Greece

Famous Greek People: Greek Artists, Scientists, Leaders, Musicians, Politicians and Athletes

The following people made their mark on both the local and international scenes. They are just some of many famous Greeks who have lifted Greece’s name worldwide and made a difference in our world. Their purpose and stories inspired awe if not greatness.

:: List of Famous People from Greece ::

Thespis

Thespis is from ancient Greece, born in Icaria which is now known as Dionysos. According to Aristotle, he was the first one to appear as an actor on stage, playing a character instead of speaking as himself. Thespis was a singer of dithyrambs, songs based on mythology that have refrains sung by a chorus. Thespis introduced, according to records, a new style of performing different characters in a story by wearing different masks, paving the way for a new style of play called tragedy. Accordingly, Thespis, the first known actor in written plays, also paved the way for the invention of the theater and touring groups and is accorded the accolade for his contribution by referring to new world actors as thespians.

Criss Angel

He is famous for being an illusionist, hypnotist, stunt performer and an escapologist. He is also an actor, musician and songwriter. Popularly known as Criss Angel, his real name is Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos. Although born in New York, he is of Greek-American descent. His father was John Sarantakos and his mother’s name is Dimitra. He has two older brothers, Costa and JD and his father has a restaurant and doughnut shop in East Meadow, Long Island in New York. He became popular for his TV show, Criss Angel Mindfreak and his collaboration with world-renown Cirque du Soleil for a live illusion show at the Luxor Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada called Criss Angel Believe.

Hank Azaria

Henry Albert Azaria, shortened to Hank Azaria does film stage and TV shows. He is also a director and very good at comedy. He’s a very talented voice actor and is voicing several characters in the animated series The Simpsons. He was hilarious in the 1996 film The Birdcage with Robin Williams. Hank was born in Queens, New York but his parents are Sephardic Jewish who hailed from Thessaloni, Greece. His mother was a publicist for Columbia Pictures, assigned to promote films to the Latin American countries before she married Hank’s father, Albert who had many dress-manufacturing operations. Hank Azaria was once married to Helen Hunt.

George Chakiris

George Chakiris, born in Norwood, Ohio is the son of Greek immigrants, Steven Chakiris and Zoe Anastasiadou. He is a dancer, actor and singer and has appeared as a dancer or singer in Song of Love, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, White Christmas, Flower Druim Song and Brigadoon. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as Bernardo in the film version of West Side Story in 1961. George Chakiris has appeared in many films together with very well known stars during his time such as Charlston Hesston, Yvette Mimieux and Gene Kelly. During the 70s and 80s, Charikis has recurring roles in prime time TV and daytime soaps such as Wonder Woman, Murder She Wrote, Medical Center, Hawaii Five-O and Santa Barbara as well as in Superboy during its first and second season in late 1988 up to 1990. He was also a guest at the final episode of The Partridge Family as the old suitor of Shirley Partridge (Shirley Jones). George Chakiris was last seen in an episode of Last of the Summer Wine but has basically retired and turned his hobby of making sterling silver jewelry into a business.

Olympia Dukakis

Olympia Dukakis was born in Massachusetts in 1931. Her parents were Greek immigrants. Constantine S. Dukakis was from Anatolia and her mother Alexandra Christos was from Peloponnese. The former governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis is Olympia’s cousin. Her brother’s name is Apollo.

She appeared in a host of movies, notable of which are Steel Magnolias, Joan of Arc, More Tales of the City, Moonstruck. Mr. Holland’s Opus and Search for Tomorrow. She had won an Academy Award, BAFTA and a Golden Globe Award Moonstruck and had received several Golden Globe and Emmy nominations.

Olympia Dukakis has three children with actor Louis Zorich whom she married in 1962.

Melina Kanakaredes

Her full name is Melina Eleni Kanakaredes Constantinides. She was born in Akron, Ohio to Constance Temo who was a candy company owner and Harry Kanakaredes, a Greek –American insurance salesman. Her maternal grandfather, Christ Temo established their chocolate store. Melina is fluent in Greek. She is best known for her portrayal of Detective Stella Bonasera in CSI: NY for 6 seasons and as Dr. Sydney Hansen for 5 seasons in the TV show Providence. Her first TV role was in the daytime drama Guiding where she had the role of Eleni Andros Spaulding Cooper for 4 years, receiving 2 Daytime Emmy Award nominations. She has recurring role in NYPD Blue as the reporter Benita Alden, Northern Exposure, Due South, The Practice and Oz. She is married to Peter Constantinides with whom she has 2 daughters.

Melina Mercouri

Melina Mercouri was born Maria Amalia Mercouris, in Athens in 1920. She was a Greek actress, singer and politician who became a member of the Hellenic Parliament in 1977 and the first female Minister of Culture of Greece. She was also credited to have conceived and proposed the program for the European Capital of Culture in 1983 that had been established by the EU in 1985. She debuted in the film Stella in 1955 and gained international success with her roles in Never on Sunday (1960), Phaedra (1962), Topkapi (1964) and the Promise at Dawn (1970). She has a Best Actress Award from the 1960 Cannes Film Festival. She also won three Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Academy Awards nomination.
Melina Mercouri died of lung cancer in 1994.

Irene Papas

Irene Papas was discovered by Elia Kazan in Greece. She is a Greek actress, born in 1926 that had starred in over 70 films in her more than 50 years as an actress. Some of her most notable films include The Guns of Navarone, Zorba the Greek, Z, Electra, Antigone and The Trojan Woman as Helen. She portrayed Clytemnestra in the movie Iphigenia, Catherine of Aragon in Anne of the Thousand Days. She also starred in Mohammad, Messenger of God, Lion of the Desert and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, her last film appearance.
Irene Papas is also an occasional singer and had collaborated with the Vangelis in 1978 for an album called Odes, an electronic rendition of 8 Greek folk songs. They again collaborated in 1986, producing an electronic rendition of 7 Byzantine liturgical hymns in an album entitled Rhapsodies.

Telly Savalas

He was born Aristotelis Savalas to Greek American parents Christina Kapsalis and Nick Savalas on January 21, 1922. His mother was an artist and his father was the owner of a Greek restaurant in New York. Telly was an actor and singer but he became popular as a TV personality when he starred in Kojak. Some of the films Telly Savalas did include Birdman of Alcatraz where he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Award at the Oscars, Young Savages, The Dirty Dozen, Battle of the Bulge, The Greatest Story Ever Told, Kelly’s Heroes, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Pretty Maids All in a Row, Escape from Athena and Inside Out. Telly shaved his head when he played Pontius Pilate in the movie The Greatest Story Ever Told and decided to remain bald all this life.

He worked as a lifeguard after his high school graduation but became unsuccessful in preventing a man from drowning on one occasion. The incident continued to haunt him for the rest of his life. He became interested in radio and television when he entered college, He joined the Army during WWII, worked as a host for the State Department’s Your Voice of America series and at ABC as an executive director ten senior director of the news special events.

Billy Zane

He was Caledon “Cal” Hockley in Titanic. He was also The Phantom. He was Mr. E in CQ and John Wheeler in Twin Peaks. He is William George “Billy” Zanetakos or Billy Zane – actor, director and producer. He is the son of Thalia and William George Zane, Sr., who were amateur actors, and founders a medical technician school. He has a sister, actress Lisa Zane.

Billy made several movies, including Back to the Future and Back to the Future II, Critters, Dead Calm and The Case of the Hillside Stranglers in 1980.

In 1990 he had his first starring role in Megaville then moved on to co-star in Memphis Belle, Tombstone and Sniper. He also starred in The Tales From The Crypt and had recurring roles in the hit TV series Twin Peaks. For his role in The Phantom, which was Billy’s favorite comic, Billy pumped iron because he wanted to correctly fill The Phantom’s spandex costume. Billy lent his voice to the John Rolfe character in Pocahontas 2 and Etrigan the Demon in one of the episodes of The New Batman Adventures and as Exhanort’s Heartless, Ansem in the video game Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories from Square Enix-Disney. He had a recurring role in Charmed.

Constantine Phaulkon

He was a Greek adventurer and merchant who was born in Kefalonia, one of the Ionian Islands and went to Siam (Thailand) in 1675 to work for the East India Company of England. He knew many languages and was fluent in English, French, Portuguese, Malay and learned Thai in just a few years. He later worked at the court of King Narai as a translator before becoming one of the King’s counselors.

Phaulkon converted to Catholicism in 1682 and married a Catholic woman named Maria Guyomar de Pinha of mixed Japanese-Portuguese-Bengali descent. They had an affluent life as Phaulkon became highly influential in the King’s court. He became instrumental in the establishment of cordial relations between France and Siam.

His closeness to the King fostered envy especially from King Narai’s foster brother, Phetracha. He thought the Phaulkon wanted to use Phra Pui, the designated heir as a puppet and become the ruler himself when King Narai became ill. Phetracha used this as an excuse to stage a coup (1688 Siamese Revolution) and executed the royal heir, Phaulkon and his followers without the King’s knowledge. The King was too weak to counter his foster brother and died soon after, and Phetracha installed himself as the next king.

Cynisca (Kyneska)

Cynisca, born circa 400 B.C. was a Greek Princess of Sparta. She was hailed as the first woman in history to triumph at the Olympic Games of ancient times. She was described as a tomboy and an expert equestrian. She also had great wealth being the daughter of the King of Sparta, Archidamus II. She was also the first woman to breed horses. Her achievements inspired other Greek women to participate and aim to win. Lacedaemonians, Euruleonis, Balistiche, Timareta, Theodota and Cassia also won in the chariot racing later but were not able to surpass or be at par with the achievements that Cynisca made. Cynisca became the symbolic figure, even today, on the rise of the social status of women. Ironically her name means female puppy in Greek.

Hydna of Scione

Hydna was an ancient Greek swimmer and diver. She was credited with the destruction of the Persian navy. According to records, Hydna and her father Scyllis of Scione volunteered to help during the battle with the Persians. Her father was an expert diver ad can dive into the deepest seas and had taught Hydna well. When the fleet of Xerxes were caught in a storm near Mount Helion on its way to Greece, father and daughter completed the destruction of the fleet by dragging away the boats’ anchors and swam 10 miles of choppy waters to cut the moorings of the boats that caused the boats to be tossed by the waves and crashed against each other.

Braith Anasta

Braith Anasta is a professional rugby league player who is currently the captain of the Sydney Roosters team in the National Rugby League competition in Australia. His parents are Greek-Australian and his full name is Braith Xianni Anastasakis. He used to play for the Bulldogs, had played for New South Wales and Australia in representative football and earned his first premiership ring in 2004 when he was still with the Bulldogs. Speculations are high that he will be switching codes at the end of the 2011 season because he will be off-contract with the Sydney Roosters and there are still no clubs interested in taking the 29-year old.

Marcos Baghdatis

He is a professional tennis player representing Cyprus. His mother was Lebanese and his father was a Greek Cypriot. He started playing tennis at the age five and also supports the Apollon Limassol football team of Cyprus. He received a scholarship from the Olympic Solidarity Youth Development Program and was able to train at the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Paris since he was 13 years old and learned the language in the process.

Highlights of his tennis career include being the runner-up in the 2006 Australian Open as well as reaching the semifinals of the Wimbledon Championships on the same year, giving him a career-high ranking of 8 in the ATP for August of that year. In that same year Baghdatis received an exemption from the mandatory 2-year military service. He was honored as the Cyprus Male Athlete of the Year in 2005.

Batista

American professional wrestler Batista was born David Michael Bautista, Jr. His father is a Filipino while his mother Donna Raye is Greek. His parents have long divorced. Batista admitted that he lived in poverty when he was younger but he was not ashamed of that fact. He said that at age 13 he was stealing automobiles; estranged from his parents at 17; worked as a bouncer for clubs and at one instance got arrested after a fight with patrons that left them badly injured. He was sentenced to one year of probation then worked as a lifeguard before he turned to bodybuilding, which he said saved his life.

While with the WWE he became the world champion 6 times; won the World Heavyweight Championships 4 times and made him the longest-reigning title holder in the history of WWE, and won the WWE Championships twice. He won the World Tag Team Championship twice with Rick Flair and once with John Cena as well as the WWE Tag Team Championship once with Rey Mysterio.

Giorgios Donis

Giorgios Donis holds the distinction of the being the first Greek to play in the English Premiership. He was born on October 29, 1969 in Frankfurt, Germany. Now retired, Giorgios started his football career with PAS Giannina before moving to Panthinaikos after a successful year. He helped his Greek club reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 1996 before opting for a free transfer to the Blackburn Rovers club.