George Foundas
Acting
Biography
George Fountas (Mavrolithari, Fokida, 13 February 1924 – Athens, 28 November 2010) was a Greek actor, one of the most important in cinema, theatre and television, known, among other things, for his role in the film Stella (1955), by Michael Cacoyannis. He participated in many other distinguished films of the 1950s and 1960s, including Magic City (1954), The Girl in Black (1956), Never on Sunday (1960) and The Red Lanterns (1963), while he also appeared in the foreign productions America, America (1963) and Zorbas (1964). His most important moment in television is his role in the series Christ is Crucified Again (1975-1976). George Fountas was born on February 13, 1924, in Mavrolithari, Fokida. In 1944, Fountas appeared in the film Applause by Giorgos Tzavellas, which is considered the most important film made during the Occupation. He then studied acting at the Drama School of the Athens Conservatory, where he studied with Emilio Veakis, Dimitris Rontiris and Kostas Mousouris, while also playing football, as a player for the AEK reserve team. At a young age, he also played (amateur) shot put, discus and boxing. He made his first theatrical appearance in the play Nyfiatiko ngai (Wedding Song) by Notis Pergialis. Gradually, he began to appear more and more in films, such as Aegean Raid (1946) by M. Karagatsis and Dead City (1951) by Frixos Eliades. In 1954, he starred in Nikos Koundouros' first film, Magic City, through which he became more widely known. In 1955, Fountas appeared in Stella, directed by Michalis Cacoyannis. This film contains one of the most emblematic scenes in Greek cinema, during which the line "Go away Stella, I'm holding a knife!" is heard. Stella caused a sensation internationally, especially for the performance of Melina Mercouri, and was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival and won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. Fountas collaborated with Cacoyannis again shortly afterwards, for The Girl in Black (1956). Between 1960 and 1964, Fountas appeared in many films that received international attention. In 1960, he participated in Jules Dassin's Never on Sunday, again alongside Mercouri. The foreign-language film "Never on Sunday" opened the way for his international career and made him known abroad. In 1963, he appeared in two films that were nominated for the 36th Academy Awards. One was Red Light District (1963), directed by Vasilis Georgiadis, which is considered one of Fundas' most characteristic performances, and the other was America, America by Elia Kazan. In 1964, Fundas collaborated again with Cacoyannis, for the award-winning Zorba the Explorer. Fundas' next major moments were With the Flash in Your Eyes (1966) and Asphalt Fever (1967), directed by Panos Glykofrydis and Dinos Dimopoulos respectively. For his performances in these films, he was awarded Best Actor Awards at the seventh and eighth Thessaloniki Film Festivals. From 1970 onwards, Giorgos Fountas' presence in cinema began to decline. In 1973, he made his first appearance on television, in the series Occupation, which was broadcast on YENED. Two years later, he received a leading role in the series Christ is Recrucified. His last film was Vicky Peziri's dramatized documentary, Tales of the Sea (1997).
Known For
An uptight English writer traveling to Crete on a matter of business finds his life changed forever when he meets the gregarious Alexis Zorba.
Zorba the Greek
No description available.
O Hristos xanastavronetai
The inextricably intertwined stories of five sex workers who live in a brothel at Pireas harbor.
The Red Lanterns
An American scholar in Greece sets about improving the local prostitute with whom he is infatuated.
Never on Sunday
A poisonous woman, Eva, approaches George with the intention of destroying him for some evil he had caused in the past. Along the way, she falls in love with him, but he has already discovered the deception she had initially set up for him and in turn tries to take revenge on her. A powerful game of revenge and hatred between the two heroes that in the end turns into a powerful passion and love.
Stiletto Heel
No description available.
Galini
No description available.
Dangerous Exits
The story of a young, wild woman who doesn't want to compromise and settle down. Stella is a restless, rebellious Greek woman who plays with men and enjoys her life as much as she can. But when she meets a young footballer, things get mixed up. She loves him but she loves her freedom too. So it's about time she made an important choice.
Stella
Sergeant George Merkos is so absorbed in his duties that he never finds the time to meet the relatives of Anna, the girl he loves. Instead of going to her house, he chose to arrest a criminal and then go to the villa of Julia, a middle-aged woman who was found dead. The sergeant's suspicions turn to the murdered woman's young husband, Alekos Petratos, but he has a solid alibi. The meticulous Merkos finally refutes Petratos' alibi, but shows excessive zeal in arresting Dimitris Naskos, whom he mistakenly believes to be the rapist of a young woman. Dimitris, who is Anna's half-brother, is killed while trying to escape, and Merkos is forced to resign, losing Anna forever.
Scream
When Daisy saves the life of police officer Markos she is immediately promoted to the drug department of the police. Markos falls in love with her and they start going out until he asks her to marry him. That's exactly when she meets a junkie named Tasos Bekiris and falls in love with him. When he is murdered by a mysterious woman all the clues lead to Daisy who tries to prove her innocence. As she discovers, this woman is in charge of a drug-smuggling racket and she is also planning to import a huge quantity of heroin in Athens. Daisy kills her and arrives at their meeting place along with Markos.
Emergency exit
A man who lives in the underworld and on the margins of society, in order to pay off his debts, pretends to be a woman's husband so that she can satisfy her father's request to see her restored to her former status. The strange couple will slowly bond, and true love will blossom between them. The hesitations and shadows of the past will fade away in the face of the power of their feelings.
The Stigmatized
Alfa (Attik) runs an itinerant theatrical troupe and can see that a young woman, Nora (Zinet Lakaz), is very talented. Indeed, Nora turns into a great actress. However, when she does not reciprocate his love, he turns her away. After this, Alfa falls on hard times, while Nora achieves great popular success.
Applause
Originally edited in two versions. Version I, 70 minutes; version II, 90 minutes. (The only known existing version is not Markopoulos’s edit and contains additional titles, music and voice-over added later than 1961. 65 minutes.) Filmed in Mytilene and Annavysos, Greece, 1958. Existing copy on video, J. and M. Paris Films, Athens.
Serenity
A poor builder tries, with the help of his wife, to raise his three children. When he gets killed in an accident at the construction site, his oldest son undertakes the responsibility of providing for the family, facing all difficulties.
Bitter Bread
A group of resistance fighters during the Occupation, collaborates with a lieutenant who comes to Greece from the headquarters of the Middle East, aiming to blow up a German ship.
The Dawn of Triumph
A dark atmosphere pervades this film in true noir fashion. So does the feeling that our principals are trapped. They fight their way against economic forces and their status in life, and love might conquer all.
Trouba '67
Against the backdrop of a cloudless summer, love's unforeseen complications will entwine an Athenian writer, a morosely beautiful daughter, and a scorned local suitor. And then, calamity strikes. Can love redeem the sad girl in black?
A Girl in Black
For Her Love Has Become A Desperate Dream.
The Girl From Mani
Miranda, the rich and spoiled daughter of an Athenian businessman, accompanies her father to Messolonghi, where they have their own fish farming facilities in the best parts of the lagoon. There, while the local fishermen try to establish a cooperative so they can defend themselves against exploitation by their bosses, Miranda seduces a charming and dynamic young man, disrupting his life and his relationship with the girl he loved and intended to marry.
The Lagoon of Desire
Alexis abandons his fiancée Irene when he realizes that her family no longer has the wealth it was once famous for, which he had hoped would cover the debts he incurred through gambling. He is charmed by a singer, Veta, while previously the father of the singer in question had taken his money in an organized plan of revenge on the part of Eirini's family, for whom Veta's mother worked as a domestic helper. Eirini marries a former employee of her family, who now has his own mines and who has been in love with her for a long time. However, she will abandon him, while he will give up everything to work in a quarry. There, Eirini will meet him, remorseful.