The Most Famous
ACTORS from Greece
Top 7
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the 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.
1. Irene Papas (1929 - 2022)
With an HPI of 69.23, Irene Papas is the most famous Greek Actor. Her biography has been translated into 44 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 67.82, Melina Mercouri is the 2nd most famous Greek Actor. Her biography has been translated into 47 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 66.56, Thespis is the 3rd most famous Greek Actor. His biography has been translated into 32 different languages.
Thespis (; 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 ever 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 59.30, Katina Paxinou is the 4th most famous Greek Actor. Her biography has been translated into 43 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 50.59, John Aniston is the 5th most famous Greek Actor. His biography has been translated into 24 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. Ariane Labed (1984 - )
With an HPI of 37.92, Ariane Labed is the 6th 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.
7. Haruna Ikezawa (1975 - )
With an HPI of 34.71, Haruna Ikezawa is the 7th most famous Greek Actor. Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Haruna Ikezawa (池澤 春菜, Ikezawa Haruna, born December 15, 1975) is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer. Her major roles in anime include: Gō Seiba in Bakusō Kyōdai Let's & Go!!, Haruna Hiroko in Hamtaro, Yoshino Shimazu in Maria-sama ga Miteru, Momoka Nishizawa in Sgt. Frog. In video games, she has voiced Athena Asamiya in The King of Fighters since 1998, and voiced Coco Bandicoot in Crash Bandicoot series. She announced her marriage on July 1, 2020. She is the eldest daughter of Akutagawa Prize-winning author Natsuki Ikezawa and the granddaughter of Takehiko Fukunaga.
Pantheon has 7 people classified as actors born between 600 BC and 1984. Of these 7, 2 (28.57%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living actors include Ariane Labed and Haruna Ikezawa. The most famous deceased actors include Irene Papas, Melina Mercouri, and Thespis. As of April 2022, 1 new actors have been added to Pantheon including Haruna Ikezawa.
Living Actors
Go to all RankingsDeceased Actors
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Irene Papas
1929 - 2022
HPI: 69.23
Melina Mercouri
1920 - 1994
HPI: 67.82
Thespis
600 BC - 560 BC
HPI: 66.56
Katina Paxinou
1900 - 1973
HPI: 59.30
John Aniston
1933 - 2022
HPI: 50.59
Newly Added Actors (2022)
Go to all RankingsWhich Actors were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 4 most globally memorable Actors since 1700.
