Michael Cacoyannis Biography (1922-)

Born June 11, 1922, in Limassol, Cyprus; son of Panayotis Loizou (a lawyer) and Angeliki (Efthyvoulos) Cacoyannis. Addresses: Office: 15 Mouson St., Athens 117-41, Greece.

Nationality
Cypriot
Gender
Male
Occupation
director, producer, writer, actor
Birth Details
June 11, 1922
Limassol, Cyprus

Famous Works

  • Credits; Film Work
  • Director, Windfall in Athens (also see below), Millas Films, 1954.
  • Director, Stella (also see below), Millas Films, 1955.
  • Director, A Girl in Black (also see below), Lambiris Films, 1956.
  • Director, A Matter of Dignity (also see below), Finos Films, 1957.
  • Director and producer, Our Last Spring (also see below), Cacoyannis Productions, 1959.
  • Director (with Giovanni Paolucci), The Wastrel (also see below), Medallion, 1961.
  • Director and producer, Electra (also see below), Lopert, 1962.
  • Director, producer, and editor, Zorba the Greek (also see below),Twentieth Century-Fox, 1964.
  • Director and producer, The Day the Fish Came Out (also see below),International Classics, 1967.
  • Producer (with Anis Nohra), director, and editor, The Trojan Women(also see below), Cinerama, 1971.
  • Editor (with Takis Yannopoulos), and director, Iphigenia (also seebelow), Cinema Five, 1977.
  • Director and producer, Sweet Country (also see below), Cinema Group, 1987.
  • Director and producer, Up, Down and Sideways (also see below), Playmovie Productions, 1992.
  • Producer and editor of Attila 74 (also see below), 1975.
  • Credits; Film Appearances
  • Councillor, Caesar and Cleopatra, Eagle Lion, 1946.
  • Byron's secretary, The Bad Lord Byron, General Films Distributors,1949.
  • Appeared as narrator, Attila 74, 1975; appeared in many of his ownfilms.
  • Credits; Stage Director
  • The Trojan Women, Circle in the Square, New York City, 1963-65.
  • And Things That Go Bump in the Night, Royale Theatre, New York City, 1965.
  • Les Troyennes, Theatre Nationale Populaire, Paris, 1965-66.
  • The Devils, Broadway Theatre, New York City, 1965-66.
  • Iphigenia in Aulis, Circle in the Square, 1967-68.
  • Romeo and Juliet, Theatre Nationale Populaire, 1968.
  • Lysistrata (also see below), Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1972.
  • King Oedipus, Abbey Theatre, Dublin, Ireland, 1973.
  • The Glass Menagerie, National Theatre, Athens, Greece, 1979.
  • Les Bacchantes, Comedie Francaise, 1979.
  • The Bacchae (also see below), Circle in the Square, 1980.
  • Zorba (also see below), Broadway Theatre, 1983-84.
  • Directed A Woman of No Importance, Athens, 1954; The Rainmaker, Greece, 1957; The Beckett-Billetdoux Evening, Spoleto, Italy, 1968; Miss Margarita, Athens, 1974; Antony and Cleopatra, Athens,1981; The Three Sisters, Athens, 1982; Electra, Epidaurus, Greece, 1984; Naked, Athens, 1989; and Henceforward, Athens, 1990.Operas include Mourning Becomes Electra, Metropolitan Opera Theatre, New York City, 1967; La Boheme, Juilliard Theatre, New York City, 1971;La Traviata, Athens, 1982; Iphigenia in Aulis and in Tauris, Frankfurt State Opera, Frankfurt, Germany, 1987; and La Clemenza di Tito, Music Festival, Aix en Provence, France, 1988.
  • Credits; Stage Appearances
  • Appeared as Herod, Salome, London, 1945; appeared in Captain Brassbound's Conversion, 1948; and Two Dozen Roses, 1949; appeared in title role, Caligula, 1949; appeared in The Purple Fig Tree,1950.
  • Credits; Television Director
  • The Story of Jacob and Joseph (movie), ABC, 1974.
  • Credits; Screenplays
  • Windfall in Athens, Millas Films, 1954.
  • Stella (based on a play by J. Campbanelis), Millas Films, 1955.
  • A Girl in Black, Lambiris Films, 1956.
  • A Matter of Dignity, Finos Films, 1957.
  • Our Last Spring, Cacoyannis Productions, 1959.
  • (With Frederic Wakeman and Suso Cecchi D'Amico) The Wastrel (basedon a novel by Wakeman), Medallion, 1961.
  • Electra (based on Euripides's play of the same title), Lopert, 1962.
  • Zorba the Greek (based on Nikos Kazantzakis's novel of the same title), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1964.
  • The Day the Fish Came Out, International Classics, 1967.
  • The Trojan Women (based on Edith Hamilton's English translation ofEuripides's play of the same title), Cinerama, 1971.
  • Iphigenia (based on the play Iphigenia in Aulis by Euripides), Cinema Five, 1977.
  • Sweet Country (based on a novel by Caroline Richards), Cinema Group, 1987.
  • Up, Down and Sideways, Playmovie Productions, 1992.
  • Credits; Stage Plays
  • (Adapter) Lysistrata, Brooks Atkinson Theatre, New York City, 1972.
  • (Translator) The Bacchae, Circle in the Square, New York City, 1980.
  • Credits; Other
  • Author of Collected Writings, 1990. Translator into Greek of Antony and Cleopatra, 1980; Hamlet, 1985; and Coriolanus, 1990.

Further Reference

Books

  • Contemporary Authors, Volume 101, Gale, 1981, pp. 96-97.