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Mary Coustas

Mary Coustas

Acting

Biography

Mary Coustas is an Australian actress, comedian and television personality and writer. Originally from Melbourne, Coustas often performs as the character "Effie", a stereotypical second-generation Greek Australian prone to malapropisms.

Known For

Wildside
5.2

Wildside is an Australian police procedural television series broadcast on the ABC from 1997 to 1999. The show consisted of a one hour format that followed police interactions in inner Sydney. It starred Rachael Blake, Tony Martin, Richard Carter and Alex Dimitriades. Mary Coustas joined the series in a regular role late in its run, appearing in the last ten episodes. The series was filmed in Sydney. It was characterised by its use of ad lib dialogue and hand held camera work. It won several Logie Awards, including Silver Logies for outstanding work by Rachael Blake and Tony Martin for acting, as well as the Most Outstanding Miniseries Logie in 1998. It was also nominated for several Australian Film Institute Awards. A rerun of the series began in Australia on ABC1 in the early hours of Friday mornings, starting in September 2008.

Wildside

1997Series
Good Guys, Bad Guys
5.5

Good Guys, Bad Guys was an Australian crime TV series that screened on the Nine Network between 1997 and 1998, with a telemovie and twenty-six episodes produced. A comedy/drama set in Melbourne. The program was written for, and starred, Marcus Graham as Elvis Maginnis. A disgraced former cop, tainted by his criminal family and framed for corruption, Elvis owns "K for Kleen" drycleaning, managed by the eminently more sensible Stella Kinsella and sweetheart Reuben Zeus who has Tourette syndrome. Elvis's attempts at a straight life are constantly compromised by the demands of his eccentric family, while Stella's attempts at making "K-for-Kleen" turn a profit are frustrated by Elvis's penchant for damsels in distress and a hard-luck story. He may not have a white stallion, but Elvis has a beautiful Charger. The program was filmed in Melbourne, predominantly around the inner-city "bohemian" suburbs of St. Kilda, Fitzroy and Carlton. The film style incorporated local colour - Melbourne trams, landmarks like Smith Street's Cobra cane furniture shop, and the Builder's Arms Hotel as Elvis's local - and a soundtrack of the then-latest Australian music, matched to the action. The Good Guys, Bad Guys soundtrack CD features Regurgitator, The Fauves, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, The Whitlams, The Avalanches, Spiderbait, The Cruel Sea and The Mavis's among others.

Good Guys, Bad Guys

1997Series
Acropolis Now
7.5

Acropolis Now was an Australian sitcom set in a Greek cafe in Melbourne of the same name that ran for 63 episodes from 1989 to 1992 on the Seven Network. It was created by Nick Giannopoulos, George Kapiniaris and Simon Palomares, who also starred in the series. They were already quite well known for their comedy stage show, Wogs out of Work. The title is a play on the film Apocalypse Now. Each episode was 30 minutes in length and filmed in front of a live audience. Jim's father asks him to run the family business, the Acropolis café, when he suddenly leaves Australia to return to his homeland Greece. The series centres around the activities of the cafe staff. Greek Jim Stephanidis, is the immature owner and his best friend, Spaniard Ricky Martinez is the sensible manager. Memo is the traditional Greek waiter, Liz is the liberated Australian waitress. Skip is the naïve new cook from the bush and Manolis is the stubborn cook from the old cafe. 'Hilarity' prevails from the clash of cultures and beliefs. Jim's hairdresser cousin Effie, played by Mary Coustas, became a hugely popular and enduring character during the run of the show. Coustas later reprised the role for several TV specials and series including Effie, Just Quietly, an SBS comedy / interview show, and Greeks on the Roof, a short-lived Greek-Australian version of the British talk show The Kumars at No. 42.

Acropolis Now

1989Series