His role in Andrzej Wajda's 1958 drama film Ashes and Diamonds is widely considered to be his greatest artistic achievement.

[1] His iconic image symbolizing youthful rebellion and his tragic death have drawn comparisons to American actor James Dean.

[2][3] Zbigniew Cybulski was born 3 November 1927 in a small village of Kniaże near Śniatyń, Poland (now a part of Kolomyia Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, Ukraine).

He graduated in 1953 and moved to Gdańsk, where he made his stage debut in Leon Schiller's Wybrzeże Theatre.

The same year he also appeared as one of the main characters in Andrzej Wajda's Ashes and Diamonds and Aleksander Ford's The Eighth Day of the Week based on a short story by Marek Hłasko.

He also acted in numerous television plays, including some based on works by Truman Capote, Anton Chekhov and Jerzy Andrzejewski.