09-16-2022, 06:28 AM
International (but very Greek) actress Irene Pappas.
Papas was born as Irene Lelekou (Ειρήνη Λελέκου) on 3 September 1929,[a][3][6][7] in the village of Chiliomodi, outside Corinth, Greece. Her mother, Eleni Prevezanou (Ελένη Πρεβεζάνου), was a schoolteacher, and her father, Stavros Lelekos (Σταύρος Λελέκος),[b] taught classical drama at the Sofikós school in Corinth.[4] She recalled that she was always acting as a child, making dolls out of rags and sticks; after a touring theatre visited the village performing Greek tragedies with the women tearing their hair, she used to tie a black scarf around her head and perform for the other children.[10] The family moved to Athens when she was seven years old.[11] She was educated from age 15 at the Royal School of Dramatic Art in Athens, taking classes in dance and singing.[4] She found the acting style advocated by the School old-fashioned, formal, and stylised, and she rebelled against it, causing her to have to repeat a year; she eventually graduated in 1948.
Papas began her acting career in Greece in variety and traditional theatre, in plays by Ibsen, Shakespeare, and classical Greek tragedy, before moving into film in 1951.[4] She continued to appear on stage from time to time, including in New York City in productions such as Dostoevsky's The Idiot.[12] She played in Iphigenia in Aulis in Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre in 1968,[13] and in Medea in 1973. Reviewing the production in The New York Times, Clive Barnes described her as a "very fine, controlled Medea", smouldering with a "carefully dampened passion", constantly fierce.[14] The theatre critic Walter Kerr also praised Papas's Medea; both Barnes and Kerr saw in her portrayal what Barnes called "her unrelenting determination and unwavering desire for justice".[1] Albert Bermel considered Papas's rendering of Medea as a sympathetic woman a triumph of acting.[1] She appeared in The Bacchae in 1980 at Circle in the Square,[15] and in Electra at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus in 1985.[16]
Papas debuted in American film with a bit part in the B-movie The Man from Cairo (1953); her next American film was a much larger role as Jocasta Constantine, alongside James Cagney, in the Western Tribute to a Bad Man (1956).[25] She then starred in films such as The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Cacoyannis's Zorba the Greek (1964), based on Nikos Kazantzakis's novel of the same name, set to Mikis Theodorakis's music, establishing her reputation internationally.[16][26][17]
On The Guns of Navarone, she stars as a resistance fighter involved in the action, an addition to Alistair Maclean's novel, providing a love interest and a strong female character.[27][28][29] Katsan comments that she plays a "hard as nails" partisan in The Guns of Navarone, "capable, unafraid, stoic, patriotic, and heroic"; when the men hesitate, she kills the traitorous Anna; but although she interacts romantically with Andreas (Anthony Quinn), she remains "cool and rational", revealing little of her sensual persona; she is as tough as the men, like the stereotype of a Greek village woman, but she is contrasted with them in the film.[25]
Bosley Crowther called her appearance in Zorba "dark and intense as the widow".[30] Gerasimus Katsan said that she was most often remembered as the "sensual widow" in Zorba.[25] Katsan comments that she was again contrasted to the other village women, playing "the beautiful and tortured widow" who is eventually hunted to death with what Vrasidas Karalis called "elemental nobility".[25][31] Jefferson Hunter comments that Papas helped to lift Zorba from being merely an "exuberant" film with the stark passion of her subplot role.[32]
This success did not earn her an easy life; she stated that she did not work for 2 years after Electra, despite the prizes and acclamation; and again, she was out of work for 18 months after Zorba. It turned out to be her most popular film, but she said she earned only $10,000 from it.[10]
Papas played leading roles in critically acclaimed films such as Z (1969), where her political activist's widow has been called "indelible".[26] She appeared as Catherine of Aragon in Anne of the Thousand Days, opposite Richard Burton and Geneviève Bujold in 1969. In 1976, she starred in Mohammad, Messenger of God about the origin of Islam. In 1982, she appeared in Lion of the Desert, together with Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed, Rod Steiger, and John Gielgud. One of her last film appearances was in Captain Corelli's Mandolin in 2001,[4][33] where she to some extent reprised her strong peasant woman from The Guns of Navarone and the widow from Zorba, but was underused.[25]
In 1969, the RCA label released Papas' vinyl LP, Songs of Theodorakis (INTS 1033). This has 11 songs sung in Greek, conducted by Harry Lemonopoulos and produced by Andy Wiswell, with sleeve notes in English by Michael Cacoyannis. It was released on CD in 2005 (FM 1680).[41] Papas knew Mikis Theodorakis from working with him on Zorba the Greek[18] as early as 1964. The critic Clive Barnes said of her singing performance on the album that "Irene Pappas is known to the public as an actress, but that is why she sings with such intensity, her very appearance, with her raven hair, is an equally dynamic means of expression".[40]
In 1972, she appeared on the album 666 by the Greek rock group Aphrodite's Child on the track "∞" (infinity). She chants "I was, I am, I am to come" repeatedly and wildly over a percussive backing, worrying the label, Mercury, who hesitated over releasing the album, causing controversy with her "graphic orgasm".[42][43]
In 1979, Polydor released her album of eight Greek folk songs entitled Odes, with electronic music performed (and partly composed) by Vangelis.[44] The lyrics were co-written by Arianna Stassinopoulos.[45] They collaborated again in 1986 for Rapsodies, an electronic rendition of seven Byzantine liturgy hymns, also on Polydor; Jonny Trunk wrote that there was "no doubting the power, fire and earthy delights of Papas' voice".[46]
In 1967, Papas, a lifelong liberal, called for a "cultural boycott" against the "Fourth Reich", meaning the military government of Greece at that time.[47][16] Her opposition to the regime sent her, and other artists such as Theodorakis, whose songs she sang, into exile when the military junta came to power in Greece in 1967; she moved into temporary exile in Italy and New York.[20][48][49][16] When the junta fell in 1974, she returned to Greece, spending time both in Athens and in her family's village house in Chiliomodi, as well as continuing to work in Rome.[16]
More at Wikipedia.
Papas was born as Irene Lelekou (Ειρήνη Λελέκου) on 3 September 1929,[a][3][6][7] in the village of Chiliomodi, outside Corinth, Greece. Her mother, Eleni Prevezanou (Ελένη Πρεβεζάνου), was a schoolteacher, and her father, Stavros Lelekos (Σταύρος Λελέκος),[b] taught classical drama at the Sofikós school in Corinth.[4] She recalled that she was always acting as a child, making dolls out of rags and sticks; after a touring theatre visited the village performing Greek tragedies with the women tearing their hair, she used to tie a black scarf around her head and perform for the other children.[10] The family moved to Athens when she was seven years old.[11] She was educated from age 15 at the Royal School of Dramatic Art in Athens, taking classes in dance and singing.[4] She found the acting style advocated by the School old-fashioned, formal, and stylised, and she rebelled against it, causing her to have to repeat a year; she eventually graduated in 1948.
Papas began her acting career in Greece in variety and traditional theatre, in plays by Ibsen, Shakespeare, and classical Greek tragedy, before moving into film in 1951.[4] She continued to appear on stage from time to time, including in New York City in productions such as Dostoevsky's The Idiot.[12] She played in Iphigenia in Aulis in Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre in 1968,[13] and in Medea in 1973. Reviewing the production in The New York Times, Clive Barnes described her as a "very fine, controlled Medea", smouldering with a "carefully dampened passion", constantly fierce.[14] The theatre critic Walter Kerr also praised Papas's Medea; both Barnes and Kerr saw in her portrayal what Barnes called "her unrelenting determination and unwavering desire for justice".[1] Albert Bermel considered Papas's rendering of Medea as a sympathetic woman a triumph of acting.[1] She appeared in The Bacchae in 1980 at Circle in the Square,[15] and in Electra at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus in 1985.[16]
Papas debuted in American film with a bit part in the B-movie The Man from Cairo (1953); her next American film was a much larger role as Jocasta Constantine, alongside James Cagney, in the Western Tribute to a Bad Man (1956).[25] She then starred in films such as The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Cacoyannis's Zorba the Greek (1964), based on Nikos Kazantzakis's novel of the same name, set to Mikis Theodorakis's music, establishing her reputation internationally.[16][26][17]
On The Guns of Navarone, she stars as a resistance fighter involved in the action, an addition to Alistair Maclean's novel, providing a love interest and a strong female character.[27][28][29] Katsan comments that she plays a "hard as nails" partisan in The Guns of Navarone, "capable, unafraid, stoic, patriotic, and heroic"; when the men hesitate, she kills the traitorous Anna; but although she interacts romantically with Andreas (Anthony Quinn), she remains "cool and rational", revealing little of her sensual persona; she is as tough as the men, like the stereotype of a Greek village woman, but she is contrasted with them in the film.[25]
Bosley Crowther called her appearance in Zorba "dark and intense as the widow".[30] Gerasimus Katsan said that she was most often remembered as the "sensual widow" in Zorba.[25] Katsan comments that she was again contrasted to the other village women, playing "the beautiful and tortured widow" who is eventually hunted to death with what Vrasidas Karalis called "elemental nobility".[25][31] Jefferson Hunter comments that Papas helped to lift Zorba from being merely an "exuberant" film with the stark passion of her subplot role.[32]
This success did not earn her an easy life; she stated that she did not work for 2 years after Electra, despite the prizes and acclamation; and again, she was out of work for 18 months after Zorba. It turned out to be her most popular film, but she said she earned only $10,000 from it.[10]
Papas played leading roles in critically acclaimed films such as Z (1969), where her political activist's widow has been called "indelible".[26] She appeared as Catherine of Aragon in Anne of the Thousand Days, opposite Richard Burton and Geneviève Bujold in 1969. In 1976, she starred in Mohammad, Messenger of God about the origin of Islam. In 1982, she appeared in Lion of the Desert, together with Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed, Rod Steiger, and John Gielgud. One of her last film appearances was in Captain Corelli's Mandolin in 2001,[4][33] where she to some extent reprised her strong peasant woman from The Guns of Navarone and the widow from Zorba, but was underused.[25]
In 1969, the RCA label released Papas' vinyl LP, Songs of Theodorakis (INTS 1033). This has 11 songs sung in Greek, conducted by Harry Lemonopoulos and produced by Andy Wiswell, with sleeve notes in English by Michael Cacoyannis. It was released on CD in 2005 (FM 1680).[41] Papas knew Mikis Theodorakis from working with him on Zorba the Greek[18] as early as 1964. The critic Clive Barnes said of her singing performance on the album that "Irene Pappas is known to the public as an actress, but that is why she sings with such intensity, her very appearance, with her raven hair, is an equally dynamic means of expression".[40]
In 1972, she appeared on the album 666 by the Greek rock group Aphrodite's Child on the track "∞" (infinity). She chants "I was, I am, I am to come" repeatedly and wildly over a percussive backing, worrying the label, Mercury, who hesitated over releasing the album, causing controversy with her "graphic orgasm".[42][43]
In 1979, Polydor released her album of eight Greek folk songs entitled Odes, with electronic music performed (and partly composed) by Vangelis.[44] The lyrics were co-written by Arianna Stassinopoulos.[45] They collaborated again in 1986 for Rapsodies, an electronic rendition of seven Byzantine liturgy hymns, also on Polydor; Jonny Trunk wrote that there was "no doubting the power, fire and earthy delights of Papas' voice".[46]
In 1967, Papas, a lifelong liberal, called for a "cultural boycott" against the "Fourth Reich", meaning the military government of Greece at that time.[47][16] Her opposition to the regime sent her, and other artists such as Theodorakis, whose songs she sang, into exile when the military junta came to power in Greece in 1967; she moved into temporary exile in Italy and New York.[20][48][49][16] When the junta fell in 1974, she returned to Greece, spending time both in Athens and in her family's village house in Chiliomodi, as well as continuing to work in Rome.[16]
More at Wikipedia.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.