Martha Karagianni died

Martha Karagianni: The actress of the old Greek cinema died at the age of 82.

The actress Martha Karagianni died at the age of 82as announced today by psychiatrist Dimitris Souras, her dear friend, who was by her side until the last moment.

Martha Karagianni breathed her last today, Sunday (18/9) at 12:50 noon. Martha Karagiannis starred in the great musicals of Giannis Dalianidis, she danced, she sang… She managed to distinguish herself mainly in comedic roles, although her performances in dramatic films remain unforgettable.

Who was Martha Karagianni?

THE Martha Karagianni was born on November 6, 1939 in Piraeus. Her father Charilaos Karagiannis came from a rich Russian family, which lost its property during the October Revolution and her mother Domna Tsiridou was of Pontic origin from Baku, the capital of today’s Azerbaijan.

Martha Karagiannis: From dancing to the big screen

According to “As of today”, the germ of dance seems to have been instilled in their daughter. At the age of 8, little Martha started dance lessons and very quickly began appearing with Loukia Sakellariou’s ballet in performances at the Lyric Theatre. In 1955, at the age of 16, she made her film debut in Orestes Laskos’ dramatic film “The Stranger”, playing alongside great actors, such as Alekos Alexandrakis, Giorgos Pappas, Kyveli, Eleni Zafeiriou and Lambros Konstandaras. He introduced her to the director, who was his friend, Thanos Tragas, her teacher in high school and drama school, having appreciated her talent from the shows he staged at her school.

In 1957, Kostas Hatzichristos and Kaiti Dirindawa made their debut in the revue “Elephants and Fleas”, staged at the “Peroke” theater in Athens. She did not attend a drama school, but she studied theater and cinema from an early age, playing alongside great revue and comedy actors, such as Vassilis Avlonitis, Kostas Hatzichristos, Orestis Makris, Dinos Iliopoulos and Rena Vlachopoulou. Having made a sensation with her presence in the artistic events, in the summer of 1957, the young starlet was photographed in a bikini for the cover of “Woman” magazine, the first women’s magazine in circulation in those years.

Her meeting with Yiannis Dalianidis was to take off her career. In 1962 he played in the first Greek musical “Some prefer it cold” directed by Dalianidis. She was the director’s third choice, after Anna Fonsou who turned down the role and Popi Lazou who was late to the shoot. From then on, Karagiannis played in all Dalianidis’ musicals: “Kati ika na kaiei” (1964), “Girls for a kiss” (1965), “A lady in bouzoukis” (1967), “Oi thalassies oi handres” ( 1967), “Marijuana Stop” (1971). He danced in all but sang in one, despite being a musical theater actor. In “Mermaids and Magicians” (1968) she sang “The man I will marry” with music by Mimi Plessas and lyrics by Lefteris Papadopoulos.

In 1969, Martha Karagianni did not hesitate to change her image for the needs of a dramatic role, the only one in her film career. Nikos Foskolos was the one who convinced her to star in his film “I die every morning”, alongside Nora Valsami, Martha Vourtsis, Costas Kazakos and Angelos Antonopoulos. Her next film “The Man” directed by Yiannis Dalianidis, shown at the end of 1969, was a satire of the melo films that had overwhelmed the Greek cinema at that time. She plays a popular girl who aspires to be a movie star, a comedic role with dramatic touches.

Her film appearances thinned out after the collapse of commercial cinema from the mid-70s and are counted on the fingers of one hand. He starred in the films “I’m dying for you!” (2009) by Nikos Karapanagiotis, next to her younger colleagues, such as Eleni Radou, Fanis Mouratidis and Vassilis Charalambopoulos, as well as in the film adaptation of Thodoris Atheridis’ play “Dying of Love” (2014).

In her theatrical career, as early as 1962 she began to turn to prose works as well. In the same year, he played in the show “Beautiful City”, staged at the “Park” theater, directed by Michalis Kakogiannis and music by Miki Theodorakis. In the winter of 1972, he staged a particularly ambitious show, the musical “Cabaret” which at that time was triumphing on Broadway with Liza Minnelli as the lead. The play was directed by Alexis Solomou, with co-stars Dino Iliopoulos, Costas Prekas, Vangelis Voulgaridis and Katerina Gioulakis. The show, despite being praised by critics, did not have the expected commercial success and was canceled after three months.

In the 80’s he played in the classic American musical “Men Prefer Blondes”, alongside Zoe Laskaris, directed by Stamatis Fassoulis. In the 1990s he distinguished himself for his performances in major prose works such as Luigi Pirandello’s Tonight We Improvise (1992-1993), Carlo Goldoni’s When Women Have Fun (1998) and Man and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring (1999-2000).

In October 1977 he made his debut on the small screen with the comedy series of Kostas Pretenderis “The Road” which was shown by YENED. He continued with the popular series “Androcles and his lions” (1985, ERT2) and “Micromesaioi” by Yiannis Dalianidis (1992, MEGA).

In her personal life, Martha Karagiannis was associated with two very strong loves, both with footballers. In 1959 she married the international footballer of Olympiakos Piraeus, Mimi Stefanakos. In 1973, he met the international goalkeeper of Panathinaikos, Vassilis Konstantinou. Their relationship would last twelve years and break up in 1985, a few months before it was formalized by marriage.

With information from San today