Greek singer and actress born on October 18, 1920 and died on March 6, 1994. She served in the position of Minister for Culture of Greece from 1981 to 1989 and from 1993 to 1994.
Born 8am EET
She was the step-mother of the famous French singer Joe Dassin.
Received the Womens International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award in 1991.
Melina Mercouri was personal friend of the Prime Minister of Greece Andreas Papandreou , the Nobel prize winner poet Odysseas Elytis, the Oscar Winning composer Manos Hatzidakis , the famous authors Terence McNally and Vasilis Vasilikos. She also admired very much the leader of the Conservative party, Konstantinos Karamanlis.
Melina had beside her bed the photograph of her great friend Anthony Perkins , and co-star in Phaedra . She said that the only problem that the famous star had, was his taste for milk.
Melina died from complications from lung cancer at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, NYC. She was hospitalized in early February 1994 and underwent surgery on February 23 to remove cancerous tissue, but her conditioned deteriorated on March 5 because of an infection.
Another festival was presented in Greece in 2002 honoring the couple Melina Mercouri-Jules Dassin , and including all favorites movies of the two stars, like Pote tin Kyriaki , Topkapi , etc.
Melina met Jules Dassin in Cannes during the screening of her first film Stella .
Melina, as a Minister of Culture, was one of the creators of the European Capital of Culture insitution, which recognizes a city of Europe as the centre of many cultural festivities, every 4 years
All the records were prohibited by the military dictatorship in Greece and were very popular after the dictatorship was gone. Melina was also heard in LPs by Manos Hatzidakis , with music from her films Stella , Pote tin Kyriaki , Topkapi , and in Mikis Theodorakis s Phaedra where she was singing with her co-star Anthony Perkins.
During the seven years of her exile in France, 1967-1974, Melina Mercouri recorded some highly popular records for UNIVERSAL, named Melina Mercouri, L oeillet rouge, si Melina m etait contee, Je suis Grecque including famous Greek and French songs.
The studio wanted the team of R Dassin-Mercouri to create a sequel to Pote tin Kyriaki named "Illya goes to New York", but both the actress and the director refused and made Phaedra , a commercial flop.
Melina claimed that her lucky number was 18, because Dassin was born on 18th of December, her grandfather, the mayor of Athens, Spyros Merkouris was born on 18th of June, and she met Jules Dassin in Cannes on May 18th 1955.
Melinas and Jules Dassin s film Topkapi was the inspiration for the TV series Mission: Impossible , which was produced by the production company Desilu owned by Lucille Ball , and it was even mentioned in the film Mission: Impossible starring Tom Cruise.
Melinas greatest dream as a politician was the return of the marbles of the Parthenon, known as the Elgin marbles, back in Greece. Now they are in the British Museum.
When she was asked who she would like to be if she was not Melina Mercouri, she answered that she wanted to be either Greta Garbo or Dolores Ibrruri.
In 1953, Ellie Lambeti gave to Melina Mercouri the award "Marika Kotopouli" for best female performance in the theater.
Melina was the stepmother of three children, all by Jules Dassin. The names of the children are Julie Dassin , Richelle and Joe Dassin , who was a famous French singer, but died very young.
Melinas father was a member of Parliament from the age of 22, and her Grandfather was Mayor of Athens
Melina was interred at 1st Cemetery of Athens, Greece, near to her grandfather and Mayor of Athens, Spyros Merkouris.
Was nominated for Broadways 1968 Tony Award as Best Actress for "Illya, Darling," a musicalization of the film Pote tin Kyriaki in which she played the same role.
A member of the Pan-Hellenic Socialist movement.
Elected to the Greek Parliament in 1977.
Served as Greeces Minister of Culture from 1981 to 1990.
Ran for mayor of Athens in 1990, but was defeated.
On a almost unknown record LP with music by Yannis Markopoulos for the even less known movie "LAnniversaire" by the in 2007 deceased French filmmaker Pierre Jourdan (sleeve notion "Une production TF1 - 1982 EMI Greece - Path Marconi - EMI", Melina Mercouri performs on two tracks: on side 1 track 6 (322) titled "La Paix" (The Peace), she recites a beautiful poem by Yannis Ritsos, and on side 2 track 1 (355) titled "Giortazo 18 Octovri" (LAnniversaire), Melina sings on lyrics by L. Papadopoulos.
Suffered from claustrophobia.
Famous Spanish singer, Camilo Sesto, dedicated one of his most famous songs "Melina" to her.
She and Jules Dassin lived together for nearly 10 years before marrying in 1966.
"I was born Greek and I would die Greek. Mr. Pattakos was born a,dictator and he will die as a dictator. " Her reply to the fact that the,Military dictatorship in Greece (1967-1974) in Greece had proclaimed,that she was no longer a Greek citizen. .
