Biographie
Liliana Komorowska (née Glabczynska) earned her MA degree with honors from the Zelwerowicz State Theater Academy in Warsaw in 1979. In 1980, she debuted as "Abigail" in a Masterpiece Theater production of "The Crucible," earning the Best Actor Award from the Polish Television Academy. Her acting career has since encompassed television, stage, and feature films. During her years at the esteemed Dramatic Theatre in Warsaw, she performed alongside leading figures of Polish theater, with notable roles in Gombrowicz's Operetta, Racine's Britannicus, Diderot's Jacques the Fatalist, and Shakespeare's As You Like It.
She was a key figure during the golden era of Polish Masterpiece Theater, delivering memorable performances as "Roxanne" in Cyrano de Bergerac, "Linda Manion" in Anatomy of a Murder, and portraying a prostitute in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman alongside Polish theater legend Tadeusz Lomnicki. Her distinguished stage career was complemented by numerous film roles.
Komorowska collaborated with prominent directors such as Krzysztof Zanussi in The Contract (1980) and Jerzy Kawalerowicz in A Man From a Far Country, Death of a President, and Austeria, where she played Jedwocha, one of her most acclaimed film roles. During Poland’s martial law in 1982, she was cast in the American film War and Love (1985), starring Kyra Sedgwick and directed by Moshé Mizrahi (Oscar winner for 1977's Madame Rosa), marking a pivotal point in her career.
Following the film’s completion, she chose to remain in the United States to pursue opportunities in the world’s largest and most influential film and television market. Her US career progressed steadily, maintaining her engagement with diverse artistic projects across film, theater, and television. From 1984, she took on leading roles in American daytime TV series, including Another World (NBC, as "Daphne Grimaldi," 1985), As the World Turns (CBS, as "Angela Visconti," 1986), and One Life to Live (ABC, as "Anabella Corto," 1987). She also starred in the off-Broadway drama Shots at Fate. This era included leading roles in TV productions such as Simon & Simon (1981), The Equalizer (1985), Kojak: Ariana (1989), and a guest appearance in the CBS pilot The Saint.
Her feature film work during this period includes the indie film Astonished (1988), where she played Sonia, a female counterpart to Raskolnikov from Crime and Punishment, opposite Charles Dutton (Alien³, 1992), and Her Alibi (1989), portraying Paulina Porizkova’s sister alongside Tom Selleck in this comedy directed by Bruce Beresford (Oscar winner for Driving Miss Daisy, 1989).
Between 1989 and 1991 in Europe, Komorowska signed with the BBC for a role in the acclaimed TV serial Mother Love (1989), starring Diana Rigg (BAFTA winner for best British TV series). She also appeared in the Polish-French co-production Napoleon, the American series Veronica Clare (1991) and Acapulco H.E.A.T. (1993), and the CBS miniseries Lucky Chances (1990), based on a Jackie Collins screenplay.
Her career took a new direction with the sci-fi horror Scanners III: The Takeover (1991), a film that significantly impacted her life. It was on this project that she met her future husband, renowned Canadian director Christian Duguay. Together, they formed a successful creative partnership as actress and director as well as spouses.
Subsequent roles included films such as Screamers (1995) with Peter Weller (RoboCop, 1987), Red Light (1999) with Tomas Arana, produced by brothers Tony Scott and Ridley Scott (Galaxy Award for best Canadian TV film), and The Assignment (1997), where she starred alongside Aidan Quinn, Donald Sutherland, and Ben Kingsley.
Her recent work features the CBS miniseries Joan of Arc (nominated for 13 Emmys), the film Suspicious Minds starring Patrick Bergin and Gary Busey, a leading female role in the CTV production The Royal Scandal (2001), and Christian Duguay’s thriller The Art of War (2000), starring Wesley Snipes. She also appeared in the high-impact action film Extreme Ops (2002), which opened in North America on November 27, 2002.
Liliana Komorowska resides in Montreal, Canada, where she remains actively involved in both English and French film and television.
