Maria Gładkowska

Maria Gładkowska (born 16 September 1957) is a Polish film, stage, and television actress. She gained critical acclaim in the 1980s that culminated in her Zbigniew Cybulski Award (1988). Gładkowska portrayed Daisy, Princess of Pless, her breakthrough performance in Magnat (1987), which was included in the list of 100 Best Polish Films of all time.

Gładkowska started her film career in 1977 at the age of 20. In her senior year of high school, she won a national contest for a theatre review and appeared in Janusz Morgenstern's historical series Polish Roads (Polish: Polskie drogi). Later she attended the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art's Faculty of Acting, where she studied between 1978 and 1982. Her first professional stage appearance was as Elwira in a production of Husband and wife (Polish: Mąż i żona) by Aleksander Fredro (1983).

She was a guest troupe member of the Adequate Theatre (Polish: Teatr Adekwatny) in Warsaw, "Scena Prezentacje" Theatre in Warsaw, and a permanent troupe member of the Siren Theatre (Polish: Teatr Syrena) in Warsaw and the New Theatre in Łódź (Polish: Teatr Nowy).

Her most notable stage appearances are as Mother in The Laments (2001), as Mary Tyron in Long Day's Journey into Night (2006), as Susie Cameron in The Spirit Level (2011) opposite Andrzej Szczytko, as Alice in Sexy Laundry (2018) opposite Wojciech Wysocki, and as Anne Hathaway in Shakespeare's Will (2019).

Since 2017 Gładkowska performs at the New Theatre, Łódź and Izrael Poznański Palace, narrating the Łódź's edition of Anna Dymna's Cracow Poetry Salon (Polish: Krakowski Salon Poezji).

Gładkowska had great success in films such as Dekalog: One (1988, dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski), The Hostage of Europe (1989, dir. Jerzy Kawalerowicz), Faustina (1995, dir. Jerzy Łukaszewicz) opposite Dorota Sega, Argument About Basia (1995) opposite Piotr Fronczewski, Historia kina w Popielawach (1998, dir. Jan Jakub Kolski), Chopin: Desire for Love (2002, dir. Jerzy Antczak) and King Arthur (2004, dir. Antoine Fuqua). She reclaimed her stardom in the late 1990s and early 2000s with supporting roles in soap opera Mothers, Wives and Lovers (Polish: Matki, żony i kochanki) and medical drama For better and for worse (Polish: Na dobre i na złe).

Gładkowska was the Polish voice of Shmi Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002).

Additionally, Gładkowska has appeared in many Television Theatre (Polish: Teatr Telewizji) plays including Irydion (1982, dir. Jan Englert) as Elsionoe, The Misanthrope (1984, dir. Janusz Majewski) as Éliante, The Mousetrap (1996, dir. Janusz Majewski) as Jennifer Brice and Pygmalion (1998, dir. Maciej Wojtyszko) as an Ambassador's wife.

Gładkowska has been married three times, with each marriage ending in divorce. Later, Gładkowska began a relationship with a cinematographer and an Academy Award nominee Slawomir Idziak. She has three children, including Adam Wróblewski, known for his role in the Janusz Majewski's autobiographical film Mała matura 1947 (2010).