Irene Papas obit

Irene Papas, Greek Actress Who Earned Hollywood Fame, Dies at 93

She became known internationally following performances in 'The Guns of Navarone' and 'Zorba the Greek.'

 

 She was not on the list.

Irene Papas, the Greek actress and recording artist renowned for her dramatic performances and austere beauty that earned her prominent roles in Hollywood movies as well as in French and Italian cinema over six decades has died. She was 93.

The Greek Culture Ministry confirmed her death Wednesday.

“Magnificent, majestic, dynamic, Irene Papas was the personification of Greek beauty on the cinema screen and on the theater stage, an international leading lady who radiated Greekness,” Culture Minister Lina Mendoni said in a statement.

Papas became known internationally following performances in The Guns of Navarone in 1961 and Zorba the Greek in 1964, acting alongside Hollywood stars Gregory Peck and Anthony Quinn. In all, she starred in more than 50 movies.

Born Irene Lelekou in a mountainous village near the southern Greek city of Corinth, Papas was the daughter of two schoolteachers. Her father was also a drama teacher.

Papas left home at 18 to marry Greek film director Alkis Papas despite her family’s disapproval. They divorced four years later. After the death of American Actor Marlon Brando in 2004, Papas revealed in an Italian newspaper interview that the two had been romantically involved.

A supporter of the Greek Communist Party, Papas was a vocal opponent of the military dictatorship that governed the country between 1967 and 1974 and lived much for life outside Greece, including in Rome and New York.

Papas was also known for her appearance in ancient Greek tragedies. Many of her iconic international movie roles were earned portraying Greek characters. But she also starred with Kirk Douglas in the 1968 crime drama Brotherhood and with James Cagney in the 1956 Western Tribute to a Bad Man.

Greek arts institutions thanked Papas for her support for younger actors. The Athens-based Greek Film Center described her as “The greatest Greek international film star,” adding: “Her image is a timeless imprint of Greek female beauty.”

Actress (85 credits)

 2004 Ecuba

 2003 A Talking Picture

Helena

 2002 Short Cuts (TV Series)

Pensioner #1

- Grass Is Greener (2002) ... Pensioner #1

 2001 And the Train Goes to the Sky

Elena Michailovna

 2001 Returning in Autumn

 2001 Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Drosoula

 1998 Yerma

Vieja pagana

 1998 Anxiety

Mother

 1997 The Odyssey (TV Mini Series)

Anticleia

- Part II (1997) ... Anticleia

- Part I (1997) ... Anticleia

 1996 Party

Irene

 1994 Jacob (TV Movie)

Rebekah

 1993 L'ispettore anticrimine (TV Mini Series)

- Episode #1.6

- Episode #1.5

- Episode #1.4

- Episode #1.3

- Episode #1.2

 1993 Un amore rubato (TV Movie)

 1993 Lettera da Parigi

Gina

 1992 Up, Down and Sideways

Maria (as Eirini Pappa)

 1990 Un bambino di nome Gesù (TV Movie)

Old Maria

 1990 Les cavaliers aux yeux verts (TV Movie)

Anasthasie Rouch

 1989 Ocean (TV Mini Series)

Aurelia Perdomo

- Episode #1.6 (1989) ... Aurelia Perdomo

- Episode #1.5 (1989) ... Aurelia Perdomo

- Episode #1.4 (1989) ... Aurelia Perdomo

- Episode #1.3 (1989) ... Aurelia Perdomo

- Episode #1.2 (1989) ... Aurelia Perdomo

 1989 Island

Marquise

 1989 Le banquet (TV Movie)

Diotime

 1988 A Mala de Cartão (TV Mini Series)

Maria Amélia

- Episode #1.4 (1988) ... Maria Amélia

- Episode #1.3 (1988) ... Maria Amélia

- Episode #1.2 (1988) ... Maria Amélia

- Episode #1.1 (1988) ... Maria Amélia

 1987 High Season

Penelope

 1987 Chronicle of a Death Foretold

Angela's mother

 1987 Sweet Country

Mrs. Araya

 1985 The Assisi Underground

Mother Giuseppina

 1985 Into the Night

Shaheen Parvici

 1984 All'ombra della grande quercia (TV Mini Series)

Elena

- Episode #1.4 (1984) ... Elena

- Episode #1.3 (1984) ... Elena

- Episode #1.2 (1984) ... Elena

- Episode #1.1 (1984) ... Elena

 1983 Afghanistan pourquoi?

Cultural attaché

 1983 Il disertore

Mariangela

 1983 Erendira

Grandmother Amadis

 1982 Les tribulations de Manuel (TV Movie)

Erinaki

 1982 Sarâb

Mamlúkova matka

 1981 L'assistente sociale tutto pepe

'La Signora'

 1980 The Lion of the Desert

Mabrouka

 1979 Ring of Darkness

Raffaella

 1979 Bloodline

Simonetta Palazzi

 1979 Christ Stopped at Eboli

Giulia Venere

 1977 Blood Wedding

La mère

 1977 Man of Corleone

 1977 Iphigenia

Klytaimnistra (as Eirini Papa)

 1976 The Message

Hind

 1974 Moses the Lawgiver (TV Mini Series)

Zipporah

- Part VI (1974) ... Zipporah

- Part V (1974) ... Zipporah

- Part IV (1974) ... Zipporah

- Part III (1974) ... Zipporah

- Part II (1974) ... Zipporah

 1974 Bambina

Raimonda Spina

 1973 The Battle of Sutjeska

Borina majka

 1973 Pete, Pearl & the Pole

Donna Mimma

 1972 El asesinato de Julio César (Short)

Calpurnia

 1972 Don't Torture a Duckling

Dona Aurelia Avallone

 1971 Roma bene

Elena Teopoulos

 1971 Oasis of Fear

Barbara Slater

 1971 N.P.

Housewife

 1971 The Trojan Women

Helen

 1969 Anne of the Thousand Days

Queen Catherine of Aragon

 1969 A Dream of Kings

Caliope

 1969/I Ecce Homo

Anna / wife

 1969 Z

Hélène (as Irène Papas)

 1968 The Brotherhood

Ida Ginetta

 1968 Odissea (TV Mini Series)

Penelope

- Episode #1.8 (1968) ... Penelope

- Episode #1.7 (1968) ... Penelope

- Episode #1.6 (1968) ... Penelope

- Episode #1.3 (1968) ... Penelope

- Episode #1.2 (1968) ... Penelope

1967 Beyond the Mountains

Ajmi

 1967 We Still Kill the Old Way

Luisa Roscio

 1966 The Steps

Joana

 1966 Trap for the Assassin

Julia de Noirville (as Irène Papas)

 1966 Witness Out of Hell

Lea Weiss

 1964 Zorba the Greek

Widow

 1964 The Moon-Spinners

Sophia

 1962/I Electra

Elektra

 1961 Antigone

Antigone

 1961 The Guns of Navarone

Maria Pappadimos

 1959 Bouboulina

Laskarina Bouboulina (as Eirini Pappa)

 1959 Hey, Girls!

Eleni (as Eirini Pappa)

 1959 The Lake of Sighs

Frosyni

 1958 Climax! (TV Series)

Maxanne York

- The Disappearance of Daphne (1958) ... Maxanne York

 1958 Matinee Theatre (TV Series)

- The Contingent Fee (1958)

 1958 Kraft Theatre (TV Series)

Woman

- Code of the Corner (1958) ... Woman

 1957 Studio One (TV Series)

Girl

- Escape Route (1957) ... Girl

 1956 The Three Musketeers (TV Series)

- The Flaming Arrow (1956)

- Episode dated 27 March 1956 (1956)

 1956 Tribute to a Bad Man

Jocasta Constantine

 1955 The Missing Scientists

Gina

 1954 Attila

Grune

 1954 Theodora, Slave Empress

Faidia

 1953 Vortice

Clara

 1953 One of Those

Monica (uncredited)

 1953 The Man from Cairo

Yvonne Lebeau

 1953 The Unfaithfuls

Luisa Azzali

 1951 Dead City

Lena (as Eirini Pappa)

 1948 Fallen Angels

Liana (as Eirini Papa)