Sotiris Moustakas ( el, Σωτήρης Μουστάκας) (17 September 1940 – 4 June 2007) was a

Greek Cypriot Greek Cypriots or Cypriot Greeks ( el, Ελληνοκύπριοι, Ellinokýprioi, tr, Kıbrıs Rumları) are the ethnic Greek population of Cyprus, forming the island's largest ethnolinguistic community. According to the 2011 census, 659,115 ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), l ...

born in Kato Platres,

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

. His acting career lasted for over four decades, with 1960s–80s as his most successful years. He was described as an "Actor without a Label" cause of his variety of playing in theatrical plays (many different genres),

films A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmospher ...

television movies Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed ...

, videotape/videocassette movies and many more with great reviews and success in all of them. He became internationally famous with his role ''"Mimithos"'' in 1964

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

-winning film ''

Zorba the Greek ''Zorba the Greek'' ( el, Βίος και Πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά, , Life and Times of Alexis Zorbas) is a novel written by the Cretan author Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1946. It is the tale of a young Greek i ...

''. After that he became a national star in Greece, being part of the

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the Go ...

of the Greek Cinema (1950s–1970s). His last cinema performance was in 2007

Goya Award The Goya Awards ( es, Premios Goya) are Spain's main national annual film awards, commonly referred to as the Academy Awards of Spain. The awards were established in 1987, a year after the founding of the Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sci ...

-winning film ''

El Greco Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El ...

'', where he played ''"

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian (Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, n ...

"''. He gave his voice in the Greek dub of 2007

Disney film This is a list of films produced by and released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner (known as that since 1983, with ''Never Cry Wolf'' as its first release) and films released before that under the former name of the parent company, Walt ...

Meet the Robinsons ''Meet the Robinsons'' is a 2007 American computer-animated science-fiction comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 47th animated film produced by the studio, it is loosely based on the ...

'', as his last role. He mainly played comedy roles throughout his career. Moustakas was regarded as one of the greatest Greek comedian actors in history.

Early life

He was born in

, Cyprus.

Career

One of the most significant comic actors of Greece and Cyprus, Moustakas graduated from the National Theater of Greece and was known for his portrayal of offbeat, neurotic yet likable characters. In many of his movies he portrayed multiple roles. He appeared primarily in modern films and plays, although he also performed several roles in classical works. Moustakas' international film debut came in 1964 in the Oscar-winning ''

'' starring

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental ...

, in which he played Mimithos, the village idiot. For that film Moustakas lost his

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actor only for two more minutes of filming. As Moustakas said, they had filmed many more minutes of playing, but they didn't put all the scenes on the film's final cut. Although his recent work was mainly in the theatre, he also had a role in the 2007 film ''

''.

Political activities

Although not widely advertised, Moustakas in his youth was involved in the Greek Cypriot national liberation struggle of

EOKA The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA; ; el, Εθνική Οργάνωσις Κυπρίων Αγωνιστών, lit=National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters) was a Greek Cypriot nationalist paramilitary organisation that fought a camp ...

against

British colonialism The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

, acting as a messenger, and writing political graffiti. During that period, he was arrested by the British and spent 7 months in jail.Η τελευταία πρόβα του Μουστάκα
Newspaper article in ''

Simerini ''I Simerini'' ( English: The Daily) is a centre-right Greek language independently owned newspaper published in Cyprus since 1976. It is one of the largest newspapers on the island with a daily circulation of around 9,000 copies. Other daily Gree ...

'', June 05, 2007

Death

Moustakas felt unwell during rehearsals for an upcoming

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his fo ...

play, and was transferred to the General State Hospital of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

. He was taken to the intensive care unit, where he died in the early morning hours of 4 June 2007. In recent years he suffered from cancer. At his funeral, his coffin was draped with a Greek flag.

Personal life

He was married to the Greek

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

Maria Bonellou, with whom he had a daughter, Alexia. His wife, Maria, died on August 30, 2007, due to Alzheimer, at the age of 66, about 3 months after the death of Sotiris.

Selected filmography

* ''

'' (1964) (a.k.a. ''Alexis Zorbas'', USA) .... Mimithos * ''To Prosopo tis imeras'' (1965) * ''Beethoven kai bouzouki'' (1965) .... Orfeas * ''Une balle au coeur'' (1966) (a.k.a. ''A Bullet Through the Heart'', (International: English title), a.k.a. ''Devil at My Heels'' (USA), a.k.a. Mia sfaira stin kardia (Greece)) * ''Na zi kaneis i na mi zi?'' (1966) .... Solomon * ''Fos... Nero... Tilefono, Oikopeda me doseis'' (1966) .... Krikor * ''Fifis, o aktypitos'' (1966) .... Michalios Yatayanakis * ''Kalos ilthe to dollario'' (1967) .... Henry * ''

Martha Martha ( Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness ...

'' (1967) .... Hector (uncredited) * ''O Modistros'' (1967) .... Stefanos * ''O Kosmos trellathike...'' (1967) .... Pythagoras * ''O Hazobabas'' (1967) .... Doctor * ''Kolonaki: Diagogi miden'' (1967) .... Pavlos Aspromallis * ''I Kori tis Pentagiotissas'' (1967) * ''Gia tin kardia tis oraias Elenis'' (1967) (a.k.a. ''Theotrella neiata... xemoramena geramata''), (Greece: reissue title)) * ''Erotes sti Lesvo'' (1967) (a.k.a. ''O Thanatos ehase to paihnidi'', (Greece)) * ''Adiki katara'' (1967) * ''Athina, i klopi tis odou Stadiou'' (1968) (a.k.a. ''Nude as a Trap'') .... Sotos * ''Tha ta kapso, ta lefta mou'' (1968) .... Kleon Karapanos * ''Ta Psihoula tou kosmou'' (1968) * ''O Tsahpinis'' (1968) .... Kosmas * ''O Petheropliktos'' (1968) .... Lavredis * ''Oi Mnistires tis Pinelopis'' (1968) .... Filippos * ''O Boufos'' (1968) .... Dinos Zafiriou * ''Pethaino kathe ximeroma'' (1969) * ''I Oraia tou kourea'' (1969) .... Thomas * ''Xypna koroido'' (1969) .... Faidonas Tramountanas * ''H omorfh kai o tzanabetis'' (1969) * ''Fovatai o Yannis to therio'' (1969) (a.k.a. ''Tha pao stin zougla me ton Tarzan'') .... Anastasis * ''Ena asteio koritsi'' (1970) .... Antonio * ''To Paidi tis mamas'' (1970) .... Fotis * ''O Ahaireftos'' (1970) .... Miltos Kourkoutoulis * ''I Tyhi mou trelathike'' (1970) .... Liakos * ''Anastenazoun oi penies'' (1970) .... Manolios * ''Arhipseftaros'' (1971) .... Paminos * ''Thymios enantion Tsitsou'' (1971) (a.k.a. ''Dyo sainia, Ta'' (Greece: TV title) ... a.k.a. Thymios enantion olon (Greece: TV title) .... Timolis * ''Oi Andres xeroun n' agapoun'' (1971) (a.k.a. ''To timima tis agapis'', (Greece: video box title) * ''

Gia mia choufta Touristries ''Gia mia choufta Touristries'' ( el, Για μια χούφτα Τουρίστριες, italic=yes ''For A Handful of Women Tourists'') is a 1971 Greek comedy film directed by Errikos Thalassinos and starring Alekos Alexandrakis, Kaiti Papanik ...

'' (1971) .... Police Officer * ''Enas nomotagis politis'' (1974) .... Grigoris Monahogios * ''Gynaikes sta opla'' (1979) .... President * ''O Parthenokynigos'' (1980) .... Iraklis * ''Kathenas me tin trella tou...'' (1980) .... Sotiris * ''Gefsi apo Ellada!'' (1980) .... Hungry Man * ''To Megalo routhouni'' (1981) .... Alexandros / Thiseas Doxapatris * ''I 'Nona (1981) (a.k.a. ''Nona enantion mafiozou'', (Greece: video title)) .... Thiseas Doxapatris / Nona * ''Pater Gomenios'' (1982) .... Menios * ''O Kamikazi tsantakias'' (1982) .... Poseidonas * ''Ego... kai to pouli mou'' (1982) (a.k.a. ''Knock out ston erota'', (Greece: TV title) .... Kokos * ''To Psonio'' (1983) .... Sotiris Haritos * ''To Paizo kai poly andras'' (1983) .... Zinon Petridis * ''Kai aftos to violi tou'' (a.k.a. "An itan to violi pouli) (1984)... Lefteris Paganikskis * ''Mitsos, o rezilis'' (1984) (a.k.a. ''O Glykopseftis'', (Greece: TV title)) .... Mitsos * ''Ta Touvla'' (1985) .... Sotos Stournos * ''O Roz gatos'' (1986) .... Archimidis Mantouvalos / Efterpi * ''O Dynasteias'' (1986) .... Bebis Karinkopoulos / Dionisakis 'Tarzan' Karinkopoulos / Odysseas * ''Merikes ton protimoun... ilektroniko'' (1986) .... Telis / Paraskevas * ''O Petheropliktos'' (1987) .... Iakovos * ''Sexy batsos kai skliros'' (1987) .... Sotiris Sotiriou / Antonis Kourouflexis * ''O Tsitsiolinos'' (1987) .... Lefteris Spanomarias * ''Kourio o Periklis'' (1987) .... Periklis * ''Erastis gia 11 nihtes'' (1988) .... Angelos Klapsopoulos * ''Varis glykos kai meraklis'' (1988) .... Aristeidis * ''Enas trelos tha mas sossei'' (1988) .... Timolaos * ''Andrea prohora'' (1988) * ''Diariktis me to zori'' (1988) .... Michalis Papadimitrakopoulos * ''Tolmi kai afassia'' (1988) .... Aristeidis Antoniou * ''Mhn to paizeis ypourge!'' (1988) * ''Peinasmenos kai jenleman'' (1989) .... Sotiris * ''O Jogadoros'' (1989) .... Nektarios Bataktsis * ''Mia treli treli nychta'' (1989) .... Sokratis Leonardos * ''Kapetan Fortounas'' (1989) .... Manolis * ''O Alepous'' (1990) .... Alepous * ''Kavafis'' (1996) * ''Mila mou kai mantarinia'' (1999) * ''Oi Aparadektoi'' (1 episode) - Epitheorisi (????) TV Episode * ''Petsi kai kokali'' (2000, TV Movie) * ''Me ti ginaika tou filou mou'' (2000) * ''armege lagous kai koureve helones'' (2000) * ''Ti vraki tha paradossis mori?'' (2001, TV Movie) * ''Ta Haidemena paidia'' (2001, TV Series) .... Nikiforos A * ''O haros vgike pagania'' (2003) * ''Emeis xasan autoi masan'' (2003) * ''Kai fagane autoi kala kai emeis heirotera'' (2005) * ''

'' (2007) .... Titian (final film role)

Awards

External links

Sotiris Moustakas passes away

Sotiris Moustakas: "Fought in EOKA" - Excerpts from his famous interview where he describes his life during the EOKA national liberation struggle

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moustakas, Sotiris 1940 births 2007 deaths Greek male film actors Cypriot people of the EOKA Greek male television actors Greek comedians Greek people of Cypriot descent Deaths from cancer in Greece 20th-century comedians People from Limassol District