Nikos Kourkoulos
Encyclopedia
Nikos Kourkoulos (December 5, 1934, Athens, Greece – January 30, 2007) was a highly respected Greek
theatrical and film performer, one of the most talented and recognizable actors in Greece
of modern times. Kourkoulos is best known to Greek audiences for playing "Angelos Kreouzis" in Oratotis miden, but he also appeared in other movies such as To Homa vaftike kokkino, Exodos kindynou, O Astrapogiannos, O Katiforos among others.
. Sports and football were his loves. He belonged to Panathinaikos
roster during his school years. Acting came before him rather accidentally. As he himself had claimed, he took the plunge to become an actor after reading books on theatre.
He studied acting at the National Theatre of Greece
's School of Drama, and made his stage debut in a 1958 Athens production of Alexandre Dumas, fils
' La dame aux camélias
, opposite Ellie Lambeti
and Dimitris Horn
.
He was one of the founders of the prestigious musical group,
Proskinio and appeared in the 1967 Broadway musical,
Illya Darling
, with Melina Mercouri
, in a role for which he was nominated for a Tony award
as a best supporting actor.
For most of the 1960s/70s, Kourkoulos' success was unparalleled by any other Greek actor, except Dimitris Papamichael
, but Kourkoulos' choice of material was more challenging than the latter's. He created his personal group in the early 1970s, with a repertory which included, among others, Franz KafkaKafka's The Trial
, Arthur Miller
's View from the Bridge
and Brecht
's The Threepenny Opera
. His last stage appearance was in the title role of Sophocles
' Philoktitis
(1991) at the restored ancient theater of Epidaurus
in southern Greece. In 1995, he was named as Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Greece
, an institution he managed to turn into a profitable organization without compromising on artistic integrity.
His film career was successful: he starred in many films from the late 1950s until the early 1980s. His most commercial films have been melodramas with a social background, like Oratotis miden (Ορατότης Μηδέν) (1970).
He was awarded twice at the Thessaloniki Film Festival with the Best Actor Prize for his performance in Adistaktoi (Αδίστακτοι 1965) and Astrapogiannos (Αστραπόγιαννος 1970). For five (5) years (1975-1980) he was President of the Society of Greek Theatre Actor-Managers.
Nikos Kourkoulos died at the Errikos Dynan Hospital, Athens, on 30 January 2007, after a long battle with cancer
, aged 72. He was survived by his companion of twenty years, Marianna Latsi (daughter of Greek shipping billionaire Yiannis Latsis
), and four children: Errieta and Philip from his relationship with Marianna Latsis, and Melita and Alkis from his legal marriage.
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
theatrical and film performer, one of the most talented and recognizable actors in Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
of modern times. Kourkoulos is best known to Greek audiences for playing "Angelos Kreouzis" in Oratotis miden, but he also appeared in other movies such as To Homa vaftike kokkino, Exodos kindynou, O Astrapogiannos, O Katiforos among others.
Life and career
Nikos Kourkoulos grew up in the Athens district of ZografouZografou
Zografou is a suburb in the eastern part of Athens, Greece. It is located about 5 km from downtown Athens, 2 km SW of Katechaki Avenue, 4 km from the Hymettus Ring forming part of the Attiki Odos private superhighway network, and 3 km E of Kifissias Avenue...
. Sports and football were his loves. He belonged to Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos
Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos is a multi-sport club based in Athens, Greece. It has the shamrock as its official emblem and green and white as its colours...
roster during his school years. Acting came before him rather accidentally. As he himself had claimed, he took the plunge to become an actor after reading books on theatre.
He studied acting at the National Theatre of Greece
National Theatre of Greece
The National Theatre of Greece is based in Athens, Greece.-History:The theatre was originally founded in 1880 with a grant from King George I and Efstratios Rallis to give theatre a permanent home in Athens...
's School of Drama, and made his stage debut in a 1958 Athens production of Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils was a French author and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, also a writer and playwright.-Biography:...
' La dame aux camélias
The Lady of the Camellias
The Lady of the Camellias is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils, first published in 1848, and subsequently adapted for the stage. The Lady of the Camellias premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, France on February 2, 1852. The play was an instant success, and Giuseppe Verdi immediately set...
, opposite Ellie Lambeti
Ellie Lambeti
Ellie Lambeti was a Greek actress.-Family:Born in 1926 in Greece,her father owned a Greek tavern in the village of Vilia Attikis. She had six siblings. Her maternal grandfather was a Captain Stamatis who fought together with Kolokotronis against the Turks in 1821, when the modern Greek democracy...
and Dimitris Horn
Dimitris Horn
Dimitris Horn was a Greek theatrical and film performer. He is regarded probably as the greatest Greek actor of modern times.-Biography:...
.
He was one of the founders of the prestigious musical group,
Proskinio and appeared in the 1967 Broadway musical,
Illya Darling
Illya Darling
Illya Darling is a musical with a book by Jules Dassin, music by Manos Hadjidakis, and lyrics by Joe Darion, based on Dassin's 1960 film Never on Sunday.-Production:The show previewed in a tour of Philadelphia, Toronto and Detroit for nine weeks...
, with Melina Mercouri
Melina Mercouri
Melina Mercouri , born as Maria Amalia Mercouri was a Greek actress, singer and politician.As an actress she made her film debut in Stella and met international success with her performances in Never on Sunday, Phaedra, Topkapi and Promise at Dawn...
, in a role for which he was nominated for a Tony award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
as a best supporting actor.
For most of the 1960s/70s, Kourkoulos' success was unparalleled by any other Greek actor, except Dimitris Papamichael
Dimitris Papamichael
Dimitris Papamichael born 1934 in Athens; died 8 August 2004 in Athens 12pm at his house) was a famous Greek actor and director. He married Aliki Vougiouklaki, the national star of Greece for a decade,in 1965 and co-starred with her in films that marked the "golden era" of Greek cinema.-External...
, but Kourkoulos' choice of material was more challenging than the latter's. He created his personal group in the early 1970s, with a repertory which included, among others, Franz KafkaKafka's The Trial
The Trial
The Trial is a novel by Franz Kafka, first published in 1925. One of Kafka's best-known works, it tells the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor the reader.Like Kafka's other novels, The Trial was never...
, Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
's View from the Bridge
A View from the Bridge
A View from the Bridge is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller that was first staged on September 29, 1955 as a one-act verse drama with A Memory of Two Mondays at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The play was unsuccessful and Miller subsequently revised the play to contain two acts; this...
and Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
's The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
. His last stage appearance was in the title role of Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
' Philoktitis
Philoctetes (Sophocles)
Philoctetes is a play by Sophocles . The play was written during the Peloponnesian War. It was first performed at the Festival of Dionysus in 409 BC, where it won first prize. The story takes place during the Trojan War...
(1991) at the restored ancient theater of Epidaurus
Epidaurus
Epidaurus was a small city in ancient Greece, at the Saronic Gulf. Two modern towns bear the name Epidavros : Palaia Epidavros and Nea Epidavros. Since 2010 they belong to the new municipality of Epidavros, part of the peripheral unit of Argolis...
in southern Greece. In 1995, he was named as Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Greece
National Theatre of Greece
The National Theatre of Greece is based in Athens, Greece.-History:The theatre was originally founded in 1880 with a grant from King George I and Efstratios Rallis to give theatre a permanent home in Athens...
, an institution he managed to turn into a profitable organization without compromising on artistic integrity.
His film career was successful: he starred in many films from the late 1950s until the early 1980s. His most commercial films have been melodramas with a social background, like Oratotis miden (Ορατότης Μηδέν) (1970).
He was awarded twice at the Thessaloniki Film Festival with the Best Actor Prize for his performance in Adistaktoi (Αδίστακτοι 1965) and Astrapogiannos (Αστραπόγιαννος 1970). For five (5) years (1975-1980) he was President of the Society of Greek Theatre Actor-Managers.
Nikos Kourkoulos died at the Errikos Dynan Hospital, Athens, on 30 January 2007, after a long battle with cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, aged 72. He was survived by his companion of twenty years, Marianna Latsi (daughter of Greek shipping billionaire Yiannis Latsis
Yiannis Latsis
Yiannis Latsis , also John Spyridon Latsis, was a Greek shipping tycoon notable for his great wealth, influential friends, and charitable activities.-Biography:...
), and four children: Errieta and Philip from his relationship with Marianna Latsis, and Melita and Alkis from his legal marriage.
Theatrical Performances
Nikos Kourkoulos headed companies and his own theatre in Athens and Thessaloniki, and played leading roles in:- EuripidesEuripidesEuripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...
, MedeaMedea (play)Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed...
, 1959 - Thornton WilderThornton WilderThornton Niven Wilder was an American playwright and novelist. He received three Pulitzer Prizes, one for his novel The Bridge of San Luis Rey and two for his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, and a National Book Award for his novel The Eighth Day.-Early years:Wilder was born in Madison,...
, Our TownOur TownOur Town is a three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder. It is a character story about an average town's citizens in the early twentieth century as depicted through their everyday lives...
, 1960 - Jean GiraudouxJean GiraudouxHippolyte Jean Giraudoux was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His work is noted for its stylistic elegance and poetic fantasy...
, OndineOndine (play)Ondine is a play written in 1938 by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux that tells the story of Hans and Ondine. Hans is a knight-errant who has been sent off on a quest by his betrothed. In the forest he meets and falls in love with Ondine, a water-sprite who is attracted to the world of mortal man....
, 1962 - R & A Goetz, The HeiressThe Heiress (play)The Heiress is a 1947 play by American playwrights Ruth and Augustus Goetz adapted from the 1880 Henry James novel, Washington Square. The play opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on 29 September 1947 directed by Jed Harris starring Wendy Hiller, Basil Rathbone, and Peter Cookson...
, 1962 - Samuel A. TaylorSamuel A. TaylorSamuel A. Taylor was an American playwright and screenwriter.Born Samuel Albert Tanenbaum, in a Jewish family, in Chicago, Illinois, Taylor made his Broadway debut as author of the play The Happy Time in 1950. He wrote the play Sabrina Fair in 1953 and co-wrote its film adaptation the following year...
, Sabrina FairSabrina FairSabrina Fair is a romantic comedy written by Samuel A. Taylor. It ran on Broadway for a total of 318 performances, opening at the National Theatre on November 11, 1953. Directed by H. C...
, 1963 - William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, Julius CaesarJulius Caesar (play)The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
, 1964 - Luigi PirandelloLuigi PirandelloLuigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...
, Clothing The Naked, 1964 - Frank WedekindFrank WedekindBenjamin Franklin Wedekind , usually known as Frank Wedekind, was a German playwright...
, Lulu, 1965 - Never on a Sunday (Illya DarlingIllya DarlingIllya Darling is a musical with a book by Jules Dassin, music by Manos Hadjidakis, and lyrics by Joe Darion, based on Dassin's 1960 film Never on Sunday.-Production:The show previewed in a tour of Philadelphia, Toronto and Detroit for nine weeks...
), 1967, in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(directed by Jules DassinJules DassinJulius "Jules" Dassin , was an American film director, with Jewish-Russian origins. He was a subject of the Hollywood blacklist in the McCarthy era, and subsequently moved to France where he revived his career.-Early life:...
, with Melina MercouriMelina MercouriMelina Mercouri , born as Maria Amalia Mercouri was a Greek actress, singer and politician.As an actress she made her film debut in Stella and met international success with her performances in Never on Sunday, Phaedra, Topkapi and Promise at Dawn...
, in a production nominated for a Tony awardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
) - Franz Kafka, The Castle, 1964, and The TrialThe TrialThe Trial is a novel by Franz Kafka, first published in 1925. One of Kafka's best-known works, it tells the story of a man arrested and prosecuted by a remote, inaccessible authority, with the nature of his crime revealed neither to him nor the reader.Like Kafka's other novels, The Trial was never...
, 1971 - Euripides, OrestesOrestes (play)Orestes is an Ancient Greek play by Euripides that follows the events of Orestes after he had murdered his mother.-Background:...
, 1971 - Sławomir Mrożek, Tango, 1972
- Bertholt Brecht, The Threepenny OperaThe Threepenny OperaThe Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
, 1975 (as Macheath, with Melina Mercouri as Jenny), directed by Jules Dassin - Anton ChekhovAnton ChekhovAnton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
, The SeagullThe SeagullThe Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
, 1976 - Harold PinterHarold PinterHarold Pinter, CH, CBE was a Nobel Prize–winning English playwright and screenwriter. One of the most influential modern British dramatists, his writing career spanned more than 50 years. His best-known plays include The Birthday Party , The Homecoming , and Betrayal , each of which he adapted to...
, The HomecomingThe HomecomingThe Homecoming is a two-act play written in 1964 by Nobel laureate Harold Pinter and first published in 1965. The original Broadway production won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Play and its 40th-anniversary Broadway production at the Cort Theatre was nominated for a 2008 Tony Award for "Best Revival...
, 1977 - Jean AnouilhJean AnouilhJean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...
, Ring Round the MoonRing Round the MoonRing Round the Moon is a 1950 adaptation by the English dramatist Christopher Fry of Jean Anouilh's Invitation to the Castle . Peter Brook commissioned Fry to adapt the play and the first production of Ring Round the Moon was given at the Globe Theatre...
, 1978 - Neil SimonNeil SimonNeil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
, The Odd CoupleThe Odd CoupleThe Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing and...
, 1980, directed by Andreas VoutsinasAndréas VoutsinasAndréas Voutsinas was a Greek actor and theater director. In the English-speaking world, he was best known for his roles in three Mel Brooks films, The Producers , The Twelve Chairs and History of the World, Part I .CareerAndreas Voutsinas was born in Khartoum, Sudan on 22 August 1932 by parents... - SophoclesSophoclesSophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
, Oedipus the KingOedipus the KingOedipus the King , also known by the Latin title Oedipus Rex, is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles that was first performed c. 429 BCE. It was the second of Sophocles's three Theban plays to be produced, but it comes first in the internal chronology, followed by Oedipus at Colonus and then Antigone...
, 1982 - Ugo BettiUgo BettiUgo Betti was an Italian judge, better known as an author, who is considered by many the greatest Italian playwright next to Pirandello....
, Reciprocation, 1983, directed by Minos VolanakisMinos VolanakisMinos Volanakis was a Greek theatre director and translator.He studied with Carolos Koun, for whom he translated American plays into Greek, and first made his name for his translations of the dramas of his friend Jean Genet, as well as for productions of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and... - Arthur MillerArthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, A View from the BridgeA View from the BridgeA View from the Bridge is a play by American playwright Arthur Miller that was first staged on September 29, 1955 as a one-act verse drama with A Memory of Two Mondays at the Coronet Theatre on Broadway. The play was unsuccessful and Miller subsequently revised the play to contain two acts; this...
, 1986 - Dale WassermanDale WassermanDale Wasserman was an American playwright. -Early life:Dale Wasserman was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and was orphaned at the age of nine. He lived in a state orphanage and with an older brother in South Dakota before he "hit the rails". He later said:-Career:Wasserman worked in various...
, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s NestOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (play)One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a play based on Ken Kesey's 1962 novel of the same name. Dale Wasserman's stage adaptation, with music by Teiji Ito, made its Broadway preview on November 12, 1963, its premiere on November 13, and ran until January 25, 1964 for a total of one preview and 82...
, 1987 - Sophocles, PhiloctetesPhiloctetes (Sophocles)Philoctetes is a play by Sophocles . The play was written during the Peloponnesian War. It was first performed at the Festival of Dionysus in 409 BC, where it won first prize. The story takes place during the Trojan War...
, 1991
Filmography
- To Telefteo psemmaA Matter of DignityA Matter of Dignity is a 1957 Greek drama film directed by Michael Cacoyannis. It was entered into the 1958 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot:The Pellas are magnates who face financial ruin. Desperate to conceal the dire straits they are in and maintain their social status, they plan to marry their...
1957 , A Matter of Dignity - Barbayannis, o kanatas 1957 , Barbayiannis , the potter
- Erotikes istories 1959 , Erotic stories
- Bouboulina 1959 , Bouboulina
- Amaryllis, to koritsi tis agapis 1959 , Amaryllis , the girl of love
- I Kyria dimarhos 1960 , Lady mayor
- Kalimera Athina 1960 , Goodmorning Athens
- To Hamini 1960 , The Guttersnipe
- Dyo hiliades naftes kai ena koritsi 1960 , Two thousands sailors and one girl
- Mana mou, ton agapisa 1961 , Mother , I loved him
- O KatiforosThe DownhillThe Downhill is a 1961 Greek drama film made by Finos Films. It was directed by Giannis Dalianidis and starring Zoi Laskari, Nikos Kourkoulos, Vangelis Voulgaridis and Pantelis Zervos....
1961 , The Slip - Gia sena tin agapi mou 1961 , For you my love
- To Taxidi 1962 , The travel
- Orgi 1962 , Fury
- Syntrimmia tis zois 1963 , Debris of life
- Lola tis Troubas 1964 , Lola of Trouba
- Enas megalos erotas 1964 , One big love
- Dipsa gia zoi 1963 , Thirst for life
- Amfivolies 1964 , Doubts
- Games of Desire 1964
- To Homa vaftike kokkinoBlood on the LandBlood on the Land is a 1966 Greek drama film directed by Vasilis Georgiadis. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.-Cast:* Nikos Kourkoulos as Odysseas Hormovas* Mairi Hronopoulou as Eirini...
1965 , Blood on the Land - Adistaktoi 1965 , Unhesitating
- Koinonia, ora miden 1966 , Society , time zero
- Katigoro tous anthropous 1966 , I Blame the people
- Epitafios gia ehthrous kaí filous 1966 , Epitaph for enemies and for friends
- Kataskopoi sto Saroniko 1968 , Agents on Saronic ( Gulf )
- Gymnoi sto dromo 1968 , Nudes on the street
- Roma come Chicago 1968
- Oratotis miden 1970 , Visibility zero
- O Astrapogiannos 1970 , O Astrapogiannos
- Katahrisi exousias 1971 , Malversation
- Me fovo kai me pathos 1972 , With fear and with passion
- O Ehthros tou laou 1972 , The Enemy of people
- Thema syneidiseos 1973 , Issue of conscience
- I Diki ton dikaston 1974 , The Trial of judgemen
- Ena gelasto apogevma 1979 , One happy afternnon
- Exodos kindynou 1980 , Exit of danger
- To Fragma 1982 , The Dam
- To 13o Kivotio 1992 , The 13th Kit ( TV Series )