Kostas Voutsas, one of the best actors of his generation and an icon for Greek cinema and television, dies early on Wednesday. He was 88.
Voutsas was born in Athens in 1931 and moved to Thessaloniki in 1932. He studied drama at the Drama School of the Macedonian Conservatory of Thessaloniki and made his stage and screen debut in 1953. In 1961 his breakthrough came when the Greek film director Giannis Dalianidis gave him a leading role in his phenomenally successful youth melodrama O Katiforos. He soon became one of the best and most popular comic actors of his generation and created personal groups, starring in many Greek comedies by top playwrights and classics like Aristophanes’ The Wasps (as Philokleon), Molière’s Le bourgeois gentilhomme (title role), etc. He has always been more committed to being a theatrical actor. In an interview to the Athens daily newspaper To Vima, he said: “Playing in movies has helped me a lot, but I was always committed to the theatre and that was my highlight.” His acting technique is being studied at the University of Patras. He has received many lifetime achievement awards, Thessaloniki International Film Festival and more.
