Poland August 2015 - Work has begun on the script for the TV series about the turbulent life of Violetta Villas.
It's been four years since the tragic death of diva in 2011. Villas died at her home in Lewin Klodzki.
In the series, we show how this modest girl from the provinces flew out into the world - says screenwriter
Wojciech Fulek. She immensely enjoyed international celebrity status. When she returned to Poland to care for her
dying mother the communist authorities would never allow her to leave the country again.
Katarzyna Figura
The role of the great diva will play Katarzyna Figura. Earlier it was said that the young Margaret Villas
would play the part for the sake of similarity between the daughter and mother.
About Katarzyna
Figura was born in Warsaw, Poland. She graduated from the former National Higher School of Theater in
Warsaw and continued her studies at the Parisian Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique. She is one of the most
recognized and popular actresses in the contemporary Polish film industry. Usually cast as blond bombshells,
prostitutes, and wives of richmen, she has recently changed her image radically in favor of more mature
characters, very often sorrowful and embittered.
She is still appearing in TV shows. For many years, she has been featured in single episodes of popular sitcoms,
and she has regularly appeared in the show Witches (since 2005). In 2004, she made her come-back to theater after
a long-term absence. Her role in Alina to the West by Pawel Miskiewicz in the Warsaw Drama Theater was highly regarded
by the critics. She shaved her head for that role, consequently breaking from her sex symbol image. Played in
Teatr Wspolczesny (1985 - 1988). Branded a Polish Marilyn Monroe after her role in Pociag do Hollywood (1987),
her first big part. Has one son, Aleksander (b. 1987), with former husband Jan Chmielewski. Daughter, Koko Claire
Figura-Schoenhals, born 24 October 2002 in New York, USA. Second daughter, Kashmir Amber (b. 27 February 2005 in
Warsaw, Poland).
Violetta Villas
Marilyn Monroe, Bridget Bardot, Dolly Parton all rolled into ONE!
Born Czeslawa Cieslak on June 10, 1938 in Ličge, Belgium, to Polish emigrants. She returned in 1948 with her parents to Poland and settled in Lewin Klodzki.
In her best years Violetta Villas was a mezzo-soprano whose voice had an extraordinary register and a very wide range of vocal color. It covered four octaves whether Polish music or in any other language. In her songs she showed a remarkable ability for naturally assimilative styles, and for eliciting a multiplicity of voices. Villas could perform at times as a tenor, alto, mezzo-soprano, and soprano, a unique attribute amongst singers of any gender, in the fields of both classical and popular music.
In 1966 while in Paris Violetta was approached by Frederick Apcar, who invited her to Las Vegas. She was to perform with the renowned star Line Renaud, but just after few weeks Villas outshone her, with her name in neon lights over the Casino de Paris. She sang with Frank Sinatra, Paul Anka, Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis, Jr., Eartha Kitt and Dean Martin and Charles Aznavour. In Carnegie Hall she received a standing ovation. In New York, Violetta's concert was sold out. She featured in two movies, as the female lead in Dzieciol ("The Woodpecker", 1970) and as principal vocalist for Mój Nikifor ("My Nikifor", 2004). She appeared in two American films, the musical "Paint your wagon" with Lee Marvin and the western "Heaven with a Gun" with Glenn Ford and was offered a lucrative 8-year contract with Paramount Pictures but turned it down.
Back in Poland looking after her dying mother, the Communists took away her passport ending
her International Superstar potential.
