White, and as the great creative Zucker in the film The Promised Land ( directed by Andrzej Wajda).

In 2005, he made a film on the subject of death, after allegedly learning of his own illness. In his will, his corpse was to be processed in formalin by Jagiellonian University Medical College. In 2007 the documentary Existence, directed by Marcin Koszalka focuses on the problem of death. The film attracted considerable media interest, and the rumors about the actor's disease has been denied.

In autumn 2009, Austeria Publishing House released the biography of Jerzy Nowak,Book of Love, written in collaboration with his wife, who in February 2010 was awarded the prize Kraków Book of the Month