Betty Livanou
Acting
Biography
Betty Livanou was born in Athens, in Plato's Academy, to a family with roots from Asia Minor and Egypt. Before she even finished school, young Betty found herself working in advertising, posing for print ads and acting in film spots, while after finishing school she worked for a year as a model. Although she had been receiving offers to act in films since she was young, she was not particularly interested. However, when, at the age of 20, she was called by Filopoimin Finos and Yannis Dalianidis, everything changed. The two “masters” of cinema had noticed her in a cigarette commercial in which she was pantomiming and had been captivated by her face. And so, without having studied acting, armed with her natural talent, Betty Trata became (with Yannis Dalianidis as her “godfather”) Betty Livanou and joined the team of Finos Film. Before her collaboration with Finos Film, Betty Livanou had only one film to her credit, a brief role (as Betty Trata) in Andreas Katsimitsoulias' "Angels of Sin" (1966). However, her film career took off in 1971, when Yannis Dalianidis directed her in "Sinners", alongside Christos Nomikos. Subsequently, and until 1973, she starred in five more films by Finos Film, alongside big names such as Nikos Kourkoulos (Abuse of Power, 1971), Rena Vlachopoulou (Urgently Wanted Groom, 1971), Kostas Voutsas (Twenty Women and Me, 1973) and Kostas Prekas (The Popular Rebel, 1971). Her participation in “The Sin of Beauty” (1972), again directed by Yannis Dalianidis, alongside Nikos Galanos and Tasso Kavvadia, stands out to this day. With the decline of commercial cinema, Betty Livanou turned to television. She presented children's shows (Our Little Family) and game shows (The Secret of Colgate, Tell the Truth), but her recognition was established when she presented “Candid Camera” (1972) with Danos Lygizos. Later, she also took on leading roles in popular television series such as “The Conspiracy of Silence”, “Suspicions” and “Woogerman”. At the end of the 70s, she returned to cinema with a series of excellent choices. From “A Laughing Afternoon” (1979) and “The Incompatible” (1979), both by Andreas Thomopoulos, to the award-winning “Honeymoon Trip” (1979) and the timeless moving “Oi Apenanti” (1981) by Giorgos Panousopoulos. This was followed by roles in Nikos Perakis' "Arpa Colla" (1982), Apostolos Doxiadis' "Underground Journey" (1983) and George Tsemberopoulos' "Sudden Love" (1984). She naturally remained the muse of her husband, George Panousopoulos, with a constant presence in his films ("Mania" in 1985, "M' Agapas" in 1989). At the end of the 1980s, while she had moved away from acting, she successfully engaged in other activities, such as the creation and marketing of jewelry and accessories. A call in 1990 from the Thessaloniki Film Festival to present an award gave her a new impetus to return to the big screen and abandon her involvement with jewelry. In fact, a few years later she returned to the Thessaloniki Film Festival, not to present but to receive an award for her performance in the film “Age of Assassins” (1993). In addition to cinema, she also returned to the television screen, giving her presence a special dynamic to roles such as “Africa” (1992), “The Path of Love” (1994) and “The Painted Sun” (1996).
Known For
No description available.
Η Παραλία
Vicky Stavropoulou plays the ghost of a woman who, invisible to ordinary mortals, watches, narrates and intervenes for good in various family affairs starring mothers-in-law with many different characters.
7 Deadly Mother-in-Laws
A story of love and mystery
Έρωτας Μετά
A police officer tries to discover the murderer of his brother, who was a pianist and a morphine. As a member of the Drug Enforcement Department, he tries to identify the head of a drug dealer gang. His unorthodox way of acting upsets his superiors, even though they allow him to continue his investigations. When the gang discovers that he is a police officer, he makes him a drug addict, but he manages to detoxify and eventually capture the gang's brain.
Abuse of authority
No description available.
Άφρικα
A destructive love is born within a family and tragedy breaks out not only among its members but also among its acquaintances and friends. Marina is an oenologist and her two great passions are: Stefanos, her husband who is a shipbuilder, and the new wine she prepares in her vineyards in the Peloponnese. The couple has an adopted 17-year-old daughter, Anna. Suddenly, an unexpected and uncontrollable passion is born between Stefanos and Anna. Marina, who is a support for both of them, will not be long in discovering the truth and then the conflicts are painful. The impasse of this situation is also experienced by the family's relatives. Everyone sees things from their own perspective but everyone is called upon to make their choices, paying the corresponding price.
Sweet and sour wine
Olga and Stefos, two seemingly mismatched people, since she is a writer and he is a taxi driver and an old, as well as unlucky in his life actor, are plundered by their families. Abandoned by their own one Christmas, drowned by the feeling of a torturous loneliness, they meet. A customer in his taxi, she asks him to set off without a destination. They arrive at the sea. They see a tavern, she asks him to accompany her and have a drink together. Thus begins their story. They lean on each other. They feel alive again, they feel full, young. But the plunderers are lurking. They will learn, they will slander and they will demand their gains again. In vain. Olga and Stefos, have caught the sun of their lives and will not leave it anymore. It is in his west, but it is theirs.
Painted sun
this is about the life during the world war ii in greece
Η Τελευταία Παράσταση
A bunch of women dominates Kostas Filipou's life. His mother Smaro and his three sisters: married Rika - who wants to take a divorce -, religious Fanouria and Tzela the student. The last two have to get married. There are also the women who work at the women's lingerie business that he runs, many of whom see him as a potential husband, as well as Betty, a colleague deeply in love with him, whose mother pressures her to get married. When Kostas secretly marries Betty, who rents with her mother an apartment above theirs, Smaro decides to find both of them a mate. She suggests to Betty the neighborhood's electrician- but Kostas finds a way to break the match- and to Kostas a young woman from Veroia- but Betty manages to break the match. The revelation of the couple's marriage relieves everyone and the fact that Betty is pregnant brings the desired peace and serenity.
Twenty Women and I
A young man with ideals, equipped with a high-school diploma, dreams of a quiet and honest life. Nevertheless, being unable to find a job and facing the problems of unemployment, he gets involved in a ring of thieves. The hoodlums organize a major heist. Lefteris agrees to take part in order to solve his money problems and live happily with his girl. Things, however, do not develop smoothly. The hero, at the last moment, manages to escape and avoid arrest by the policemen, thanks to the help of a girl who works in a cabaret in Piraeus and is in love with him.
Angels of Sin
No description available.
O Giteftis
Taxidi Tou Melitos is about the fear that most elderly people experience: approaching death. Leon (Stavros Xenides) and Zaharoula (Betty Livanou) are heading out for their annual vacation at a summer resort. Instead of their usual carefree anticipation, their mood is subdued because their daughter has just married and is off on her honeymoon. Life is lonely without her and the couple cannot avoid the realization that death is not that far away for them. Once at the resort, Leon tries to overcome this nagging fear by taking a wild plunge in the ocean, naked, as he and Zaharoula are out walking on the beach. Taken up in the spirit of the moment, she joins him among the waves. The results, however, are not what they expected.
Honeymoon
Peter, the hero, aged 20, finds himself on a deserted Greek island with no other men in sight. The women of the island, regardless of age harass him sexually. What starts off as a typical male sexual fantasy turns out into a nightmare
Testosterone
No description available.
Το μονοπάτι της αγάπης
"Arpa-colla" in Greek literally means "Grab and stick", a phrase used to show something that has been done quickly and therefore isn't good enough. This is what the 2 main heroes of the film are doing. The one is a director(Giorgos) and the other an author(Kostas) with communistic ideas, who has won a prize at a festival. They both want to make a movie for the cinema. But every idea they have never comes true, because every time they meet someone to whom they tell their idea, they change their mind, and they want to make a totally different movie, ideas varying from political cinema to Greek historical dramas and modern films with motorcycle gangs. Not a bad attempt for the Greek cinema of the early 80's, which starts to wake up from the hibernation of the 70's.
Arpa Colla
Two friends, former shooting champions get involved with the world of professional assassins.
A Time to Kill
The story of a young man who every day watches the inhabitants of the apartment across the street. They have a very beautiful daughter, but after a few days he finds himself in love with the mother...
A Foolish Love
In late-1950s Athens, a big sister and her twin brothers sneak in their grandfather's distillery to perform a strange rite. But, how important is the last drop of the rare "Dead Liqueur" to the experimenting adolescents' budding sexuality?
Dead liqueur
Still reluctant to call it quits on her dying marriage, a conventional Athenian housewife gets caught up in a whirlwind romance with a successful man. Will this deliciously dangerous affair lead to true love or sharp disappointment?
Sudden Love
A director decides to make a film about an old friend, musician, who died from drugs years ago and became known to the general public after his death. The present and the past confused in the mind of the director and the influences in his work.