Ryszard Rembiszewski – still Mr Lotto

What is success for you?

Once I read Bob Dylan’s words “A man  is a success if he gets up in the morning and gets to bed at night, and in between he does what he wants to do.” I think this is what success means,  but unfortunately it is very difficult to achieve…

You are involved in charitable activities,  for example, cooperating with Dom artysty Weterana in Skolimów. Why did you start helping such institutions?

When I do charity work, for example, by reading to children from oncological wards, I think about how everyone should go there and see these young people’s attitude to life and how they talk about it…. It changes your point of view. Once I asked  a 12-year-old boy, who was lying pale, hairless after chemo, how long he had been there. He said two months and five days. He counted every day of his life. It is all very depressing and after every visit I feel sick and my problems seem petty and pointless. I do a lot of charity work for sick children, animals etc. I am an ambassador for the foundation “Kawałek Nieba”, I help in the foundation IKA and in Fundacji Artystów Weteranów Scen Polskich. The last one is really important to me because of all my older and wonderful friends – the residents of Dom Artysty Weterana in Skolimów. There we said our last goodbye to Irena Kwiatkowska, Maria Fołtyn  or Danuta Rinn. I also work a lot for our community as a member of the Polish Actors Association where I am the  vice-president of the Stage Section.
Apart from charity work, you have also been very active in the art-related business, hosting galas, concerts or working as an actor. Could you tell me where these interests come from?

My daughter says that dreams come true.  I think that my dream has come true. Since  I was little, I have always wanted to perform  and be an actor. I know that only few of my friends manage to achieve it. I realised that, although most people associate me with “Lotto”, I do many other things – I perform on stage and it gives me satisfaction. There are many people who are actors by profession, but do nothing related to it. I worked on many festivals, such as Festiwal „Muzyczne Przestrzenie”, Festiwal im. Jana Kiepury, Festiwal Operowo- operetkowy na Mazowszu, Międzynarodowy Festiwal Akordeonowy, Europejski Festiwal Muzyczny „Gloria”, Festiwal Kultury Żydowskiej, gale operowe i operetkowe Grażyny Brodzińskiej and  Małgorzata Walewska, koncerty sylwestrowe i noworoczne, koncerty grup muzycznych jak Smokie czy Gipsy Kings I also hosted the competitions for Miss Polonia, Miss Polski, Miss Polonia International in Vienna as well as various company parties, balls, fashion shows, auctions, press conferences, poetry readings and theatre performances. I appeared in a few commercials, films and theatre performances. I also worked for Radio Pogoda and Radio Zet Gold.

For many years, you hosted the most popular  and most known lottery draws in Poland.  How did you become “mr Lotto”?

As a presenter for Polskie Radio, I often worked for Biuro Reklamy “Artlel”, reading adverts etc. One day, one of the editors decided that my appearance was quite “decent” and she decided to check what I look like on TV. It turned out quite good. I started hosting “Telewizyjny Koncert Życzeń”, quiz shows and then the lottery draws for Lotto. After several programmes, I noticed that the team accepted me and the owner of the lottery as well. I liked it so much that I worked in this programme for almost 25 years. Apart from that, I worked in advertising – organising campaigns and trainings. I would like to add here that I have a Master degree, but I also graduated from Podyplomowe Studium Współpracy Kulturalnej z Zagranicą at the University of Warsaw and Podyplomowe Studium Zarządzania i Marketingu at. When I started hosting the lottery draw, I had to resign from other programmes because I became known as “Mr Lotto”. But looking back, I don’t regret it. It was a great time and great people. Sometimes, people come up to me and say that they still play, but without success; however, I don’t feel that they blame me. They have a very positive attitude towards me. Even my children laugh that  “Mr Lotto”/ will be written on my tombstone.
In 2015, in Poland, somebody won the top price matching all the six numbers. How did you feel when you were giving an ordinary man a cheque for several million zlotys?

At that time, I wasn’t working for the company any more, but during my career, I often had a chance to meet the winners when they came to collect the cheque. Everyone reacts in a different way  – some cry, others are exhilarated and there  are also people who feel confused because  they don’t feel comfortable in this new role  – the role of a millionaire.
What are your plans for the nearest future?

I have always believed that experience, reliability, professionalism and credibility should be crucial at work. I think there are still many challenges ahead of me….I am really glad that, for so many years, I have been able to manage in this very difficult sector. Recently, I have received a very interesting offer, but my experience taught me that I shouldn’t talk about it before signing the contract.
Looking back, how do you think the show business has changed in Poland?

Today, everyone is instantly an actor. When an amateur appears in one episode of a TV series  or in a commercial, he calls himself an actor.  The market is flooded by amateurs. Of course  they happen to be interesting people with talent,  but not very often. At the beginning of my career,  if you wanted to sit in the radio with a microphone in your hand, you needed a special card, a form  of permission. The same was on TV. But times change – there is no longer “an artist status” defined in Poland. We should follow the example of countries, such as the USA, England or France, where actors have their own trade unions.