Zoe Laskari (, ; 12 December 1942 – 18 August 2017) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

actress and beauty pageant titleholder. After being crowned Star Hellas 1959 and representing Greece at

Miss Universe 1959 Miss Universe 1959 was the eighth Miss Universe pageant, held at the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium in Long Beach, California, United States on 24 July 1959. This was the last year that the pageant was held in Long Beach before it moved to Miam ...

, where she was placed in the top-15, she switched to acting, where she had a brilliant career. She is considered one of the biggest stars of Greek cinema.

Life

Zoe Laskari was born Zoe Kouroukli in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, on 12 December 1942—not 1943 or 1944, as had been misreported during her lifetime and after her death—into a

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. C ...

family which had a long tradition of service to the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army (, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the army, land force of Greece. The term Names of the Greeks, '' Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the largest of the three branches ...

. Her father was murdered during the German occupation in late 1943. She was raised by her maternal grandparents. In 1959, she won the title of

Star Hellas Star Hellas () is a national beauty pageant in Greece. The Star Hellas, Miss Hellas, Miss Young title is a trademark for Vassilis Prevelakis and Associates E.E. George Prevelakis, the founder of the company, was the driving force behind the He ...

(Miss Greece) - in order to participate in the pageant she added two years to her age to be of age and went on to represent

at the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

pageant in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

where she made it to the semifinals. However, while being in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, it was revealed that she was still legally a minor, having obscured her true age. She refused to return to Greece and stayed in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

for about 18 months.

Marriages

In 1967, she married industrialist Petros Koutoumanos, by whom she had her first daughter, Martha Koutoumanou. Their marriage ended in 1971. In June 1976, she married criminologist Alexandros Lykourezos; they had a daughter
Maria-Eleni Lykourezou

Career

Due to her success at the beauty pageant, director

Giannis Dalianidis Giannis Dalianidis (; 31 December 1923 – 16 October 2010) was a Greek film director. His first film was ''Mousitsa'', released in 1959, which was followed by a series of musicals. Between 1974 and 1981, he produced the television series ''Luna ...

, offered her the starring role in ''O katiforos'', a 1961 film, whose success gave her a rapid popularity and she shortly signed an exclusive contract with the biggest Greek film production company at the time,

Finos Film Finos Film (Greek: Φίνος Φιλμ) is a Greek film production and distribution company that dominated the Greek film industry from 1943 to 1977. It was founded by Filopimin Finos in 1942 during World War II World War II or the ...

. The films in which she appeared ranged from dramas to comedies and

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

. Some of her later movies were ''Stefania'' (1966) and ''

Oi Thalassies oi Hadres ''Oi Thalassies oi Hadres'' (, ''The Blue Beads'') is a 1967 Greek musical film, directed by Giannis Dalianidis and starring Zoe Laskari, Kostas Voutsas, Martha Karagianni, Faidon Georgitsis, Giannis Vogiatzis and Mary Chronopoulou. At the time of ...

'' (1967). Other Laskari film hits were ''Nomos 4000'', ''Merikoi to protimoun kryo'', ''Koritsia gia filima'', ''Dakrya gia tin Ilektra'', ''Mia kyria sta bouzoukia'' and ''Marihouana stop''. Her stage work included famous plays like

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...

's ''

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of middle-aged couple Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they rece ...

'', the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

tragedy A tragedy is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a tragic hero, main character or cast of characters. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy is to invoke an accompanying catharsi ...

The Trojan Women ''The Trojan Women'' (, lit. "The Female Trojans") is a tragedy by the Ancient Greece, Greek playwright Euripides, produced in 415 BCE. Also translated as ''The Women of Troy,'' or as its transliterated Greek title ''Troades, The Trojan Women'' ...

'' by

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

and

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

's ''

Barefoot in the Park ''Barefoot in the Park'' is a romantic comedy stage play by Neil Simon. The play premiered on Broadway in 1963, starring Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. It was made into a film in 1967, which starred Redford and Jane Fonda. Productions ...

''. Her theatrical hits include the play ''Oi erastes tou Oneirou'' which was also her first play in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. Laskari's first television appearance was her leading role in the

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

''Romaios kai Ioulieta'' in 1976.

Death

Laskari died on 18 August 2017 at

Porto Rafti Porto Rafti (), officially named Limin Markopoulou (), is a seaside resort town located in East Attica, Greece. Porto Rafti's main source of income is Tourism in Greece, tourism and winemaking. It is part of the municipality of Markopoulo Mesogaia ...

, aged 74,Notice of death of Zoe Laskari
Thenationalherald.com; accessed 22 August 2017. from heart failure. She was survived by her two daughters.

Filmography

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laskari, Zoe 1942 births 2017 deaths Age controversies 20th-century Greek actresses 21st-century Greek actresses Greek beauty pageant winners Greek female models Greek film actresses Greek Macedonians Greek stage actresses Miss Universe 1959 contestants Actresses from Thessaloniki Models from Thessaloniki