Sad information was provided on Facebook by his son Maciej, a TVN24 reporter. “We all hoped he would make it. Unfortunately”.
I would like to inform you that my father, Tomasz Knapik, died today. As some of you know, he has been struggling with a severe disease crisis for over two months. We all hoped he would succeed. Unfortunately.
He was a voice in our homes, a scientist and a lecturer at the Warsaw University of Technology. Beloved Father and Grandfather.
– Maciej Knapik wrote on Facebook.
Tomasz Knapik was born on September 16, 1943 in Warsaw. He graduated from the Warsaw University of Technology, he had a doctorate in electrical engineering. He started working in the media in his early youth. Before graduating from high school, he worked at Rozgłośnia Harcerska, later at Polish Radio and TVP. He is called a “legend” by colleagues from the industry. In the 90s he worked with film distributors as a voiceover. He lent his voice to the Polish Film Chronicle. From 1995 he worked for Polsat. He read dialogue lists for several hundred movies and series. Among them were such hits as: The World According to Bounds, Texas Ranger, Benny Hill Jaws , Terminator , Star Wars, Cobra Absolute Memory, Twelve Angry Men or Naked Instinct. He also collaborated with Tele 5, TVN and TVN24 stations. In 2008, he recorded voice messages for the Warsaw ZTM. They are played on buses and trams.
Good morning, Professor
Doctor engineer Tomasz Knapik was an electrical engineer by education. He lectured at the Faculty of Transport of the Warsaw University of Technology. He was the promoter of over 200 diploma theses: engineering and master’s.
I started working at the university by accident. It was kind of an escape. I remember when I was finishing my studies there was this employment attorney who was very mean. He sent students from Warsaw to Zielonogórskie, just as a matter of principle. I hit him with something and he promised me that I would get some money. And without his consent, it was impossible to get a job. I did not have any special connections to arrange anything for myself in Warsaw. But a new department was just being created and my supervisor, with whom I wrote a very nice job, offered me a job. I agreed. First of all, I ran away from this attorney and he could whistle me, because the university had priority. Second, I had a lot of free time. I was earning a penny as a young assistant, and after a few years I had to get a PhD to stay at the university.
– he recalled in an interview with Grzegorz Żądło in 2016 for the Katowice24 portal.
The beginnings of a career
He started his work in the media before high school graduation, around 1960. As he said, he found his way to the Scout Broadcasting Station by accident.
There was an apprentice who took lessons at school. She said: Tom, tell the guests a rhyme. Tomus said a poem. She said: You speak very well, come to us. This is how it started.
– Knapik recalled during Tedx Talks at the Lublin Science and Technology Park in November 2015.
I just have that voice. I use it like a hand. And I don’t need to do a manicure.
– he said in an interview in August 2014 with Bartek Przybyszewski for the weekend.gazeta.pl portal.
I prefer to read an action movie because it sounds better to me: stop! than: my dearest. I have a sharper, more dynamic voice, faster. For example, Czubówny, no one will force her to read faster. She calmly follows her narrative.
– he noted in an interview with the Katowice24 portal
Upstream
I don’t care about the voice. I have been drinking and smoking since forever. Well, I won’t mention the ladies. However, there are artists, actors who wrap their necks with scarves, not teas, because they are too hot. Ice-cream? No, too cold! And I just have this voice. I use it like a hand. And I don’t need a manicure.
– for Bartek Przybyszewski, journalist of the pop culture service Popmoderna
I like comedy very much. Even though they are usually talkative. For example, I liked the world according to the Bundes very much. It’s a phenomenon: there’s not a single positive character out there, and everyone identifies with those characters. Men say: yes, my wife is just like the one from the series. Mean, lazy and so on. And the wives: and this man of mine, like this Bundy: lazy, stupid, earns little. Children are not perfect either: the daughter is a nymphomaniac, and the son is an erotomaniac. Even the dog is mean.
– for Bartek Przybyszewski, journalist of the pop culture service Popmoderna
Crazy 90s
Sometimes I recorded from myself at home, other times I came to the videographers. Sometimes there was such a special cabin with them – it was already a higher level. Because he also made a living by copying. There were several studios in Warsaw that recorded the latest tapes. The owners of the rental shop came from all over Poland and asked: do you already have any “Rambo 7”? And he told them that he would be there tomorrow. The next day they came, took 20 cassettes and paid. And this one continued to copy it, because it had a wall of VCRs that only served this purpose. It was a kind of small-scale industry. But I didn’t go into it. For me, the one who ordered it was my employer. And I would either go to him in the booth or he would give it to me home so that it would be as soon as possible. “Lord, I have to have it for tomorrow, because the day after tomorrow, the Czech from the competition will have it and they will buy it from him, not from me.”
– for Bartek Przybyszewski, journalist of the pop culture service Popmoderna
Finally, something from me. A part of the legend of the cinema of political changes has gone with you. Your voice will stay with us forever. Goodbye Master!