Eugeniusz Bodo

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Eugeniusz Bodo (true name Bohdan Eugene Junod) (1899-1943) - film director, producer and one of the most popular Polish actors of the inter-war period.

Born December 28, 1899 in Geneva, Switzerland as the only son of a Polish emmigrant. In 1910 his family moved to ŁÃÂÃÂ³dź, where his father opened a revue-cinema. In 1917 Junod moved to Poznań where he joined "Teatr Apollo". In 1919 (under a new name of Eugeniusz Bodo) he started acting in various Warsaw-based theatres and cabarets (Qui Pro Quo, Perskie Oko and Cyrulik Warszawski being the most famous). He also played major roles in Warsaw-based "Teatr Polski" and Wilno-based "Teatr Lutnia".

Eugeniusz Bodo

He's best known for his film roles; he played in more than thirty films. In 1932 he was granted with a title of "King of Polish Actors" and with "King of Style" in 1936. In 1931 Bodo became a co-founder of the "B.W.B." film studio and in 1933 he opened a private producers' company "Urania", named after his fathers' cinema in ŁÃÂÃÂ³dź.

In the spring of 1939 he opened a prestigious "Cafe Bodo" in Warsaw. During the September Campaign he organized recitals for the Polish soldiers and civilians during the siege. During the German occupation initially he ran his cafe, mostly to let other famous Polish artists earn some money. However, the place became so popular that in 1941 Germans decided to turn it into a Nuer fuer Deutsche cafe for the Wehrmacht and other Nazi organizations.

Bodo rented his Cafe and moved to LwÃÂÃÂ³w, where he joined the Jazz-Tea band led by Henryk Wars. However, he was soon arrested by the NKVD, accused of espionage and, despite being a Swiss citizen, sent to Soviet GULag death camp near Arkhangelsk.

Exact date of his death is not known. He was probably shot to death near Kirov October 7, 1943.