She was the first to sing the famous “Okularniki” with lyrics by Agnieszka Osiecka – for its performance at the 1st Polish Song Festival in Opole in 1963, she received a distinction. Kazimiera Utrata she first dreamed of singing and developed a singing career, acting came later.
She was born on July 5, 1932 in Warsaw. She started her career at the Student Satirists’ Theater (STS). She was then a student at the University of Warsaw. There, during one of her performances, Aleksander Bardini noticed her.
“He encouraged me to transfer to the theater school, but I wanted to finish the studies I had started. After some time, I passed the external examinations and was engaged at the Polish Theater,” she said in one of the TV programs.
She made her debut in Andrzej Wajda’s “Lotna” and later starred in his films several times, including: in “Everything for Sale” and “Fly Hunting”. She played in films by Krzysztof Zanussi, Agnieszka Holland, Jan Rybkowski, Stanisław Różewicz and Stanisław Bareja. She also created many great theater creations.
She appeared, among others, in the first episode of the first Polish television series “Barbara i Jan”, then she could be seen in “Czterdziestolatek”, “Dom”, “Dyrektory”, “Boża podszewce”, “Zczniki”.
For millions of viewers, Kazimiera Utrata was, above all, the warm, caring Mrs. Stanisława from “Klan”. We met Aunt Stasia, a Pole who returned to the country from exile in Kazakhstan, during one of the Christmas Eve parties organized by Elżbieta (Barbara Bursztynowicz) and Jerzy Chojnicki (Andrzej Grabarczyk).
“I was very nervous when I first stood on the set, because I was new. I joined the series when the other actors had already been playing in it for two years,” recalled the actress.
Kazimiera Utrata immediately won the hearts of the series’ fans. She was supposed to play Mrs. Stanisława for only three months, but she stayed permanently. For 18 years, she was one of the most popular heroines of the Lubicz family saga.
Initially, her private life was equally happy, but a tragic accident in which her husband died influenced the actress’s entire career.
They met at the Student Satirists’ Theater. Kazimiera Utrata performed on stage, and Marek Lusztig was a composer who cooperated with STS as an accompanist. They made their debut together in the first STS performance “It’s Coming Youth”, which premiered on May 2, 1954. Since then, they have become inseparable.
They decided to get married five years later. In the same year, 1959, their daughter Kasia was born. They were happy. Kazimiera Utrata was a fulfilling actress, Marek Lusztig composed songs and music for television programs and theater performances, and was a regular collaborator of “Polska Film Chronicle”.
After performing at the festival in Opole, from which Kazimiera Utrata returned with an award in 1963, she was offered a career as a singer. However, they wanted her to change her surname (she used the two-part surname Utrata-Lusztig). The actress refused and soon afterwards, together with her husband and several-year-old daughter, she went to Sweden, where Marek Lusztig was offered a job.
Kazimiera Utrata often came to Poland – she continued to play in films and TV series. On May 10, 1972, when she was on the set of “Die Glass” by Stanisław Różewicz, she learned that Marek Lusztig had a car accident in Sweden and died as a result of his injuries. They were both 40 years old then.
After her husband’s funeral, the actress gave up her career for some time to take care of her daughter. She has worked in Sweden and the United States. Only when her daughter started her own family and stayed permanently in Sweden, did she return to work and starred in many Polish films and series. She never became involved with another man again.
In 1997, she joined the cast of the series “Klan”, with which she was associated until her death.
Kazimiera Utrata died on August 12, 2018. She was buried next to her husband at the Bródno Cemetery in Warsaw. “The ‘Clan’ will no longer be the same without Aunt Stasia,” wrote sad fans of the Lubicz family saga on Facebook, saying goodbye to Kazimiera Utrata.