Jan Kiepura(1902-1966)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Jan Kiepura, the son of a baker, was born in 1902 in the gloomy mining
town of Sosnowiec, now in Poland, but situated in Russia at that time.
He left his native town, that - although dirty and dark - would always
remain dear to his heart, for Warsaw, where he started studying law. At
the same time he took singing lessons with Waclaw Brzesinsky and
Tadeusz Leliwa. He soon realized that singing was his real vocation and
was lucky to benefit from the support of his parents, who understood
how talented he was in this field. At age 23, Jan was hired for the
first time, as a replacement in the choir of the Warsaw Opera, but he
sang so loud that his voice covered all the other ones, which resulted
in his being fired. However, three months later, he found himself on
the same stage, but in the right place this time, as the lead singer of
Gounod's "Faust". This outstanding performance marked the beginning of
a rapid rise: from then on, Jan Kiepura was wanted everywhere in the
world. In addition,it was not long before the cinema - now talking -
required his beautiful voice and his good looks. As of the early
thirties he starred in a series of filmed operettas. It was on the set
of "Mein Herz ruft nach dir" that he met the woman of his life,
Hungarian-born Marta Eggerth, another star singer, with whom he lived
until his death in 1966 and who gave him two sons. In March '38, the
couple fled Austria and took refuge in the South of France. The
following year, he joined the French Polish Legion and shortly after
the Phoney War, he was assigned the mission to defend the cause of
invaded Poland in the States. He found Marta there and after the end of
the War they teamed together on Broadway where they co-starred in "The
Merry Widow" and "La Polonaise". In 1953, Jan and Marta settled down in
the USA for good and Jan acquired American citizenship shortly
afterwards. But his career quickly declined and, at the age of 64, he
died of a heart attack in his New York State home.
