Michael Giannatos

Michalis Giannatos (Greek: Μιχάλης Γιαννάτος; 11 July 1941[1] 17 September 2013), alternatively spelled as Michael Yannatos, was a Greek actοr.

Michael Giannatos
Born(1941-07-11)11 July 1941[1]
Istanbul, Turkey
Died17 September 2013(2013-09-17) (aged 72)
Athens, Greece
OccupationActor
Years active1966-2013
Known forMidnight Express
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Munich
SpouseChaido[2]
ChildrenMaria, Gerasimos & Ioannis[3]

Ηe was born in (Constantinople), Turkey. He left the city for Greece in 1964 during the long expulsion of Istanbul Greeks.[4]

Career

He studied in Konstantinos Demopoulos' school of drama and first appeared as a professional actor in Georgios Zervoulakos' film Oi stigmatismenoi (Greek: Οι στιγματισμένοι) in 1966. When still a student, he participated in the theatrical play Capetan Michalis (Greek: Καπετάν Μιχάλης) next to Manos Katrakis.[5]

During his long cinematic career, he appeared in close to 100 films, television series and plays. He was a regular in Theodoros Angelopoulos films since he was one of the director's favorite actors. After Megalexandros (Greek: Μεγαλέξανδρος) in 1981, Angelopoulos was always calling him to play in his movies.[4]

He was fluent in five languages; Greek, Turkish, French, Italian and Spanish.[4] Due to that, he appeared in many international productions, including Midnight Express, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Munich and more. He worked next to great actors such as Anthony Quinn, John Hurt, Nicolas Cage, Penélope Cruz, Christian Bale, Eric Bana and Daniel Craig.[6]

He also played in the film A Touch of Spice [Greek title: Politiki kouzina (Greek: Πολίτικη Κουζίνα)] by Tassos Boulmetis and in the European co-production Le Dernier Seigneur des Balkans.[5]

Personal life

Giannatos was married to Chaido whom he was with until the day he died. They have three children together; Gerasimos (born in 1979), Ioannis (born in 1980) and Maria (born in 1982).[1]

Since 1979, when his first son was born, Giannatos was working night shifts as a receptionist at the Hotel Caravel. He needed the job so he could take care of his family, while at the same time he was working as an actor every time he had the chance. His son Gerasimos said: "His main job was receptionist. With that job we made it through. He was working from 1979 when I was born till 1996 as a receptionist".[1]

In an interview to Giannis Kasapis in 2012, Giannatos said that he loved classical music: "Classical music is the crown of music. Let me tell you how I first loved it. At my school in Constantinople I had an Italian classmate who asked me if I had ever heard classical music. I said no and she invited me to her house. She played one of Chopin's Polonaises...I froze! I heard them all! Since then I became a devotee". Giannatos also stated that he was hearing Greek songs as well, Stelios Kazantzidis and rebetiko, and sometimes even flamenco, tango or csárdás.[7] In the same interview he said that he loved the three ancient Greek tragedians — Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides — and of course Aristophanes. Also Hemingway and Agatha Christie.[7]

Death

Giannatos died on 17 September 2013 at the age of 72 due to a heart attack, while watching a football match with friends. As his son said, no one of his friends realized that he was gone, till the moment someone called him and he didn't respond.[8]

The Greek Minister of Culture and Sports expressed his condolence to Giannatos family while stating: "Michalis Giannatos was an exquisite actor who played in many important Greek, but also foreign, movies. But he was also one of those artists and, deep down, one of those people who are proving every day that it's not necessary to have the main part of a movie to be a protagonist".[9]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1966Oi stigmatismenoiFirst appearance as a professional actor
1968I Arhontissa kai o AlitisBus ConductorTranslated: The Lady and the Tramp
1969Ta Dio Podia Se Ena...Papoutsi!Translated: Two Legs in One...Shoe!
1969To...ThimaStellasTranslated: The...Victim
1971Ti Ekanes ston Polemo Thanasi?Italian officerTranslated: What Were You Doing at the War Thanasis?
1971I Kori tou IliouTurkish SoldierTranslated: The Daughter of the Sun
1971Enas Xenoiastos Palaviaris Man at the funeralTranslated: A Carefree Fool
1973O TsarlatanosPatroklosTranslated: The Charlatan
1973Oi Polemistai tis EirinisSoldier KotsoglouTranslated: The Warriors of Peace
1973O Anthropos pou Etreche PoliLefteris ZevedaiosTranslated: The Man Who Ran a Lot
1973Diktator kalei...ThanasiTranslated: The Dictator is Calling...Thanasis
1975Bounzaka ala...Ellinika!PanagosTranslated: Bounzaka in...Greek!
1976O Thanasis sti Chora tis SfaliarasPanagosTranslated: Thanasis in the Land of Slap
1976Elliniki IpothesiTranslated: The Greek Affair
1978The Greek TycoonMan on Tomasis's BoatUncredited
1978Midnight ExpressCourt TranslatorUSA
1978O Ilios tou ThanatouConfiscatorUncredited
Translated: The Sun of Death
19781922
1978A Walk in the SunWaitorSweden & Greece
Original title: En Vandring I Solen
Language: English & Swedish
1979Ta Paidia tis PiatsasBakerTranslated: The Kids of the Piazza
1979O Palavos Kosmos tou ThanasiTranslated: The Crazy World of Thanasis
1980MegalexandrosDragoumanosTranslated: Alexander the Great
1980Vengos, O Trelos KamikaziMarkos TamtikosTranslated: Vengos, the Crazy Kamikaze
1980Geusi Apo ElladaVangelisTranslated: Taste From Greece
1982AggelosGas manTranslated: Angel
1982To fragmaChemistTranslated: The Dam
1982To Aima ton AgalmatonTranslated: The Blood of the Statues
1982Sti Zougkla tis Athinas/Taxidi stin ProtevousaSpirosTranslated: In Athens' Jungle/Journey to the City
1982I StrophiTurkish officerTranslated: Turning point
1983H PareksigisiTranslated: The Misunderstanding
1983Psosoxi, Kindinos!MichalisTranslated: Caution, Danger!
1983Ipogeia DiadromiTranslated: Underground Route
1983Kamikazi Agapi mouFotiouTranslated: Kamikaze my Love
1984Taxidi sta KithiraHarbor MasterTranslated: Voyage to Cythera
1984The Next OneCaptainUSA
1985BordeloGiavasoglou
1986The Two Faces of JanuaryNikos
1986O MelissokomosTranslated: The Beekeeper
1987Pretty SmartThe TurkUSA
1987O EfialtisTranslated: The Nightmare
1987The WindPolicemanUSA
1987Chamos sto Aigaleo CityPrison guardTranslated: Chaos at Aigaleo City
1988Gemini - The Twin Stars1st policemanSwitzerland
Language: English
1988Topio stin OmixliTrain station guardianTranslated: Landscape in the Mist
1988O Fakelos Polk Ston AeraTranslated: The Polk File on Air
1989The Serpent of DeathGreek policemanUSA
1989Athos I EnoxosTranslated: Innocent Or Guilty
1989Ipastinomos ThanasisTranslated: Police Lieutenant Thanasis
1990I Ekdikisi tou PateraMoustafa Ali, Turkish drug dealerTranslated: Father's Revenge
1990Ante GeiaBuffet waiterTranslated: Take care
1991To Meteoro Vima tou PelargouShopkeeperTranslated: The Meteor Step of the Stork
1991O DrapetisShadow theater performerTranslated: Master of the Shadows
1992To daxtilidiShort
The Ring
1994I Zoi Einai sto DromoShort
Life is in the Street
1995Tranzito
1995Someone Else's AmericaGreek agentUSA
1995Ulysses' GazeAlbanian Film Library ManagerUncredited
1995O Hamenos Thisauros tou Hoursit PasaTranslated: The Lost Treasure of Hoursit Pasha
1995Isa Mori HamouraShort
1996Me ton Orfea ton AugoustoPantelisTranslated: With Orpheus in August
1998Eternity and a DayTicket InspectorUSA
1999AmericaShort
1999O Anthos tis LimnisHasanTranslated: The Flower of the Lake
2001Captain Corelli's MandolinKokoliosUSA
2001To Kalokairi tis AnnasSales manTranslated: Anna's Summer
2002Katalathos AstinomikosTV movie
Translated: Policeman by Accident
2002I FouskaUncleTranslated: The Bubble
2002Alexandros kai AisheTranslated: Alexander and Aishe
2003Skipper StraadShort
2003Politiki kouzinaGrandpa's friendEnglish title: A Touch of Spice
2003Sto HaniKara AlisTranslated: To the Inn
2004Trilogia 1: To Livadi Pou DakrizeiZisisTranslated: Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow
2005Hotel AsteriaGiorgosTV movie
2005To Oneiro tou IkarouOld GypsyTranslated: Icarus' Dream
2005Opa!Hector
2005One in a MillionOld manUSA
Short
2005MunichHotel Aristides PorterUSA
2005My Family and Other AnimalsPorter / WaitorUK
TV movie
2006o etsi
2007Koroido en'taxei' Aimilios RoukounasTranslated: All Right Sucker
2008Oi Prasines, Oi Kokkines, Oi Thalassies Oi TsouhtresTV movie
Translated: The Green, The Red, The Blue Jellyfish
2008O Ilias tou 16ouManosTranslated: Ilias of 16th
2011Nisos 2: To kynigi tou hamenou thisavrouSifnios
2011Einai trelloi autoi oi Ellines
2012A Green StoryGrandfather
2012Dead EuropeHotel managerUK
Uncredited
2012Lost MonumentShort
2012O Anthropos pou Taize ton Iskio touRolandShort Translated: The Man Who Was Feeding His Shadow
(final film role)

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1971Proti grammiTranslated: Forefront
1974Alithines IstoriesTranslated: True Stories
1983I Kiria DoremiShip's bartenderTranslated: Mrs Doremi
1984The First Olympics: Athens 1896Eleni's fatherTV mini-series
1991I Agapi tis GatasMoustafasTranslated: The Cat's love
1992Oi Frouroi tis AchaiasKir MichalisTranslated: Achaias' Gurdians
1992Epikindines SxeseisMarkosTranslated: Dangerous Relationships
1993Casa Di MacaroniVasilis
1994To Asimenio DinarioTranslated: The Silver Dinar
1995Stras
1996Sofia...OrthiMr. TolisEpisode 13
Translated: Sofia...upright
1998I Aithousa tou ThronouPolicemanEpisode 1.2
Translated: The Throne Room
1998I Zoi Pou Den EzisaThomasTranslated: The Life I Didn't Live
1999EgklimataButcherEpisode 1.2
Translated: Crimes
1999Thimata EirinisEpisodes 1.1 & 1.15
Translated: Victims of Peace
2000-2001Kokkinos KiklosMitsos/Bambis/KafetzisEpisode: Episkeptis
Episode: To Telos Tou Paixnidiou (Mitsos)
Episode: Stin Tixi (Bambis)
Episode: Chronia Polla (Kafetzis)
Translated: Red Circle
2001Eisai to Tairi MouGiorgisEpisode 1.8
Translated: You Are My Soulmate
2004Voitheia GeitonoiTranslated: Neighbors, help
2004Efta Thanasimes PetheresTranslated: Seven Deadly Mother-In-Laws
2004ArchipelagosTranslated: Archipelago
2004Ta Paidia tis NiovisKadisTranslated: Niovis' kids
2005Peninta-PenintaTurkish officerEpisode 2.1
Translated: Fifty-Fifty
2005Le dernier seigneur des Balkans
(O Teleutaios Arxontas ton Valkanion)
TV mini-series (4 episodes)
History
France/Greece/Poland/Spain/Bulgaria
Language: French
2007Mia Stigmi, Dio ZoesAnestisTranslated: One Moment, Two Lives
2007-2008Maria, i AschimiNiketasTranslated: Ugly Maria

References

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