The Greek who discovered the "star" of Pacino, De Niro and Hoffman

His relationship with Jane Fonda and his career in London, Paris and New York

wkel 000voutsinas 1312x819 Jill Dassen, Theatrical Performances, Theater, Karolos Koon, London, Marlon Brando, Melina Mercouri, Broadway, New York, Paris, Robert De Niro, director

An exuberant personality and an artist who sparked heated discussions both around the work and around his face, Andreas Voutsinas was athyrostomic, eccentric, combative and created both dislikes and sympathies, while attracting in his own way of expression the public to his works.

He spent the first years of his life in a multiracial environment, which certainly determined to a large extent his personality.

Born in 1932 in Khartoum, Sudan, Africa, to Kefalonian parents, Andreas Voutsinas was one of the biggest names in Greek directing. theater and not only.

She studied acting and costume design at Old Vic in London, attended Webber Douglas School of Dramatic Art and Singing in New York, and attended Lee Strasberg School.

His biography includes more than 130 directors in performances of classical and modern repertoire in London, Canada, New York, Broadway, Paris and Greece. He has collaborated with internationally renowned actors such as Jane Fonda, Warren Beatty, Irene Pappas, Marlon Brando, James Dean and others, while there were many Greek actors and directors who considered him a real teacher and a unique talent.

In fact, the much-loved actress Zoe Laskari, making a flashback to her career in 2011, remembered the people who helped her in her first steps and the key stations of this course, including Andreas Voutsinas. More specifically for the internationally renowned director had said that "Andreas Voutsinas acrobatized between method and instinct and did not abandon the actor".

Life in Greece without his father

wkelp 6 Jill Dassen, Theatrical Performances, Theater, Carlos Koon, London, Marlon Brando, Melina Mercouri, Broadway, New York, Paris, Robert de Niro, director

Little Andreas came to Greece with his mother in 1937, as his father had stayed back in Sudan. He finished school in Athens, during which he encountered several problems. He was diagnosed with dyslexia, while he was also left-handed, "unacceptable" for the time, with his teachers throwing enough wood at him to learn to write with the "right" hand.

His mother adored him and made him believe that he was the best in the whole world, while letting his imagination run wild without restricting it at all. She even told him that "it does not matter if you lie, lies are fantasy. "Just be careful not to lie to yourself, because that's sick."

He loved the theater from a very young age, as his mother took him everywhere from a very early age and so he was lucky enough to attend representations with Katerina Andreadi, Melina Mercouri, Elli Lampeti, Karolos Koun and others. He got on the board for the first time when he was still in the scouts, making the child who was carrying the suitcases in a show starring Elli Lampeti.

Studying in London and relocating to New York

wkelp 9698 Jill Dassen, Theatrical Performances, Theater, Carlos Koon, London, Marlon Brando, Melina Mercouri, Broadway, New York, Paris, Robert de Niro, director

He finished school in Athens, while he was Charles Kun the one who gave him the impetus and motivation in the early 50s to take the Old Vic drama school entrance exams at London. With the little English he knew and with the monologue of Richard II that Koon taught him, he managed to be included among the 12 successful students who entered the school, among a total of 12.000 students who registered.

Although his English was not at the desired level, they did not stand in the way of his subsequent development in the field. His teachers were particularly pleased and encouraged him to join the Shakespeare Festival in Canada (usually taking only English actors).

In 1954 he arrived at News York, where he would leave his mark there as well. He attended classes at Lee Strasberg School, a school that prepared candidates for the Actor's exams. In order to make a living he was willing to do any job, while when he worked as a taxi driver he spent many nights picking and eating popcorn from the floor, in order not to go fasting.

His exams were a great success with Elias Kazan, a Greek-born director with a long career on Broadway and Hollywood, characteristically declaring Voutsinas "I do not know if he will become a director or an actor, but he will certainly not go unnoticed."

With his talent and method, he managed to become a teacher and a lifelong member of Actor's Studio, whose acting lessons were attended or collaborated with by big names in cinema such as Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda and others.

In fact, he is the man who gave the "green light" to the newcomers then Robert de Niro, Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman to become actors, with the former arousing more interest. His debut at Broadway she did it with a show starring Jane Fonda. From the great loves in his life, which lasted for three years.

His contribution to the Paris theater, his award by the French state and his return to Greece

wkelp 780523069 Jill Dassen, Theatrical Performances, Theater, Carlos Koon, London, Marlon Brando, Melina Mercouri, Broadway, New York, Paris, Robert de Niro, director

A few years later he founded a theater school in Paris, with one of his unforgettable successes for the French public, the play "Miss Julia" starring Fanny Ardant. In fact, the French state awarded him four times for his contribution to the theater. Among the honors are the highest title "Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres", as well as the title "Chevalier de Merite".

He returns to Greece at the urging of his old friend Nonika Galineas, who brought him to Athens for the show "Every year such a day". A few years later, Jules Dassen asks him to play in "Women Scream" next to Melina Mercury. The positive answer seemed like a one-way street as for Andreas Voutsinas Melina "was alien. It was something that has come from another world ", as he characteristically confessed to Giannis Exarchos and in the show" Vathos Pediou ".

His point of view is quite praiseworthy Jules Dassen for Andreas Voutsinas as he characterized him as an excellent director. "In every country, the theatrical establishment is influenced by a select group of directors. "Greece has Andreas Voutsinas among its chosen ones", the great director and philhellene had said characteristically.

During his stay in Greece he collaborated with the Athens and Epidaurus Festival, the KTHBE, the National Theater, the Experimental Stage of "Art", the DIPETHE of Kalamata, the Thessalian Theater and with many troupes of the free theater.

Although a great director, he never accepted this characterization, as he said "the great one gives me the impression that I am finished, that I can not do other things".

His view of the theater was simple and, in fact, had been formed from a young age. The moment the fairy tale came true and the truth still remained a fairy tale, it was etched in his memory from the first theatrical performance he attended. In fact, this is the element he was looking for in all the jobs he did.

"If somewhere theater does not become a fairy tale for adults, it will become a brain experience that can be forgotten very easily. "If I do not find the child in the adult I think I have failed."

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