Ellie Loukou (; 13 April 1926 – 3 September 1983), known professionally as Ellie Lambeti (), was a Greek actress.

Family

Lambeti was born in 1926 in the village of Vilia, Attiki, to Kostas Loukos and Anastasia Stamati. She had six siblings. Her maternal grandfather was a Captain Stamatis who fought together with Kolokotronis against the Turks in 1821, when the modern Greek democracy was created. In 1928, the family moved to

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 ...

. During the war of 1940, she moved to the big neoclassical style house on Delphon and Didotou street where she had been living all her life. During the Dekemvriana in December 1944, her mother, who was in the house at the time, was killed by a loose shot fired amidst the battle. This took a significant psychological toll on Lambeti, lasting well into her adult life.

Early career

Ellie studied theatre at Marika Kotopouli's drama school. She made her first steps on the stage at the time of German occupation of Greece. She passed this difficult period as all her theatre colleges. In 1941, she was rejected from two theatre schools: the state one (Ethniko) and a private one named for the Greek actress Marika Kotopouli. However, Kotopouli herself recognized Lambeti's talent and hired her. She adopted the professional surname Lambeti and became a lead actress. She starred in ''Hanneles Himmelfahrt'' by Hauptmann. In 1945, she met Marios Ploritis, her future husband, during the filming one of her first films, ''Adoulotoi sklavoi'' (1946). In 1946 Lambeti became one of the actresses who performed for the famous modern theatre director Karolos Koun; she was the female lead in the Greek productions of the following plays: * '' The Glass Menagerie'' by Tennessee Williams (1946) * '' Antigone'' by Anouilh (1947) * '' Bodas de sangre'' by Lorca (1948)

1950s/1960s

In August 1950, she married Marios Ploritis, but their marriage collapsed in 1952 when she had a love affair with Dimitris Horn. Together they produced and played in theatre in ''Libelei'' in 1953, in ''La Cuisine des Anges'' in 1953, in '' L'Invitation au Château'' in 1955, in '' Quality Street'' in 1956, in '' The Rainmaker'' by Richard Nash in 1956, in '' Gigi'' in 1957, in '' The Fourposter'' in 1957, in '' Two for the Seesaw'' by William Gibson in 1958 and in 1959 in ''Dans sa Candeur Naive''."Ellie Lambeti-Biography"
Retrieved on 08 Jan 2018 The following years were dramatic for Ellie: her sister Koula died from cancer in 1955, her other sister Eirini died in a car crash in 1958, and Ellie lost a baby by Horn in 1956. In 1959 she met her American husband, the best-selling novelist Frederic Wakeman, Sr. She starred in Michael Cacoyannis's Greek masterpieces like '' Kyriakatiko xypnima'' (1954), '' To Koritsi me ta mavra'' (1956), and '' To Telefteo psema'' (1957). For her performance in the latter film, she received a nomination for Best Foreign Actress at the 1960 British Academy Film Awards. She also starred in '' Kalpiki lira'' (1955) by George Tzavellas. Lambeti continued her theatrical career, in 1962 came '' The Heiress'', in 1965 as Blanche in '' A Streetcar Named Desire''.

Late life and career

In the 1970s Lambeti starred in '' The Little Foxes'' (1973), ''Irma La Douce'' (1972), ''Miss Margarita'' (1975) and ''Filoumena Martourano'' (1978). Lampeti was involved in a legal procedure about the adoption of a girl named Eliza, from Spring 1970 till 1974, when she lost and gave the child back to her parents.Lambeti-Biography
Retrieved on 08 Jan 2018

Last years

The subsequent years were a fight against recurrent

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

. She successfully starred in theatre productions like Thornton Wilder's '' Hello, Dolly!'' (1980) and as Sarah in Mark Medoff's '' Children of a Lesser God'' (1981), but her health was poor. She died in 1983 (3 September) from stage 4 breast cancer 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 ...

, aged 57.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambeti, Ellie 1926 births 1983 deaths People from Mandra-Eidyllia Greek film actresses Greek stage actresses 20th-century Greek actresses Deaths from esophageal cancer in New York (state) Burials at the First Cemetery of Athens