“It was a fantastic comeback. After all, everyone watched and remembered the series with Henio Gołębiowski. And here was a story like from a soap opera: a child movie star has been living as a construction worker and a parking lot attendant for a quarter of a century, on whose face a difficult life has left typical stigmata, she returns to the screen in a film showered with all possible awards.” – we read in Piotr K. Piotrowski’s book “Cult TV series”.
Kultura WPełni: Juliusz Machulski about the films of his life and Poland
It was 2002. In fact, Henryk Gołębiowski had returned to work on a film set a few years earlier, but it was only the spectacular success of the role of the scrapper Edi that made the forgotten child actor become a recognizable, popular and much-loved character again. Many viewers perceived Piotr Trzaskalski’s film as a true story of Gołębiewski’s life. However, it was not that type of story, although there were certainly many similarities between literary and film fiction and the actor’s adult life.
Henryk Gołębiowski returned to the world of film for good 27 years after the premiere of the cult series “Holidays with Ghosts”, the first episode of which was watched by viewers on March 18, 1971. Two years earlier, the series “Do 0:1” was created, the main characters of which were the same characters from Adam Bohdaj’s books – Paragon/Pikador, Manżaro/Mandarin, Perełka. However, young actors grow rapidly and it was necessary to look for new performers of the main roles.
The director of the series, Stanisław Jędryka, didn’t have to look far, because Janusz Nasfeter’s excellent film just appeared in cinemas “Abel, your brother”. They starred in it Henryk Gołębiewski, Roman Mosior and Edward Dymekwho were “recruited” for “Holidays with Ghosts”. He also appeared in “Abel, Thy Brother”. Filip Łobodzińskiwhich also went down in the history of cult series. Together with Henryk Gołębiewski, they played in “Podróże za dziennika się” and “Stawiam na Tolek Banana”.
The boys’ selection earlier for Nasfeter’s film and later for the series “Holidays with Ghosts” turned out to be a bull’s-eye. Besides, probably never before or since have young actors acted so naturally and with such on-screen charisma in Polish productions. “Pearl was quicksilver. Dymek had some limitations, he was a bit introverted, but with these features he fit the role of the Mandarin perfectly. And Henio was just Henio.” – this is how Stanisław Jędryka succinctly characterized his juvenile actors.
As is generally the case in the world of film, child stars rarely continue their acting careers into adulthood. Henryk Gołębiowski is one of the exceptions, although it is difficult to say that he is currently a movie star. He simply earns a relatively modest living. Roman Mosior After his adventure with the series, he played a few more minor roles and gave up further career. He studied German studies, and after receiving his diploma, he left the country and settled in Germany. There he started a family. Unfortunately, the marriage ended in divorce. He visited Poland regularly. He could be found, among others, in his hometown of Wrocław.
Edward Dymek was the least lucky in his adult life. Like almost every young boy of military age, he was sent to the army, where, as he recalled, he was treated very badly, among others. because of his acting past and its popularity. After the army, he started a family, but quickly lost it due to alcohol. In 2008, a journalist from “Życie na hot” followed Dymek’s trail. He found him in a dilapidated shack, without electricity or sewage.
His difficult character and alcohol destroyed his life. He was often seen by locals near the grocery store and the local bakery, where he got free bread. The Mandarin from “Ghost Holidays” died on July 29, 2010. His grave is located in the cemetery in Wrocław, in the Pawłowice housing estate, in the section for the homeless.
