He was born on 27th April 1905, in Włocławek. He was a theatre and film actor.
In 1924, he completed voice and drama courses conducted by H.J. Hryniecka in Warsaw. The same year, he made his début on stage of the Polish Theatre in Katowice. In the years 1925-1926, he performed on stages of the so-called Zjednoczone Teatry Pomorskie Bydgoszcz-Toruń-Grudziądz (United Pomeranian Theatres Bydgoszcz–Toruń–Grudziądz). Jan Rudnicki spent the following theatrical season 1926-1927 at the City Theatre in Lublin. Then, he started working for Teatr Praski in Warsaw (in the years 1927-1928). In 1928, he worked for the City Theatre in Łódź and the Municipal Theatre in Toruń. After that, he went on to perform on stage of Teatr Nowy in Poznań (in the years 1930-1931), the Polish Theatre in Warsaw (in the years 1931-1933), the Municipal Theatre in Grodno (in the years 1933-1935), and Teatry Towarzystwa Krzewienia Kultury Teatralnej (it roughly translates to ‘Theatres run by the Society for the Propagation of Theatre Culture’) (in the years 1935-1937), successively.
The outbreak of the Second World War forced him to put his theatre career on hold. Since Jan Rudnicki lived in Warsaw at the time, he became involved in the resistance movement and fought during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944.
He returned to theatre stages in 1945 and decided to work for the Municipal Theatre in Częstochowa. Later on, he worked for the Polish Theatre in Poznań (in the years 1948-1949) and the Drama Theatres in Poznań (in the years 1949-1955). Then, he started performing on stages of four theatres in Łódź, namely the New Theatre (in the years 1955-1960), Powszechny Theatre (in the years 1960-1962), Teatr 7.15 (in the years 1962-1963), and then again at the New Theatre (from 1963 until his retirement in 1981).
Jan Rudnicki was also a film actor. He played in two films directed by Jan Batory, i.e. in ,,Odwiedziny prezydenta” (1961) and in ,,Ostatni kurs” / “The Last Cruise” (1963). In 1964, he partnered up with Halina Kossobudzka, who was born in Grudziądz, in the film ,,Panienka z okienka” / “A Lady from the Window” directed by Maria Kaniewska. In 1967, he played Helmut Kloss, uncle of the main protagonist Hans Kloss, in the very first episode of the cult TV series ,,Stawka większa niż życie” / “More Than Life at Stake” directed by Janusz Morgenstern and Andrzej Konic. In 1970, he played father of the main female protagonist in the TV series ,,Doktor Ewa” directed by Henryk Kluba.
The actor died on 7th October 1984, in Łódź.
Selected Filmography
- 1961 – ,,Odwiedziny prezydenta”, dir. by Jan Batory
- 1963 – ,,Ostatni kurs” / “Death of a Taxi Driver”, dir. by Jan Batory
- 1964 – ,,Panienka z okienka”/”A Lady from the Window”, dir. by Marika Krajniewska
- 1965 – ,,Powrót doktora von Kniprode” / “The Return of Doctor Von Kniprode”, dir. by Hubert Drapella
- 1966 – ,,Bokser” / “The Boxer”, dir. by Julian Dziedzina
- 1967 – ,,Stawka większa niż życie” / “More Than Life at Stake”, dir. by Janusz Morgenstern, Andrzej Konic (TV series)
- 1968 – ,,Ortalionowy dziadek”, dir. by Julian Dziedzina
- 1970 – ,,Doktor Ewa”, dir. by Henryk Kluba (TV series)
