She taught Meryl Streep and starred in Sex and the City. She was called “Polish Marilyn Monroe”

Elżbieta Czyżewska was born in 1938 in Warsaw. After the death of her father, she lived with her mother and sister in the basement. The woman did not earn enough for the family to lead a decent life. She sought solace in alcohol and in the arms of random men. For the sake of her daughters, she decided to give them to an orphanage.

Her life was marked by suffering from the beginning. Nevertheless, she did not give up on her dreams

The stay at the institution left its mark on Elżbieta’s life. She felt inferior to her peers and not enough to succeed. A few years later, she returned to her mother’s care, but living conditions did not improve. In the meantime, she discovered her vocal talents, which she developed by participating in recitation classes. At the instigation of its members, she took the exams for the theater school, gaining her dream index. Although it was a dream come true, in the small room she shared with her sister, she could not fully discover her potential. She found out about her family situation, which gave her a helping hand.

I saw that she did not have not only her room, but also her corner. So I went to Vice-Rector Baczyński, asking him to grant her a place in ‘Dziekanka’ in such an exceptional situation. It worked, and she has been living with me in the room ever since

— actress in the book Greedy for Life by S³awomir Koper. Czyżewska received her diploma in 1960 and immediately made her debut on the screen with a role in the comedy “My wife’s husband”. The greatest popularity in the People’s Republic of Poland brought her roles in films such as “Giuseppe in Warsaw” and “Where is the general”. She has appeared in the productions of the most respected directors, including Wojciech Jerzy Hass and Kazimierz Kutz.

When she met her second husband, her career was in full swing. The addiction ruined her career

After an unsuccessful marriage with Jerzy Skolimowski, in 1965 she again stood on the wedding carpet. Her chosen one was the American journalist David Halberstam, who published in the magazine “New York Times”. When he began to openly criticize the actions of Władysław Gomułka, the authorities had him in their sights. He decided to leave Poland, and Czyżewska began to bear the consequences for her husband’s actions. In April 1968, she put an end to this by flying to the USA. However, she returned to her homeland a few months later to play the main role in the film “Everything for sale”. Although she had a chance to achieve success overseas, because she played on the boards of local theaters, appeared in the series “Sex and the City” and gave lessons to aspiring actors, including , she did not make a spectacular career. In 1977, she divorced her husband and fell into alcoholism.

Three years later, she returned to Poland and began to be more and more active professionally. When everything in her life began to fall into place, she received another blow from fate. First, her sister died unexpectedly, and a few months later her ex-husband died in a car accident. Distraught, she fell into depression and withdrew from public life. She also stopped playing and relapsed. Elżbieta Czyżewska died on June 17, 2010 in a hospital in Manhattan. The cause of death was esophageal cancer, which she struggled with at the end of her life.