The film that had his first important leading role may have been entitled “The Downhill”, but for Nikos Kourkoulos it was the spring that launched his popularity, made him a star, one of those who lacked the Greek cinema of the time. Thus was born a zen premium different from what we were used to in the old commercial cinema. Taking the opportunity given to him by Giannis Dalianidis, in his first film in “Finos Film”, he subverts the image that existed until that time for the zen premiums – sweet, kind, handsome lads, with a clean look, who are ready to be sacrificed for the love of their girlfriend or to play the game of love with pure feelings.
Kourkoulos, through the role of the “evil”, a young man who lives on the edge, on the verge of illegality and likes to corrupt little girls, will break the mold of the established zen premium and will reshape it, giving much more complex elements. He is dark, his glowing face hides the darkness of the soul, he is wild, created for the worst, the result of a troubled upbringing, a destructive social environment.
Thus, Dalianidis’s insistence on starring, next to the first-timer Zoe Laskaris, Nikos Kourkoulos, will launch the actor’s fame, will make him a point of reference in male charm, will create a legend, which will continue to burn female hearts even when left the cinema. However, there was also Kourkoulos of the theater. Different from the standardization of cinema and the lad who is ready to put up with everyone and everything for the right, as on the board he expanded his acting range, he passionately served the good theater and the classical repertoire, complex roles, next to big names of acting and with demanding directors.
It has been 15 years since the death of Nikos Kourkoulos (January 30, 2007) when cancer, after a six-year battle, will bend him and while he is dedicated to the rebirth of the National Theater, as president and theater man, who knew the importance of the leading theatrical institution of the country. However, despite his relatively few starring and good appearances in the cinema, even today, through his films, he remains a trademark of male charm, of the indomitable lad, whose erotic passion could flourish even in his cinematic savagery.
Zografou – Avenue – National
Nikos Kourkoulos was born in Athens on December 5, 1934, in Zografou, where his father Alkinoos had a barber shop. He was the second of four children in the family, originally from Corfu. He had to work as a child, in chores and at the same time go to night school. In the early 50’s his talent in football will bring him to his favorite team, Panathinaikos, whose leaders will distinguish his virtues in the ball and will promote him with the aim of one day joining the first team, in which Linoxylakis, Panakis, Theofanis and several other aces of the time were in the middle. However, his passion for acting will interrupt his career in football and his love for the ball. He will enter the Drama School of the National Theater, where he will graduate in 1958.
Top Butcher
He will immediately join the theatrical group Lampetis-Horn and will play in the play “The Lady with the Camellias”, where he will be baptized on the board. In 1960 Dalianidis will impose him on “Katiforos” despite the initial refusal of Finos, while next year he will play in the romantic drama “I Orgi” directed by Vassilis Georgiadis. In 1964 he will be happy to star in one of the best Greek drama films of the old cinema, the famous “Lola” next to the great Jenny Karezis and directed by Dinos Dimopoulos. A drama, which put the viewer of the commercial cinema, for the first time in the universe of the underworld and Trump, together with the film “The Red Lanterns”. Strong interpretation by Kourkoulos, in the role of a prisoner, who for reasons of principle will have to face his past and a man of the night, but also for the love of the attractive Lola. Detail but not insignificant, the manorial butcher, dancing with Karezi and Ferma, in the amazing music written by Xarchakos. Shortly before, he had made a few comedies and comedies, with the most famous “Athens Good Morning” and “The Main Mayor”, without showing anything special other than its beauty.
The first prize
In 1965 he will win his first Award for Best Actor at the Thessaloniki Festival, for his performance in the harsh social drama of Dinos Katsouridis “Unscrupulous”. Kourkoulos plays the leading role of a criminal who exploits the naivete of poor people who want to emigrate while looking for his lost mother. An interesting film that, despite the familiar exaggerations of Foskolos in the script, highlights the anxiety of the poor in Greece for a better future abroad and exploitation by various circles.
“Western” and social complaint
In 1966 he will star in three commercial successes written by Nikos Foskolos. In “Soil Painted Red”, directed by Vassilis Georgiadis, one of the first Greek westerns, against the backdrop of the Thessalian plain and the struggles of the farmers against the tsiflikades. He will also play in the high-profile social drama “Society Hour Zero”, directed by Dinos Dimopoulos, as well as in the court drama “I Blame the People”, in the role of a full-fledged prosecutor.
Astrapogiannos
The ’70s will come with “Astrapogiannos”, another Greek western, directed by Nikos Tzimas, with which Kourkoulos again won the Award for Best Actor at the Thessaloniki Film Festival, while the film was screened abroad. For the next ten years he will star in the films “Abuse of Power”, “With Fear and Passion”, “The Enemy of the People”, “The Trial of Judges”, “A Laughing Afternoon”, “Danger Exit” and “The Dam”, in which he made his last appearance in the cinema.
Dedicated to the theater
During these 20 years he never left the theater, to which he devoted himself completely in the 80’s, playing important roles, founding together with his first wife Melita Koutsogianni his own theatrical roof (Theater K) and ending his career in 1993 playing ” Philoktiti “in Epidaurus. Next year he will take over the reins of the National Theater, to which he will dedicate himself and take initiatives, founding the Experimental Stage, the Actors’ Workshop and the Children’s Stage.
Back to Zografou …
In 1986 he met Marianna Latsi in Epidaurus, with whom they fell in love and finally got married in 2003. Kourkoulos will have four children, two with his first wife (1966) Melita and two with Mariana Latsi.
He will die at the age of 73, while his funeral will take place in the cemetery of Zografou, where as a child he began to know the hardships of life, to kick the ball, to love his team and the girls. Where the passion of acting entered him and brought to Greece the phenomenon “Kourkoulos”.
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