Aliki Vougiouklaki

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since December 2011. It may contain wording that merely promotes the subject without imparting verifiable information. Tagged since September 2009.

Aliki Vougiouklaki (Greek: Αλίκη Βουγιουκλάκη; July 20, 1934 - July 23, 1996) was a Greek actress. She is considered as one of the most popular and successful actresses of Greek cinema.

Biography

Aliki Stamatina Vougiouklaki was born in Marousi, Athens Prefecture. She had two brothers, Takis (film director) and Antonis (an architect). Her father was killed during the Greek Civil War.^{[citation needed]}

As a student Aliki regularly took part in school plays which eventually led her to dream of an acting career. She attended classes in the National Theatre of Greece and started to act professional while still a student. News papers and magazines soon started to praise her acting ability, which lead swiftly to her first lead role in the 1953 movie The Little Mouse (To Pontikaki).

Career

Aliki Vougiouklaki.

She appeared in 42 movies, mostly musicals, and in a wide variety of television programs, theatre and stage productions. In the 1960s she collaborated with Dimitris Papamichail in a number of popular movies. The popular celebrity couple married in the 1960s, but divorced in 1975. She received the prize for lead woman's role at the inaugural Greek Cinema Festival in Thessaloniki in 1960 for her starring role in the movie "Mantalena". Her first film was Nikos Tsiforos' "The little Mouse", followed by scores of other popular dramatic and comic films.

Her film I Aliki sto Naftiko (Aliki in the Navy) sold more than 590,000 tickets. In 1962 she wrote the script for Finos Films, Aliki my love, which premiered in London and Athens in 1964, but was a total flop. This was the first and final attempt to become an international movie star.

She was popularly known in press as the "National star of Greece"^[1] - the term first used by journalist Eleni Vlahou.^[2] In 1970 came her biggest success with the film Ipolochagos Natassa, about a young Greek woman who lost her husband during the Second World War. The film sold more than 750,000 tickets.

Family

On June 4, 1969, Aliki gave birth to her only child, Yiannis Papamichail.

Eventually her relationship with her husband, Dimitris Papamichail, became troubled. She shot her next film S'Agapo (I love you) without Papamichail, her usual co-star; in 1974 the couple filed for divorce.

Later career

Aliki continued to play in films and in 1981 she appeared for the last time on the big screen. She would make only stage appearances thereafter.

Death

She died on July 23, 1996 in Athens from liver cancer. Her funeral was attended by thousands of her fans. She was buried at First Cemetery of Athens.

I Have A Secret

In 2008, her son published a biography of Vougiouklaki under the title Eho Ena Mistiko (I Have A Secret) which was also the title of a song the actress sang in one of her films called 'To Xilo Vgike apo to Paradiso'. The book was a best seller^{[citation needed]} though it raised a lot of controversy in the media, as to whether it should have been published or not.

In the same year a television series based on the book, aired on Alpha TV channel. Made on a relatively low budget^{[citation needed]}, the series became rather controversial and was unsuccessful. Most of Vougiouklaki's fans, including journalists and artists^[who?], stated that it was too early to produce a TV series based on Vougiouglaki's life, considering that she died in 1996. The lead actress of the series, Katerina Papoutsaki was generally mocked by fans and many critics^[who?] and her portrayal did not receive favourable reviews^{[citation needed]}.

Trivia

• Chtipokardia sto thranio (1963) was shot simultaneously in Greek and Turkish, with two different crews. Aliki starred in both versions, with her voice being dubbed in the Turkish version, Siralardaki heyecanlar.
• The film, Ipolochagos Natassa (1970) sold 751,000 tickets in Athens, which made it the most successful film in Greece, a record held for almost three decades.
• Laurence Olivier stated about her portrayal of Eva Perón in the Rice-Webber musical Evita (1981): "the best Evita I have seen".^{[citation needed]}
• She worked with writer Willy Russell when she performed in Shirley Valentine onstage in 1989.

External links

• Aliki Vougiouklaki at the Internet Movie Database
• Cine.gr - Aliki Vougiouklaki (in Greek)
• To Taxidi-Aliki Vougiouklaki

References

1. ^ "Aliki Vouyouklaki", an article in Britannica
2. ^ "Extras, a page from alikivougiouklaki.us website