When Anna Szczepaniak made her screen debut, critics were almost sure that she would make a great career. She was not only young and beautiful, but most importantly, talented. Privately, for years she led a happy life with Andrzej Strzelecki. The woman’s infatuation ruined their future together. Fascinated by a much older man, she broke off the engagement, and the unfortunate chain of events led to tragedy. This year marks the 44th anniversary of her suicide.
Her career was gaining momentum. Privately, she was a happy bride
Although acting was not Anna Szczepaniak’s first choice, after a few months at the Warsaw University of Technology she understood that it was an artistic profession for her. She got into the Warsaw theater school on the first try and quickly became one of the most talented students not only in her year, but also in the whole school. It was in the walls of PWST that she met a year younger. Despite their differences in personalities, they immediately fell in love with each other. What started out as friendship turned into love and they quickly became a couple. The feeling was so strong that the young actor even decided to ask her for a hand, to which Szczepaniak reacted with great enthusiasm.
At the same time, her career was slowly starting to blossom. In 1974, Szczepaniak made her debut on the stage of the Polish Theater in the play “Three Sisters”, and a year later she got her first role in the film. In “House of My Sons” directed by Gerard Zalewski, she appeared alongside a pleiad of the biggest stars. Even then her talent and incredible predispositions were noticed. The breakthrough in her career came in 1976, when she played the role of Wieśka in the TV series “Far from the road”. At that time, it was said that she was the hope of Polish cinema.
She broke off the engagement unexpectedly. The actor, 15 years older, turned her head
Everything seemed to be going well in Szczepaniak’s life. She developed professionally, and in private she was a happy fiancée. Unfortunately, Strzelecki noticed that her feelings began to weaken and the actress is less and less involved in planning a future together. It turned out that his intuition had not deceived him. During one of the rehearsals at the Polish Theatre, Szczepaniak met Andrzej Antkowiak, 15 years her senior. An experienced artist known for his role as lieutenant Marczyński in the film “Red rowan” turned her head.
Although he had a wife, he was famous for numerous affairs, especially with young actresses. In addition, he had a problem with alcohol and constantly started fights. Everyone around advised Szczepaniak against getting involved in this relationship, but this did not discourage her. In love with no memory, she wanted to pull him out of the snare of addiction. Soon after, Szczepaniak broke off her engagement with Strzelecki and became involved in a relationship with Antkowiak.
The death of her beloved brought her to the brink of a nervous breakdown. Anna Szczepaniak committed suicide
Soon after, Antkowiak participated in one of the richly drunk parties, during which he got into a fight. He was transported to the hospital in critical condition, but his life could not be saved. It turned out that as a result of the struggle, an aneurysm in the brain ruptured. The actor died at the age of 43, and Szczepaniak plunged into despair.
Information about the death of her beloved was a blow to the young actress. She quit her job and broke off all contact with her friends. Immediately after the funeral, she locked herself in her Warsaw apartment, which she did not leave for 40 days. Even though many were worried about her well-being, she didn’t want anyone’s help. Unfortunately, the breakdown she faced led to tragedy. On March 2, 1979, Anna Szczepaniak committed suicide by jumping out of the window. She died when she was only 28 years old.
If your life is at risk due to suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide, for immediate crisis intervention, call the police on 112 or go to the A&E department of your local psychiatric hospital.
If you need to talk to a psychologist, you can use the number 116 123. On the website you will also find a list of organizations that run telephone services for mental health specialists, help for children and youth or victims of violence.
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Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
