Melina Merkouri Biography and Filmography

Born 8am EET
She was the step-mother of the famous French singer Joseph Dassin.
Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award in 1991.
Melina Mercouri was personal friend of the Prime Minister of Greece Andreas Papandreou, the Novel prize winner poet Odysseas Elytis, the Oscar Winning composer Manos Hadjidakis, the famous authors Terence McNally and Vassilis Vassilikos. She also admired very much the leader of the Conservative party, Konstantinos Karamanlis.
Melina had beside her bed the photograph of her great friend Anthony Perkins, and co-star in Phaedra (1962). She said that the only problem that the famous star had, was his taste for milk.
Melina died from cancer as have other great Greek actresses, Jenny Karezi, Aliki Vougiouklaki, 'Elli Lambeti' , Aliki Georgouli, and Anna Matzourani.
Another festival was presented in Greece in 2002 honoring the couple Melina Mercouri-Jules Dassin, and including all favorites movies of the two stars, like Pote tin Kyriaki (1960), Topkapi (1964), etc.
Melina met Jules Dassin in Cannes during the screening of her first film Stella (1955).
Melina, as a Minister of Culture, was one of the creators of the European Capital of Culture insitution, which recognizes a city of Europe as the centre of many cultural festivities, every 4 years
All the records were prohibited by the military dictatorship in Greece and were very popular after the dictatorship was gone. Melina was also heard in LPs by Manos Hadjidakis, with music from her films Stella (1955), Pote tin Kyriaki (1960), Topkapi (1964), and in Mikis Theodorakis's Phaedra (1962) where she was singing with her co-star Anthony Perkins.
During the seven years of her exile in France, 1967-1974, Melina Mercouri recorded some highly popular records for UNIVERSAL, named 'Melina Mercouri', 'L oeillet rouge', 'si Melina m etait contee', 'Je suis Grecque' including famous Greek and French songs.
The studio wanted the team of 'R Dassin' -Mercouri to create a sequel to Pote tin Kyriaki (1960) named "Illya goes to New York", but both the actress and the director refused and made Phaedra (1962), a commercial flop.
Melina claimed that her lucky number was 18, because Dassin was born on 18th of December, her grandfather, the mayor of Athens, Spyros Merkouris was born on 18th of June, and she met Jules Dassin in Cannes on May 18th 1955.
Melina's and Jules Dassin's film Topkapi (1964) was the inspiration for the TV series Mission: Impossible (1996), which was produced by the production company Desilu owned by Lucille Ball, and it was even mentioned in the film Mission: Impossible (1996) starring Tom Cruise.
Melina's greatest dream as a politician was the return of the marbles of the Parthenon, known as the Elgin marbles, back in Greece. Now they are in the British Museum.
When she was asked who she would like to be if she was not Melina Mercouri, she answered that she wanted to be either Greta Garbo or Dolores Ibárruri.
In 1953, Ellie Lambeti gave to Melina Mercouri the award "Marika Kotopouli" for best female performance in the theater.
Melina was the stepmother of three children, all by Jules Dassin . The names of the children are Julie, Richelle, and Joseph Dassin, who was a famous French singer, but died very young.
Melina's father was a member of Parliament from the age of 22, and her Grandfather was Mayor of Athens
Melina was interred at 1st Cemetery of Athens, Greece, near to her grandfather and Mayor of Athens, Spyros Merkouris.
Was nominated for Broadway's 1968 Tony Award as Best Actress (Musical) for "Illya, Darling," a musicalization of the film Pote tin Kyriaki (1960) in which she played the same role.