The Most Famous
ACTORS from Greece
Top 10
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Greek Actors of all time. This list of famous Greek Actors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Greek Actors.
1. Irene Papas (1929 - 2022)
With an HPI of 70.34, Irene Papas is the most famous Greek Actor. Her biography has been translated into 50 different languages on wikipedia.
Irene Papas or Irene Pappas (Greek: Ειρήνη Παππά, romanized: Eiríni Pappá, IPA: [iˈrini paˈpa]; born Eirini Lelekou (Greek: Ειρήνη Λελέκου, romanized: Eiríni Lelékou); 3 September 1929 – 14 September 2022) was a Greek actress and singer who starred in over 70 films in a career spanning more than 50 years. She gained international recognition through such popular award-winning films as The Guns of Navarone (1961), Zorba the Greek (1964) and Z (1969). She was a powerful protagonist in films including The Trojan Women (1971) and Iphigenia (1977). She played the title roles in Antigone (1961) and Electra (1962). She had a fine singing voice, on display in the 1968 recording Songs of Theodorakis. Papas won Best Actress awards at the Berlin International Film Festival for Antigone and from the National Board of Review for The Trojan Women. Her career awards include the Golden Arrow Award in 1993 at Hamptons International Film Festival, and the Golden Lion Award in 2009 at the Venice Biennale.
2. Melina Mercouri (1920 - 1994)
With an HPI of 68.35, Melina Mercouri is the 2nd most famous Greek Actor. Her biography has been translated into 49 different languages.
Maria Amalia "Melina" Mercouri (Greek: Μαρία Αμαλία "Μελίνα" Μερκούρη, 18 October 1920 – 6 March 1994) was a Greek actress, singer, activist, and politician. She came from a political family that was prominent over multiple generations. She received an Academy Award nomination and won a Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award for her performance in the film Never on Sunday (1960). Mercouri was also nominated for one Tony Award, three Golden Globes and two BAFTA Awards in her acting career. In 1987 she was awarded a special prize in the first edition of the Europe Theatre Prize. Mercouri was a member of the Hellenic Parliament, elected as a representative of PASOK. In October 1981, she became the first female Minister of Culture and Sports. She has the longest tenure of any of Greece's Ministers of Culture, having served from 1981 to 1989, and then from 1993 until her death in 1994, during PASOK governments. Mercouri's political activism included her long campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles. One of her greatest achievements was the establishment of the European Capitals of Culture, with Athens chosen as the first capital in 1985.
3. Thespis (-600 - -560)
With an HPI of 66.46, Thespis is the 3rd most famous Greek Actor. His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.
Thespis (; ‹See Tfd›Greek: Θέσπις; fl. 6th century BC) was an Ancient Greek poet. He was born in the ancient city of Icarius (present-day Dionysos, Greece). According to certain Ancient Greek sources and especially Aristotle, he was the first person to appear on stage as an actor playing a character in a play (instead of speaking as himself). In other sources, he is said to have introduced the first principal actor in addition to the chorus. He is often called the "Inventor of Tragedy". Thespis was a singer of dithyrambs (songs about stories from mythology with choric refrains). He is credited with introducing a new style in which one singer or actor performed the words of individual characters in the stories, distinguishing between the characters with the aid of different masks. This new style was called tragedy, and Thespis was the most popular exponent of it. Eventually, in 534 BC competitions to find the best tragedy were instituted at the City Dionysia in Athens, and Thespis won the first documented competition. Capitalising on his success, Thespis also invented theatrical touring; he would tour various cities while carrying his costumes, masks and other props in a horse-drawn wagon.
4. Katina Paxinou (1900 - 1973)
With an HPI of 58.59, Katina Paxinou is the 4th most famous Greek Actor. Her biography has been translated into 46 different languages.
Katina Paxinou (Greek: Κατίνα Παξινού; 17 December 1900– 22 February 1973) was a Greek film and stage actress. She started her stage career in Greece in 1928 and was one of the founding members of the National Theatre of Greece in 1932. The outbreak of World War II found her in the United Kingdom and she later moved to the United States, where she made her film debut in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. She appeared in a few more Hollywood films, before returning to Greece in the early 1950s. She became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1951. She then focused on her stage career and appeared in a number of European films including Rocco and His Brothers (1960).
5. John Aniston (1933 - 2022)
With an HPI of 55.11, John Aniston is the 5th most famous Greek Actor. His biography has been translated into 27 different languages.
John Anthony Aniston (born Yannis Anastassakis, Greek: Γιάννης Αναστασάκης, July 24, 1933 – November 11, 2022) was an American actor who played Victor Kiriakis on the NBC daytime drama series Days of Our Lives, which he originated in July 1985 and played on and off for 37 years, until his death in 2022. His portrayal earned him a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2017 and he received a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. He was the father of actress Jennifer Aniston.
6. Aliki Vougiouklaki (1934 - 1996)
With an HPI of 50.81, Aliki Vougiouklaki is the 6th most famous Greek Actor. Her biography has been translated into 16 different languages.
Aliki Stamatina Vougiouklaki (Greek: Αλίκη Σταματίνα Βουγιουκλάκη Greek pronunciation: [aˈlici stamaˈtina vuʝuˈklaci]; 20 July 1934 – 23 July 1996) was a Greek cinema and theater actress, singer and theatrical producer. She is one of the most popular actresses in Greece, and was often called "the National Star of Greece". Theatrically, she mostly starred in renditions of widely known Broadway musicals as well as multiple Greek tragedy plays. Vougiouklaki died in 1996 at the age of 62, just three months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Aliki Vougiouklaki made her stage debut in a 1953 Athens production of Molière's Le Malade imaginaire. Around the same time, she made her movie debut in The Little Mouse (1954). She then appeared in over 41 films, one of which, apart from the original Greek, also had a Turkish version but was never officially released in Turkey because of political issues between the two neighboring countries. The majority of her movies met with great success and in 1960 she won the award for Best Actress at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival for her performance in the movie Madalena.
7. Skeet Ulrich (b. 1970)
With an HPI of 46.94, Skeet Ulrich is the 7th most famous Greek Actor. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.
Skeet Ulrich (; born Bryan Ray Trout on January 20, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in popular 1990s films, including Billy Loomis in Scream (1996), Chris Hooker in The Craft (1996), and Vincent Lopiano in As Good as It Gets (1997). From 2017 to 2021, he starred as Forsythe Pendleton "F.P." Jones II on The CW's Riverdale. He reprised his Scream role in the sequels Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023). His other television roles include Johnston Jacob "Jake" Green Jr. in the television series Jericho, and LAPD Detective Rex Winters, a Marine veteran from the Law & Order franchise.
8. Carl Anderson (1945 - 2004)
With an HPI of 45.31, Carl Anderson is the 8th most famous Greek Actor. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Carlton Earl "Carl" Anderson (February 27, 1945 – February 23, 2004) was an American singer, film and theater actor best known for his portrayal of Judas Iscariot in the Broadway and film versions of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Anderson and singer-actress Gloria Loring performed the duet "Friends and Lovers", which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1986.
9. Adele Neuhauser (b. 1959)
With an HPI of 42.85, Adele Neuhauser is the 9th most famous Greek Actor. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Adele Neuhauser (born 17 January 1959 in Athens, Greece) is an Austrian actress. She began her career as a theater actress. Later she also worked in television and cinema. She is a member of the Akademie des Österreichischen Films.
10. Ariane Labed (b. 1984)
With an HPI of 41.28, Ariane Labed is the 10th most famous Greek Actor. Her biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Ariane Labed (born 8 May 1984) is a Greek-French actress and film director. She is known for her feature film debut in Attenberg, for which she won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress, and appearing in Helen Edmundson's film Mary Magdalene in 2018.
People
Pantheon has 11 people classified as Greek actors born between 600 BC and 1984. Of these 11, 4 (36.36%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Greek actors include Skeet Ulrich, Adele Neuhauser, and Ariane Labed. The most famous deceased Greek actors include Irene Papas, Melina Mercouri, and Thespis. As of April 2024, 2 new Greek actors have been added to Pantheon including Aliki Vougiouklaki, and Adele Neuhauser.
Living Greek Actors
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Skeet Ulrich
1970 - Present
HPI: 46.94
Adele Neuhauser
1959 - Present
HPI: 42.85
Ariane Labed
1984 - Present
HPI: 41.28
Haruna Ikezawa
1975 - Present
HPI: 34.67
Deceased Greek Actors
Go to all RankingsIrene Papas
1929 - 2022
HPI: 70.34
Melina Mercouri
1920 - 1994
HPI: 68.35
Thespis
600 BC - 560 BC
HPI: 66.46
Katina Paxinou
1900 - 1973
HPI: 58.59
John Aniston
1933 - 2022
HPI: 55.11
Aliki Vougiouklaki
1934 - 1996
HPI: 50.81
Carl Anderson
1945 - 2004
HPI: 45.31
Newly Added Greek Actors (2024)
Go to all RankingsOverlapping Lives
Which Actors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 6 most globally memorable Actors since 1700.
