Aliki Vougiouklaki ( ; July 20, 1933/1934 - July
23, 1996) was a
Greek actress. She was considered as one of the most
popular and successful actresses of Greek cinema.
Biography
Aliki
Stamatina Vougiouklaki was born in Marousi
,
Athens. She had two brothers,
Takis (film director) and Antonis (an
architect).
Her father was killed by German
troops
during the Nazi Occupation
of Greece
during
World War II .
As a student Aliki was always taking the leading part in the school
plays which eventually led her to dream of an acting career. She
attended classes in the
National Theatre of Greece and
she started to act while still a student. News papers and magazines
started to point out her name and praise her obvious talent . In
1953 she was the lead actress in the movie
To Pontikaki.
Career
She appeared in 42 movies, mostly
musicals, and in a wide variety of
television programs, theatre and stage
productions. In the 1960s she collaborated with
Dimitris Papamichail in a number of
popular movies. The popular celebrity couple married in the 1960s,
but divorced in 1975. She received the prize for lead woman's role
at the inaugural Greek Cinema Festival in Thessaloniki in 1960 for
her starring role in the movie "Mantalena". Her first film was
Nikos Tsiforos' "The little Mouse", followed by scores of other
popular dramatic and comic films.
Her film
I Aliki sto
Naftiko sold more than 590,000 tickets. In 1962 she wrote
the script for
Finos Films,
Aliki my
love, which premiered in London and Athens in 1964, but was a
total flop. This was the first and final attempt to become an
international movie star.
In 1970 she was given the title,
National Star of
Greece . Later that year came her biggest success with the
film
Ypolohagos Natassa, about a young Greek woman
who lost her husband during the
Second
World War. The film sold more than 750,000 tickets.
Family
On June 4, 1969, Aliki gave birth to her only child, Yiannis
Papamichail.
Eventually her relationship with her husband,
Dimitris Papamichail, became troubled.
She shot her next film
S'Agapo
(
I love you) without Papamichail, her usual co-star; in
1974 the couple filed for divorce.
Later career
Aliki continued to play in films and in 1981 she appeared for the
last time on the big screen. She would make only stage appearances
thereafter.
Death
She died on July 23, 1996 in Athens from
pancreatic cancer. Her funeral was
attended by thousands of her fans.
She was buried at First Cemetery
of Athens
.
I Have A Secret
In 2008, her son published a biography of Vougiouklaki under the
title
Eho Ena Mistiko (
I Have A
Secret) which was also the title of a song the actress
sang in one of her films called 'To Xilo Vgike apo to Paradiso'.
The book was a best seller though it raised a lot of controversy in
the media, as to whether it should have been published or
not.
In the same year a television series based on the book, aired on
Alpha TV channel. Made on a relatively low
budget , the series became rather controversial and was
unsuccessful. Most of Vougiouklaki's fans, including journalists
and artists , stated that it was too early to produce a tv series
based on Vougiouglaki's life, considering that she died in 1996.
The lead actress of the series,
Katerina
Papoutsaki was mocked by fans and many critics and
received bad reviews for her acting .
Trivia
- Chtipokardia sto thranio (1963) was shot
simultaneously in Greek and Turkish, with two different crews.
Aliki starred in both versions, with her voice being dubbed in the
Turkish version, Siralardaki heyecanlar.
- The film, Ipolochagos
Natassa (1970) sold 751,000 tickets in Athens, which made
it the most successful film in Greece, a record held for almost
three decades.
- Laurence Olivier stated about
her portrayal of Eva Perón in the Rice-Webber musical Evita (1981): "the best Evita I have
seen".
- She worked with writer Willy
Russell when she performed in Shirley Valentine onstage in
1989.
External links
References
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