Famed Greek Director Theo Angelopoulos Killed During Movie Filming

Award-winning Greek film director Theo Angelopoulos died Tuesday after being hit by a motorcycle while filming scenes on his latest movie.

Angelopoulos was rushed to an Athens hospital where he died hours later of head injuries. He was 76 years old. The motorcyclist was an off-duty policeman.

Angelopoulos was Greece's most honored contemporary director, winning numerous awards at European film festivals.

He is best known for his 1998 film, Eternity and a Day, which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

At the time of his death, he was directing The Other Sea, a film about the impact of Greece's economic crisis on its citizens.

Veteran Greek Leftist Politician Dies

Veteran left-wing Greek politician Leonidas Kyrkos, who faced prison and a death sentence because of his politics, has died at 87 after a long illness.

Kyrkos was a medical student who joined the Greek resistance against the Nazi occupation in World War Two.

Greek authorities arrested him after the war, sentencing him to death for belonging to the Communist Party. Just days before Kyrkos and several other prisoners were to stand before a firing squad, an international outcry led the government to back away from the death sentence.

Kyrkos later edited a leftist newspaper, was elected to parliament and spent another five years in jail under the military dictatorship.

In recent years, Kyrkos became a more moderate voice, becoming critical of the far left and urged cooperation with the ruling Socialists.

Zorba Director Cacoyannis Dies at 89

World renown Greek film director Michael Cacoyannis, whose 1964 movie Zorba the Greek became an instant classic, has died at age 89.

He had been suffering from heart and breathing problems.

The Cypriot-born Cacoyannis began his career in London working for the the British Broadcasting Corporation, where he developed an interest in theater and film.

He made his directing debut with 1954's Windfall in Athens and followed it two years later with the award-winning Stella, starring Melina Mercouri.

Cacoyannis became an international name with 1964's Zorba the Greek — a critical and popular success starring Anthony Quinn as a lusty and exuberant Greek coal miner who befriends a cynical and unhappy English writer.

Zorba earned Cacoyannis an Academy Award nomination as Best Director.

Beloved Greek Film Comedian Thanassis Veggos Dies at 84

Tuesday, 3 May 2011

Greek comedian Thanassis Veggos, whose slapstick comedies made him one of the country's most beloved performers, has died after suffering a series of strokes.

He was 84 years old.

Many in Greece referred to Veggos as the “Greek Charlie Chaplin” because, like the legendary American comedian, Veggos portrayed the average everyman struggling to cope with life.

He played in more than 120 movies from the 1950s until just last year. Most of his films were known for outlandish slapstick, but he also appeared on the stage and on television in dramatic parts.

Greek President Karolos Papoulias calls Veggos' death a cause of national grief, saying his loss is irreplaceable and his films will entertain generations to come.

Legendary Greek Resistance Fighter Apostolos Santas, Who Defied Nazis, Dies at 89

Photo: The German War Flag is raised on the Acropolis of Athens, April 1941. (Photo by Scheerer, from Deutsches Bundesarchiv / German Federal Archive)   

Monday, 2 May 2011

Legendary Greek resistance fighter Apostolos Santas, who secretly scrambled to the top of the Acropolis in 1941 to tear down a Nazi flag, has died.

Greek officials say he died Saturday in Athens at 89. No cause of death was announced.

On May 31, 1941, the teenage Santas and another young resistance fighter, Manolis Glezos, secretly climbed to the top of the Acropolis and tore down the swastika. It was the first symbolic act of resistance against the Nazi occupation of Greece.

Santas joined the Greek underground and fought against both the Germans and Italian fascists.

Santas later joined a left-wing resistance group and was forced into exile during the civil war that broke out in Greece following the end of World War Two. He returned to Greece in 1963.

In 2008, the Greek parliament formally honored Santas and Glezos for their bravery in seizing the Nazi flag.