Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II (1984)

Bio-drama tracing the life and career of Polish cardinal Karol Wojtyla from his days as a young activist in Poland to his rise and installation in 1978 as Pope of the Catholic world.

Date of release
1984-04-22
TMDB
7.5 / 10 (5)
Runtime
2h 30m
Genres
Drama, History, TV Movie
Director
Herbert Wise

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Filmed in: Austria

Pope John Paul II is a 1984 American biopic drama television film based on the life of Karol Wojtyła, from his early days as an activist in Poland to his installation as Pope John Paul II. Written by Christopher Knopf and directed by Herbert Wise, the film stars Albert Finney, Caroline Bliss, Brian Cox, and John Forgeham. The film marks both Albert Finney's American television debut and the first script Finney had ever turned down upon initial reading.

Production

Once Karol Wojtyła was installed as Pope, executive producer Alvin Cooperman made his decision to create the film project, and with the assistance of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, sought Vatican approval and cooperation. After reviewing the script, the Vatican welcomed the project.

British actor Michael Compton portrayed Karol Wojtyła from ages 18 through 26, and Albert Finney portrayed Wojtyła from 27 years old, up to the time the former bishop was installed as Pope John Paul II. Finney had initially declined the role upon first reading the script, as he felt playing the role of someone so high-profile would be unnerving, but after re-reading the script, he accepted.

The film debuted on CBS Television on Easter Sunday, April 22, 1984.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

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