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Melina Mercouri

Melina Mercouri

Birthday: 1920-10-18 | Place of Birth: Athens, Greece

Maria Amalia "Melina" Mercouri (Greek: Μαρία Αμαλία "Μελίνα" Μερκούρη, 18 October 1920 – 6 March 1994) was a Greek actress, singer, activist, and politician. She came from a prominent political family for multiple generations. She received an Academy Award nomination and won a French Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award for her performance in the film Never on Sunday (1960) and an Italian David di Donatello for Topkapi. Mercouri was also nominated for one Tony Award, three Golden Globes, and two BAFTA Awards in her acting career. In 1987 she was awarded a special prize in the first edition of the Europe Theatre Prize. Mercouri was a member of the Hellenic Parliament, elected as a representative of PASOK. In October 1981, she became the first female Minister of Culture and Sports. She has the longest tenure of any of Greece's Ministers of Culture, having served from 1981 to 1989, and then from 1993 until her death in 1994, during PASOK governments. Mercouri's political activism included her long campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles. One of her greatest achievements was the establishment of the European Capitals of Culture, with Athens chosen as the first capital in 1985. Description above from the Wikipedia article Melina Mercouri, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2025
The Marbles

as    Self - Photo Only (archive footage)

1977
Nasty Habits

as    Sister Gertrude

1975
Once Is Not Enough

as    Karla

1975
Songs of Fire

as    Self

1974
The Rehearsal

as    Self

1971
Promise at Dawn

as    Nina Kacewa

1969
Gaily, Gaily

as    Lil

1968
The Uninhibited

as    Jenny

1966
A Man Could Get Killed

as    Aurora / Celeste da Costa

1966
10:30 P.M. Summer

as    Maria

1964
Topkapi

as    Elizabeth Lipp

1963
The Victors

as    Magda

1962
Phaedra

as    Phaedra Kyrilis

1961
Long Live Henry IV... Long Live Love!

as    Marie de Médicis

1960
The Law

as    Donna Lucrezia

1960
Never on Sunday

as    Ilya

1958
The Gypsy and the Gentleman

as    Belle

1958
He Who Must Die

as    Katerina

1955
Stella

as    Stella