Joanna Pacuła

Joanna Pacuła (born 2 January 1957) is a Polish actress and model. Born in Tomaszów Lubelski and emigrating to the United States in the early 1980s, she first gained prominence through her modeling work for Vogue. Her breakthrough performance in the 1983 film Gorky Park earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. In the years since, she established herself as a character actress, appearing in numerous high-profile films and television series.
Life and career
Pacuła was born in Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland, to a pharmacist mother and an engineer father. She has a sister, Ewa Pacuła, a model and TV personality who has also worked in the United States.
In 1979, Pacuła graduated from the Aleksander Zelwerowicz State Theatre Academy. After graduation, she joined the Warsaw Dramatic Theatre, where she acted until 1981. She began her career playing in productions of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and As You Like It. She also found work in a few films, including Krzysztof Zanussi's Camouflage (Barwy ochronne, 1977) and Sergiu Nicolaescu's Last Night of Love (Ultima noapte de dragoste, 1980) in Romania.
In 1981, Pacuła was in Paris when the communist authorities in Poland declared martial law. She did not return to her homeland, and in 1982 emigrated to the United States, where she specialized in playing European temptresses. Her feature debut came in appearing opposite William Hurt in Gorky Park (1983). She was praised by Roman Polanski for that role. She played in numerous American TV series and movies, including The Holocaust drama Escape From Sobibor (CBS, 1987), The Kiss (1988), E.A.R.T.H. Force (CBS, 1990), and the TV series, The Colony (ABC, 1996). She also starred in Lewis Gilbert's Not Quite Paradise released in 1985.
She was featured in Marked for Death (1990) as an expert on Jamaican voodoo and gangs; in the Italian erotic thriller Husband and Lovers (1992) as a free-spirited adultress; Tombstone (1993) as Doc Holliday's lover, Kate (also known as Big Nose Kate and Mary Catherine Horoney, born 7 November 1850); in The Haunted Sea (1997); and in the film Virus (1999), playing a Russian scientist. She currently resides in Southern California.
Milestones
Pacula was chosen by People as one of its 50 Most Beautiful People in the world (1990).
She was listed as one of 12 "Promising New Actors of 1984" in John Willis' Screen World, volume 36.
Filmography
Film
Ultima noapte de dragoste (1980) - Leah Gheorghiu
Czułe miejsca (1981) - Nurse
Gorky Park (1983) - Irina Asanova
Not Quite Paradise (1985) - Gila
Escape from Sobibor (1987) - Luka
Death Before Dishonor (1987) - Elli Gellar
The Kiss (1988) - Felice
Sweet Lies (1988) - Joelle
Options (1989) - Princess Nicole
Breaking Point (1989) - Anna/Diana
Marked for Death (1990) - Professor Leslie
Husband and Lovers (1991) - Alina
Eyes of the Beholder (1992) - Diana Carlyle
Body Puzzle (1992) - Tracy Marella
Black Ice (1992) - Vanessa
Warlock: The Armageddon (1993) - Paula Dare
Under Investigation (1993) - Abbey Jane Strong
Tombstone (1993) - Kate Elder
Private Lessons II (1993) - Sophie Morgan
The Silence of the Hams (1994) - Lily Wine
Every Breath (1994) - Lauren
Not Like Us (1995) - Anita Clark
Timemaster (1995) - Evelyn Adams
Last Gasp (1995) - Nora Weeks
Captain Nuke and the Bomberboys (1995) - Brenda Franelli
The Haunted Sea (1997) - Bergen
Heaven Before I Die (1997) - Selma
In Praise of Older Women (1997) - Marta
The White Raven (1998) - Julie Konnenman
My Giant (1998) - Lilliana Rotaru
The Art of Murder (1999) - Elizabeth Sheridan
Virus (1999) - Nadia
Error in Judgement (1999) - Liz
Crash and Byrnes (2000) - Lissette
The Hit (2001) - Sonia
Crusade of Vengeance (2002) - Elizabeth
No Place Like Home (2002) - Gretchen Klein
Cupid's Prey (2003) - Iris Wharton
El Padrino (2004) - Jessica Lancaster
Moscow Heat (2004) - Sasha
Dead Easy (2004) - Teresa Storm
The Cutter (2005) - Elizabeth Teller
Honor (2006) - Rose Tyrell
Forget About It - Talia Nitti
When Nietzsche Wept (2007) - Mathilda
Shannon's Rainbow (2009) - Emily Blair
Black Widow (2010) - Olivia
ICE Agent (2013) - Sheila Hayman
Break Even (2020) - Agent Crowe
Television
Deep Red (1994, television film) - Monica Quik
Business for Pleasure (1997, television film) - Anna
Sweet Deception (1998, television film) - Risa Gallagher
Dead Man's Gun (1999, 1 episode) - Yvotte Ballinger
Brutally Normal (2000, 7 episodes) - Gogi
Night Visions (2001, 1 episode) - Head Immigrant
Robbery Homicide Division (2002, 1 episode) - Trisha Sandifer
Lightning Bolts of Destruction (2003, television film) - Dr. Valery Landis
Dinocroc (2004, television film)
Jake in Progress (2005, 1 episode) - Elsa Winters
Monk (2008, 1 episode) - Leyla Zlatavich
Stolen Child (2012, television film) - Tatiana
Bones (2014, 1 episode) - Drina Mirga
Awards and nominations
References
External links
1957 births
Living people
Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art in Warsaw alumni
People from Tomaszów Lubelski
People from Tomaszów Lubelski County
Polish emigrants to the United States
Polish film actresses
Polish stage actresses
Polish television actresses
20th-century Polish actresses
21st-century Polish actresses