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Irene Papas

1926 – 2022

About

Actress. She was born in a small village in Chiliomodi Greece. She began her career in acting under her father's guidance on stage in small supporting parts. Her family moved to Athens when she was 7 years old. At 15 she studied singing and dancing at the Royal School of Dramatic Art. After graduating some of her first on-stage roles were in plays written by Ibsen, Shakespeare and in Greek tragedies. From time to time in her career she would appear in stage roles in Greek and New York theaters. Some of here best know plays included "The Idiot," "Inherit the Wind," "Iphigenia in Aulis," "Medea," and "Electra." These were just a few of her many stage appearances. She made her first big screen film appearance in Greece in "Fallen Angels" in 1948. She made her American screen debut in 1953 in a B-movie "The Man from Cairo" as Yvonne Lebeau. From there she went on to star in perhaps 2 of her most popular and best know films "The Guns of Navarone" in 1961 as Maria and the 1964 production of "Zorba the Greek", this film helped to establish her internal reputation as an actress. She also played other leading roles is such films as "Z," "Anne of the Thousand Days," "Mohammad, Messenger of God," "Lion of the Desert," and in one of her last major roles in 2001 in "Captain Corelli's Mandolin." In an acting career that ran from 1948 until she retired from acting in 2003 she appeared in both supporting and starring roles in over 70 productions. Some of the many awards she received included Best Actress, for the film "Antigon" at the 11th Berlin International Film Festival in 1961, the Best Actress for the film "Elektra" at the 1962 Thessaloniki International Film Festival, the Golden Arrow Award for lifetime achievement, at Hamptons International Film Festival in 1993. In total she received more than 24 honors and awards. In 2017 the National Theatre of Greece's drama school announced it would move to a new drama school named after her, the Irene Papas – Athens School in Athens.