Zbigniew Cynkutis was born in 1938 in Suwałki. He graduated from the Acting Department of the National Film School in Łódź – in 1962 he received his diploma. When he was still a student, performed, among others, in “Zamach” directed by Jerzy Passendorfer and won the sympathy of viewers. In a similar period, he made his theater debut in the play “The Bachelor Club” directed by Adam Danielewicz.
He decided to expand his horizons and in 1975 he completed extramural studies at the Directing Department.
Shortly after graduating, he was employed at the Teatr Ziemi Opoleskiej, with which he worked for a year, and then moved to the Theater of 13 Rows. His first role was as Guślarz in “Dziady”. He devoted his heart entirely to working on stage and directing performances.
In 1975, he became deputy director of the Laboratory Theater Actor’s Institute, a position he held until 1980. In 1982, he delivered a series of lectures at the University of Kansas in Lawrence and also at Hamilton College in New York State. In the same year, he became a visiting professor at Hamilton College in Clinton (Kansas). he also directed the play “Wasteland” (“The Waste Land”) inspired by a poem by Thomas S. Eliot.
He appeared on screens only episodically – in 1960 he appeared in a film “Cross-eyed Happiness” as an officer whom Piszczyk asks for directions to Zgierz. In 1965, as Antek Balcer, he appeared in two episodes of “Underground Front”.
The actor had a string of professional successes until a tragic accident.
At the end of the 1950s, the actor was considered one of the most handsome in Poland, although no one officially gave him this title. Despite this, it happened that women fainted at the sight of him, but he focused primarily on work.
Zbigniew Cynkutis died on January 9, 1987, at the age of only 48. He left behind his wife Maria, whom he married in 1960, and his daughter Magdalena Maria, who was 24 at the time.
The actor was then on his way to Sobótka for the 2nd Wrocław Culture Forum. He died as a result of injuries suffered in a car accidentthe causes of which have never been fully explained.