Russian film director Andrei Konchalovsky paid her the ultimate compliment when, last year, he called her up on the stage of the Rossia Auditorium at the closing ceremonies of the Moscow International Film Festival for a spontaneous celebration of cinema's centennial. "Beata Tyszkiewicz was my first love on the screen. I've always wanted to make a film with her.

For me she was Polish cinema!" Handed what amounted to a Russian-style Actress of the Century award, a completely surprised Tyszkiewicz responded with typical humor: "Then why haven't we made a film together ?"

Star of over a hundred films for Polish and international producers, Beata Tyszkiewicz is best known for her role in a rare all-Polish multi-million-dollar costume spectacle, Wojciech Has's The Saragossa Manuscript (1964). But she was also a regular in Andrzej Wajda films, teaming with the Polish master on Everything for Sale (1969), a memorial tribute to the late enfant terrible of Polish cinema, Zbigniew Cybulski.

Far from slowing down, she demonstrated her penchant for comedy in Juliusz Machulski's Sex Mission (1983) and Costa-Gavras's Little Apocalypse (1992).

A festivalgoer who loves crowds and likes to mingle, Beata Tyszkiewicz can be seen each December as an honored guest at the Cairo International Festival. And in 1993 she appointed chairwoman of the Foundation for Polish Culture.

Ron Holloway

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