Czyzewska died at a Manhattan, New York hospital on Thursday (17Jun10).
She rose to fame as a national sex symbol in Poland after starring in 1961 film Erotica and became the most popular actress in the country during the 1960s.
She starred in a critically acclaimed Polish production of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons, but her career took a turn after her marriage to the American journalist David Halberstam made her an outcast in her home country, when he was accused of slander against the government.
The couple was expelled from Poland and fled to the U.S., where Czyzewska established herself as a stage actress, including a starring role in a 1974 production of The Possessed, alongside a then-unknown Meryl Streep and Christopher Durang.
On film, her credits included smaller roles in Putney Swope, Running on Empty, Cadillac Man and A Kiss Before Dying. She also made appearances on TV in shows like Sex and the City, Third Watch, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Damages.
In May 2005, she was honoured with the Cultural Award of Merit by the Consul General of the New York Polish Consulate – the highest award for a Polish American to receive.
Her marriage to author Halberstam ended in divorce in 1977.
