Actors & Actresses
Melina Merkouri
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«I was born Greek. I will die Greek».
- Melina Merkouri-
(Her answer when the Greek dictators rescinded her Greek pasport)
Bio
Melina Merkouri
(Maria Amalia Merkouri).
[Birth: Oct. 18, 1925 / Death: Mar. 6, 1994]
Greek
actress and politician. She was internationaly known as Ilia, the
good-hearted prostitute in the movie "Never on Sunday" (1960). She
studied in National Drama School of Greece (1943-46) and made her
debut on stage in 1944. In 1949 she is already the leading lady in
the role of Blanch from "Sreetcar named Desire" of Tennessee
Williams.
Kakojiannis' "Stella" was her first work on film in 1955. In 1965
she married the director Jules Dassin who directed her in the
movies: "Never on Sunday", "Faedra" (1962), "TopKapi" (1964) and "A
Dream of Passion" (1978).
Melina fought hard against dictatorship in Greece from abroad. After
the fall of the dictators she came back in Greece and got involved
in politics. In 1981 she elected with PA.SO.K. and appointed
Minister of Culture. Her vision until her death was the return of
Parthenon Marbles in Greece from the British Museum were they are
kept since their removal in 19th century from Elgin.
Tens of thousands of Greeks surged into the streets of Athens as the
body of "the last Greek goddess" was returned to her native soil on
March 6, 1994.
Check these also
Links for Melina:
- IMDb - Biography for Melina Mercouri
- Yahoo!: Melina Mercouri - Biography
- xrefer - Mercouri, Melina (1925 - 1994)
