Kazimierz Krukowski (2 February 1901 in à Âódà º â 24 December 1984 in Warsaw), professionally known as Lopek, was a Polish cabaret performer and writer, revue and film actor.
He performed songs and monologues by famous poets and songwriters including Marian Hemar, Jerzy Jurandot, Antoni Sà Âonimski, Julian Tuwim and Andrzej Wà Âast. He made his first movie in 1927 (Ziemia obiecana) as part of a comedy duo, "Lopek and Florek," with Adolf Dymsza; they made several more movies together including Janko Muzykant; Uà Âani, uà Âani, chà Âopcy malowani, and Co mój mÃ à ¼ robi w nocy? (What does my husband do at night?) In 1935 he starred in the film ABC mià Âoà Âci. He was engaged at the cabaret Qui Pro Quo by his cousin Julian Tuwim. He performed in theaters, kleynkunst, and cabarets including Morskie Oko, Banda, Cyganeria, Cyrulik Warszawski, Wielka Rewia, and in 1939 he founded his own theater, the Ali Baba.
<blockquote>"in the cabarets, a new genre of entertainmentâÂÂthe Jewish joke, monologue or sketch known as szmoncesâÂÂrose to prominence. The szmonces, inevitably characterized by a more or less subtle à ¼ydà Âaczenie, at its best turned the pretentious Jewish assimilator or the harried Jewish tradesman into universally accessible symbols of the dislocations of modern life; at its worst, it became vulgar antisemitic caricature. The performer Kazimierz Krukowski (1902âÂÂ1984), known as Lopek, was among those acclaimed as a specialist in the genre."</blockquote>
During the Second World War he appeared in one of the cabarets in the Warsaw ghetto. He fought in the Soviet Union and subsequently lived in Britain, the United States, and Argentina, where he ran the El Nacional theater.
He wrote several books: Maà Âa antologia kabaretu (Small cabaret anthology), Z Melpomenàna emigracji (With Melpomene in exile) and Moja Warszawka (My Warsaw).