Nikos Kourkoulos

Nikos Kourkoulos ( Greek Νίκος Κούρκουλος; * December 5, 1934 in Athens ; † January 30, 2007 ibid) was a Greek theater and film actor. In the 1990s he was also director of the Greek National Theater in Athens.

life and work

Kourkoulos was born in Athens and grew up in the suburb of Zografos . In his youth he was an avid footballer who joined a youth team from Panathinaikos Athens . Nevertheless, he decided on an artistic career and was confronted with acting rather by chance. As an avid reader he devoured books about the theater in particular, which aroused his passion for drama.

After studying acting at the drama school of the national Greek theater in Athens, he made his debut in 1958 in the play The Lady of the Camellias according to Alexandre Dumas , where he played horn with Elli Lambeti and Dimitris . He was one of the founders of the renowned music group Proskinio. In 1967, Kourkoulos also appeared in the United States on Broadway in the play Illya Darling with Melina Mercouri , for whose performance he was honored with a Tony Award for Best Actor. In the 1960s and 1970s, the actor developed together with Dimitris Papamichail to become the most sought-after Greek theater actor who was able to mobilize the masses and thus ensure increasing ticket sales at the theater box offices. In addition to classical works, he also played in similarly difficult pieces by Franz Kafka , Arthur Miller and Bertolt Brecht . He had his last stage performance in 1991 in the leading role of Philoctetes of Sophocles . He then became artistic director of the Greek National Theater.

His film career has been just as successful. Kourkoulos starred in many films from the late 1950s to the early 1980s. His most famous films have been melodramas with a social background, such as Oratotis miden (Ορατότης Μηδέν, 1970).

Nikos Kourkoulos died on January 30, 2007 in an Athens hospital of cancer at the age of 72.

Web links

• Nikos Kourkoulos in the Internet Movie Database (English)