Joanna Pacula

This dark-haired beauty honed her craft on stage in her native Poland. Graduating from drama school at age 17, Joanna Pacula joined the Polish Repertory Company of Warsaw and distinguished herself in productions of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", "Othello" and "As You Like It". She also found work in a handful of films, including Krzysztof Zanussi's "Barwy Ochronne/Camouflage" (1977). Pacula was caught in Paris when Poland declared martial law in late 1981 and she eventually landed in the USA where she has specialized in playing European temptresses since her feature debut opposite William Hurt in Michael Apted's "Gorky Park" (1983). She acted the part of the exotic beauty in numerous American TV series and movies, including the Holocaust drama "Escape From Sobibor" (CBS, 1987), "E.A.R.T.H. Force" (CBS, 1990) and "The Colony" (ABC, 1996). In features, Pacula was particularly effective as a model living under a curse in "The Kiss" (1986). More recently, she was featured in "Tombstone" (1993) as Doc Holliday's lover Kate, "The Haunted Sea" (1997) and "Virus" (1999), playing a Russian scientist.

• Also Credited As:
  Ioana Pacula
• Born:
  January 2, 1957 in Tamaszow Lubelski, Poland
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Model

Significant Others

• Companion: Roman Polanski. romantically involved c. 1981-83

Education

• Polish National Theatre School, Warsaw, Poland, acting, 1974

Milestones

• 1981 Was visiting Paris when martial law was declared in Poland and was temporarily unable to return home
• 1982 Attained a theater scholarship that allowed her to remain in Paris (date approximate)
• 1983 American film acting debut, Gorky Park
• 1986 US TV acting debut, the ABC miniseries Crossings
• 1987 Co-starred with Alan Arkin and Rutger Hauer in the based-on-fact Escape From Sobibor (CBS)
• 1988 Played a model under a family curse in the uneven horror thriller The Kiss
• 1990 Debuted as regular on the short-lived CBS action adventure series E.A.R.T.H. Force
• 1996 Had featured role in the busted ABC pilot The Colony
• 1999 Co-starred with Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Sutherland in Virus
• 2000 Returned to series TV as co-star of the sitcom Brutally Normal (The WB)
• Appeared in eight feature films in her native Poland, including Krsytof Zanussi s Barwy Ochronne/Camouflage (1977)
• Joined Polish Repertory Company of Warsaw after drama school; played female lead in Romeo and Juliet
• Moved to New York
• Raised in Poland
• Worked as a model, appearing on the covers of VOGUE, COSMOPOLITAN and HARPER S BAZAAR