Anna Prucnal

Anna Prucnal – born in Warsaw, Poland on December 17, 1940 – is a France-based singer and actress. Raised by her mother after her father was killed by the Nazis during World War II, she studied piano and opera before pursuing an acting career at the Studencki Teatr Satyryków in Warsaw. She made her film debut in the 1962 film Sun and Shadow and appeared in several films over the next eight years including Teenager (1963), The Flying Dutchman (1964), Reise ins Ehebett (1966), and Nowy (1970). She returned to music briefly when she released the single “Letkiss-Boy” in 1965. She relocated to France in 1970 and appeared in films by acclaimed directors such as Roger Vadim, Edouard Molinaro, and Michel Deville. Anna Prucnal also began to make a name for herself in theater productions including plays by Bertolt Brecht. More than a decade after her debut single, she returned to music with the release of her self-titled debut album in 1979. The album featured her interpretations of Eastern European classics as well as songs written for her by Jean Mailland. She followed that with the release of Inregistrement Public – Théatre de la Ville (1980), Avec Amour (1981), Deleko od Polski – Loin de Pologne – Far from Poland (1983), L’áge De Coeur (1984) and Quand On N’A Que l’Amour (1984). After a successful tour, she was the subject of a documentary and live album, both called Rêve d'Ouest - Rêve d'Est (1987). She returned to Poland, her native country, in 1989 after a fifteen-year ban for having participated in the 1974 film Sweet Movie, Anna Prucnal performed in Warsaw to celebrate the bicentenary of the French Revolution. While continuing to tour and release albums – including Monsieur Brecht (1993), C'Était à Babelsberg (1994), Dédicaces (1995), Chante Vertinski (1998), Les Années Fatales (1999) and the children's album Le Cirque by Giuseppe (2000) - Anna Prucnal remained active in theater, television, and movies until 2005. She published her autobiography, Moi qui suis née à Varsovie, in 2002.