- published: 13 Nov 2012
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Daniel (Hebrew: דָּנִיֵּאל, Modern Daniyyel Tiberian Dāniyyêl ; Arabic: دانيال, meaning in Hebrew "God is my Judge") is the protagonist in the Book of Daniel of the Hebrew Bible. In the narrative, when Daniel was a young man, he was taken into Babylonian captivity where he was educated in Chaldean thought. However, he never converted to Neo-Babylonian ways. By Divine Wisdom from his God, Yahweh, he interpreted dreams and visions of kings, thus becoming a prominent figure in the court of Babylon. Eventually, he had apocalyptic visions of his own that have been interpreted as the Four monarchies. Some of the most famous tales of Daniel are: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, The writing on the wall and Daniel in the lions' den.
In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim (BC 606), Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were among the young Jewish nobility carried off to Babylon. The four were chosen for their intellect and beauty to be trained as advisors to the Babylonian court,(Daniel 1) Daniel was given the name Belteshazzar, i.e., prince of Bel, or Bel protect the king!(not to be confused with the neo-Babylonian king, Belshazzar). Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were given the Babylonian names, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, respectively.
Daniel Olbrychski (Polish pronunciation: [ɔlˈbrɨxskʲi]; born 27 February 1945) is a Polish actor best known for leading roles in several Andrzej Wajda movies and also known for playing the Russian defector and spymaster Vassily Orlov, alongside Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie in the movie Salt.
Olbrychski was born in Łowicz, Poland. He attended Gimnazjum i Liceum im. Stefana Batorego (Warsaw, Poland).
He played one of the leading roles in Volker Schlöndorff's rendering of Nobel-prize awarded German writer Günther Grass's book "Die Blechtrommel" (The Tin Drum). He also appeared in one of the ten short films in Krzysztof Kieślowski's The Decalogue, and had a small role in the film adaptation of The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
In 1986 Olbrychski received the French Legion of Honor (L'Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur). In 2007 he received the Stanislavsky Award at the Moscow International Film Festival for the outstanding achievement in the career of acting and devotion to the principles of Stanislavsky's school.