Actor
Melina Mercouri
Born October 18, 1920 in Athens, GreeceDied March 6, 199419 films
Maria Amalia "Melina" Mercouri (Greek: Μαρία Αμαλία "Μελίνα" Μερκούρη, 18 October 1920 – 6 March 1994) was a Greek actress, singer, activist, and politician. She came from a prominent political family for multiple generations. She received an Academy Award nomination and won a French Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award for her performance in the film Never on Sunday (1960) and an Italian David di Donatello for Topkapi. Mercouri was also nominated for one Tony Award, three Golden Globes, and two BAFTA Awards in her acting career. In 1987 she was awarded a special prize in the first edition of the Europe Theatre Prize.
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Mercouri was a member of the Hellenic Parliament, elected as a representative of PASOK. In October 1981, she became the first female Minister of Culture and Sports. She has the longest tenure of any of Greece's Ministers of Culture, having served from 1981 to 1989, and then from 1993 until her death in 1994, during PASOK governments. Mercouri's political activism included her long campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles. One of her greatest achievements was the establishment of the European Capitals of Culture, with Athens chosen as the first capital in 1985.
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The best way into Melina Mercouri's work
First watchNever on Sunday19606.8as IlyaAn American scholar in Greece sets about improving the local prostitute with whom he is infatuated.View filmEssential films
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Filmography
19 films as actor- TBAla loiLucrezia
- 1978A Dream of PassionMaya / Medea
- 1977Nasty HabitsSister Gertrude
- 1975Once Is Not EnoughKarla
- 1970Promise at DawnNina Kacewa
- 1969Gaily, GailyLil
- 196610:30 P.M. SummerMaria
- 1966A Man Could Get KilledAurora / Celeste da Costa
- 1965The UninhibitedJenny
- 1964TopkapiElizabeth Lipp
- 1963The VictorsMagda
- 1962PhaedraPhaedra Kyrilis
- 1961The Last JudgmentForeign lady
- 1961Long Live Henry IV... Long Live Love!Marie de Médicis
- 1960Never on SundayIlya
- 1959The LawDonna Lucrezia
- 1958The Gypsy and the GentlemanBelle
- 1957He Who Must DieKaterina
- 1955StellaStella