Irene Papas

At 97 years old, Irene Papas has this physical status:

Irene Papas (or Pappas) (born 3 September 1929) is a retired Greek actor and singer who has appeared in more than 70 films in a career spanning more than 50 years.

She made her name in Greece and then became a popular actress in films like The Guns of Navarone and Zorba the Greek.

In films including The Trojan Women and Iphigenia, she made a strong appearance as a Greek heroine.

She appeared in Antigone (1961) and Electra (1962). Papas received Best Actress awards at the Berlin International Film Festival in 1961 and The Trojan Women in 1971, both in 1961 and 1971 from the National Board of Review for The Trojan Women.

She received accolades for her work at Hamptons International Film Festival in 1993, the Golden Arrow Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival, and the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Biennale in 2009.

Early life

Papas was born in the village of Chiliomodi, outside Corinth, Greece, on September 3rini Lelekou ( ). Eleni Prevezanou ( ) was a school teacher and her father, Stavros Lelekos ( ), taught classical drama at the Sofikós school in Corinth. She recalled that she was always behaving like a girl, making dolls out of rags and sticks; after a touring theatre visited the village of Greek tragedies with the women tearing their hair, she tied a black scarf around her head and performed for the other children. When she was seven years old, the family moved to Athens. She was educated at the Royal School of Dramatic Art in Athens from age 15, teaching dance and singing. She found the acting style advocated by the School old-fashioned, formal, and stylized, and she protested against it, causing her to repeat a year; she eventually graduated in 1948.

Personal life

In 1947, she married Alkis Papas, who died in 1951. She met Marlon Brando in 1954 and the couple had a long love affair that they kept private at the time. When Brando died, she recalled, "I have never loved a man as much as I love Marlon." He was the love of my life, certainly the man I was most worried about the most and also the one I admired the most, two things that are often difficult to reconcile." In 1957, she married film director José Kohn; the marriage was later cancelled. She was the aunt of film producer Manousos Manousakis and actress Aias Manthopoulos.

She served on the board of directors of the Anna-Marie Foundation in 2003, a grant that provided assistance to people in rural areas of Greece. She first suffered from Alzheimer's disease in 2013. Papas spent her remaining years in Chiliomodi. She died on September 14, 2022, at the age of 93.

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Career

Papas began her acting career in Greece, in operas by Ibsen, Shakespeare, and classical Greek tragedy before heading to film in 1951. She appeared on stage from time to time, including in productions like Dostoevsky's The Idiot. In 1968, she appeared in Iphigenia in Aulis' Circle in the Square Theatre.

She appeared on Broadway in Medea in 1973. Clive Barnes, a drama critic, smouldering with a "carefully dampened passion" for the show, and vivacious. Walter Kerr, a theatre critic, also praised the result. Both actresses were portrayed by Barnes as a "unrelent passion and an unwavering desire for justice." In 1980, she appeared at The Bacchae, at Circle in the Square, and in Electra at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus in 1985.

Papas was discovered in Greece by Elia Kazan, where she gained a following. Her first film role was a small part in Nikos Tsiforos' 1948 Fallen Angels (Greek, "Hamenoi angeloi"). She began to be noticed for her role in Frixos Iliadis' 1952 film Dead City (Greek, "Nekri Politeia") (Greek, "Nekri Politeia). The film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, where Papas was welcomed by the international press and photographed spending time with the wealthy Aga Khan. At the time, Greek filmmakers regarded her as a noncommercial actress, and she tried her hand in other countries, signing with Lux Film in Italy, where the publicity for Dead City was sufficient to launch her as a film star. Attila and Theodora, Slave Empress, Lux's 1954 films, Attila and Theodora, which attracted Hollywood's interest, were she starring in Attila and Theodora, which attracted Hollywood's interest. Many other films followed, both in Greece and internationally.

With her convincing portrayal of the doomed heroine in George Tzavellas' Antigone (1961) and Michael Cacoyannis' Electra (1962), she was a leading figure in ancient tragedy film transcriptions; this gave her fame. Helen in Cacoyannis' The Trojan Women (1971) opposite Katharine Hepburn and Clytemnestra with "smoldering eyes," according to The New York Times' Iphigenia (1977).

Papas became fluent in Italian, and many of her films were made in that style. Cacoyannis was the only director she was truly comfortable with, with her calling herself "too obedient" to stand up to other directors. Cacoyannis said she was involved in his decision to make Iphigenia, establishing her reputation of Clytemnestra with her strength and physique, as well as her unselfish, impersonal condemnation of life injustice, something that in his view was also available to actors from countries like Greece, which had endured long years of oppression.

Alejandro Valverde Garca referred to Papas' appearance in The Trojan Women as "the most convincing cinematic Helen that has ever been depicted," noting that the script was written with her in mind.

Papas appeared in an American film with a small part from B-movie The Man from Cairo (1953); her next American film, alongside James Cagney, was much larger than Jocasta Constantine in the Western Tribute to a Bad Man (1956). She appeared in films including The Guns of Navarone (1961) and Cacoyannis' Zorba the Greek (1964), based on Nikos Kazantzakis' book of the same name and set to Mikis Theodorakis' music, establishing her fame internationally.

She portrays herself as a resistance fighter in The Guns of Navarone, an addition to Alistair Maclean's book, bringing a love interest and a strong female protagonist. Gerasimus Katsan says she portrays herself as "tough as nails" partisan in The Guns of Navarone, "capable, unafraid, patriotic, and heroic; when the men stall, she kills Anna, but she remains "cool and sensible," revealing little of her authentic personality; in the film, she is likened to them.

Bosley Crowther's appearance in Zorba was described as "dark and vigorous as the widow." Katsan said that she was most well-known in Zorba as the "sensual widow." Katsan said she was "the beautiful and tortured widow" who is eventually hunted to death with "elemental nobility," as Vrasidas Karalis put it. With the ferocious passion of her subplot role, Jean Watson, the film scholar, said Papas helped Zorba become merely a "exuberant" film.

Despite the awards and acclamation, this achievement did not guarantee her a comfortable life; she said she did not work for two years after Electra; and, then, she was out of work for 18 months after Zorba. It turned out to be her most well-known film, but she said she only earned $10,000 from it.

Papas appeared in critically acclaimed films such as Z (1969), in which her political activist's widow is referred to as "indelible." Catherine of Aragon appeared in Anne of the Thousand Days opposite Richard Burton and Geneviève Bujold in 1969. She appeared in Mohammad, Messenger of God about the origins of Islam in 1976. She appeared in Lion of the Desert in 1982. In 2001, one of Katsan's last film appearances was in Captain Corelli's Mandolin, where she was underused reprising her heroic pessant woman from The Guns of Navarone and the widow from Zorba.

Papas was described by the Enciclopedia Italiana as a typical Mediterranean beauty, with a beautiful voice both in singing and acting, as well as a vivacious spirit. "Papers from Cacoyannis onwards have made systematic use of her appearances, including chalk-white skin and long black hair, dark brown eyes, thick arched eyebrows, and straight nose," Olga Kourelou said. She writes that the camera has lingered in a close up on Papas' face and that she is often photographed in portrait, consciously recalling ancient Greek iconography. Kourelou leads by example with a portrait shot in Iphigenia, where Papas sings a lullaby to her daughter, in front of a Hellenic sculpture of a woman; the photographer points out the similarity of their facial features; she explains that Papas have often used the same style on papain's posters.

Gerasimus Katsan wrote that she is "an actor with incredible range, power, and subtlety." In the role of film critic Philip Kemp, he made his case.

Papas were regarded as an awe-inspiring presence, who paradoxically limited her career. Helen of Troy of Cacoyannis' film, as the cool but graceful widow in Zorba, Greece; the vengeful, grief-stricken Clytemnestra in Iphigenia; and "memorably" as the vengeful, grief-stricken Clytemnestra in Iphigenia. Papas' behavior in Iphigenia was "blatant declaiming," David Thomson of Film's Biographical Dictionary of Film. She stood out, too, in Costa-Gavras' 1968 political film Z based on a true-life assassination and a film directed by the novelist Gabriel Garca Márquez's screenplay.

Roger Ebert, a film critic, said there were many "good girls" in cinema "but not many women," and that Papas was a good actor. Ebert spoke of her uphill battle, her height, 5 foot 10 inches (1.78 m) restricting the leading men she could play with, her accent limiting the roles she could take, and that "her peculiar beauty is not the kind that superstar actresses like to compete with." He said that ordinary actors had a difficult time revealing the screen with Papas. All the same, her appearance in several well-known films, as well as her appearance in several well-known films, inspired "something of a cult."

Mel Schuster praised Papas as a great actress in four of Cacoyannis' films in his book on Greek cinema. His stage presence was awe-inspiring, especially in Electra, and so convincing as to limit the number of film roles she could play as she seemed to be an elemental power of nature. That resulted in her being regarded as "a Mother Earth who lived and survived," Schuster said in Hollywood's portrayal of her as "a Mother Earth who suffered and survived" but "never talked or acted." "Just the searching eyes darting through the bars, "with just the searching eyes darting through the jails," she said in "A "marvelous surprise" when Hollywood learned that she was also an excellent actor. Casting Helen as the graceful Helen was daring, considering that Papas was not as graceful as a Hedy Lamarr or an Elizabeth Taylor in 1971; if she had launched a thousand ships, she might have sparked "a conspiracy that may have sparked a holocaust." Schuster said that one shot of Papas's gave "indelible pleasure" and that it remained etched in the memory. That shot in Iphigenia was strategically placed at the end of the film's run as a versatile and lying actress, suited to both ancient mythical and psychological interpretations of the legend.

In Robert Wise's 1956 Helen of Troy, Bella Vivante compared Papas' dark-haired Helen to the more common choice of a blonde, Rossana Podestà. Cacoyannis framed Helen's seductive gaze and framed Podesta as an ideal image for the audience to watch, where Wise stressed Helen's seductive gaze and framed it as a "empowering female identity."

Gerasimus Katsan, a Greek scholar, said she was "the most well-known and well-known Greek film actress," with "range, strength, and subtlety," implying that her work made her a sort of national hero. She acted as a strong woman with "beauty and sensuality," but also with a strong sense of self-confidence and spirit.

"The near-indestructible grandmother [of the eponymous young prostitute] reigns supreme" in Ruy Guerra's 1983-era role, according to Robert Stam, "an oracle who speaks truths, particularly about men and love."

Despite Papas' appearance in both European and American "auteur films," she was best known as a tragicienne, according to film-maker Manoel de Oliveira's statement that "this grand and glorious portrait depicts the feminine soul's deepest essence." She is the image of Greece of all time..., the mother of western civilisation. Papas' tragic persona "offers a picture of sublimated beauty with a transcendental quality," she says, with the notable exception of Helen's role in The Trojan Women, Papas is neither "sexualized nor glamorized."

In 1973, she was given a Magnum photographer Ferdinando Scianna's photo shoot.

Papas said that the acting techniques and strategy of expressing oneself are the same as when she was asked about her film and stage, as well as in classical and modern films. One may have to use a louder voice on a classical stage, but "you always use the same soul." She denied that she had any knowledge of how to act with such enthusiasm, but that one's attitude to death was what prompted her to take action. Death, she said, was "the greatest catalyst in human life"; if you were waiting to die, one would have to decide what to do with one's life.

Songs of Theodorakis, Papas' vinyl LP, was released by the RCA label in 1969 (INTS 1033). This album features 11 songs in Greek, directed by Harry Lemonopoulos and produced by Andy Wiswell, as well as sleeve notes in English by Michael Cacoyannis. In 2005 (FM 1680), it was released on CD (FM 1680). Papas knew Mikis Theodorakis from his time on Zorba, Greece, as early as 1964. "Irene Pappas is well-known to the public as an actress, but her appearance, with her raven hair, is a similarly effective means of expression," Clive Barnes said of her singing appearance on the album.

She appeared on the album 666 by the Greek rock band Aphrodite's Child in 1972 (infinity). "I am, I am, I am to come" repeatedly and vociferously over a slew of problems that threatened the brand's reputation, which prevented the release of the album, sparking controversies with her "graphic orgasm."

Polydor's album of eight Greek folk songs named Odes was released in 1979, with electronic music performed (and partly composed) by Vangelis. Arianna Stassinopoulos co-wrote the lyrics. They collaborated again in 1986 for Rapsodies, an interactive interpretation of seven Byzantine liturgigy hymns; Jonny Trunk said they had "no doubting the strength, fire, and earthy delights of Papas' voice."

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Awards and distinctions

• 1961: 11th Berlin International Film Festival (Best Actress, for the film Antigone)
• 1962: Thessaloniki International Film Festival (Best Actress, for the film Elektra)
• 1971: National Board of Review (Best Actress, for the film The Trojan Women)
• 1987 Venice Film Festival jury president
• 1993: Golden Arrow Award for lifetime achievement, at Hamptons International Film Festival
• 1993: Flaiano Prize for Theatre (Career Award)
• 2009: Leone d'oro alla carriera (Golden Lion career award), Venice Biennale