It is, without the slightest doubt, one of the most emblematic forms of Greek theater and cinema. His face, his voice and in general his whole presence was imposing. Maybe all this was caused by how great an actor he was. Perhaps again the respect with which he almost forced you to look at him and treat him was a consequence of the extremely difficult life he had lived.
Ο Manos Katrakis he had all the brilliance that an actor of his own size can have, however, by the time he reached the top he had to climb an extremely difficult path. Full of obstacles. He lived poverty in his own skin, long before he impersonated the poor in theater or cinema. He experienced the political persecutions in the Xeronis, before transferring all these sufferings to the theater. Manos Katrakis lived his roles before playing them.
He had to sell his costumes to make a living. He had a file on security which… was enriched with data against him for 35 whole years. None of this, however, prevented Manos Katrakis from conquering the top.
The birth of a star
In August 1909 in Chania, Crete, the fifth child of the merchant Charalambos Katrakis and his wife Irini was born. Before he turned 10, little Manos and his family moved to Athens because his father's business was not going well and there was hope that in the capital this would change. The difficulties, however, began when it turned out that this was not easy. Manos suddenly finds himself almost alone in taking care of his family, as his father was missing all day while his older brother immigrated to America.
Nevertheless, Manos starts to deal with things that he likes. Initially he plays football on an amateur level. But he quickly realizes that his great love is the theater. Before she even turned 18, she made her theatrical debut with the troupe "Oi Neoi" in the play "For her love". It is the work that opens the door to cinema for him as his rare talent makes him stand out. He is located by the director Costas Leloudas and the following year, in 1928, he played the first silent film: "The banner of 21 '".
Before even World war II, Katrakis has started and is laying a solid foundation in his career while he is also married to the actress Anna Lori. He makes great collaborations with the Theater of Mitsos Myrat and Marika Kotopouli, while he is also hired at the then newly established National Theater.
World War II, poverty, misery and gambling
And while everything seemed to be going as I wanted and Manos Katrakis was waiting for it, the outbreak of the greatest war that humanity has ever known is coming to overthrow everything. The Greek-Italian war finds Katrakis at the front. The German invasion and the collapse of the front, brings him back to Athens, integrated in the lines of the National Liberation Front, the EAM.
No matter how good an actor Katrakis was, he could not escape the great famine of the winter of 1941. Hunger is reaping and Katrakis is trying to find a way to secure a plate of food. There are no jobs and so he is forced to sell even his costumes to bring money to his family (in the meantime he is divorced and married for the second time).
Manos Katrakis himself in his biography (Cactus publications) tells Alexis Komninos in those difficult days: "Things were very difficult. The salary of the National Theater had become equal for a plate of food. When it comes to feeding, mother, sister, pregnant woman. My wife finally had an eight-month miscarriage, she had twins. We started selling what we had. They are over too. Now;…
I had some suits because I was a bit of a fanatic and I went and sold them myself, since the traffickers took as much as they could. On Athinas Street, outside the power station, it was the bazaar of buying and selling at that time. So I would go and hold the suit in my hands and wait for the customer to come and buy it. You see in the junk shops they took half of what I had. Once it was time to sell a suit that I loved very much. It was my best. It was sewn for me by a tailor, Zofakis, who had come from Paris and Minotis also sewed on it. So I go to Athenas Street, I stand and wait. Sometimes someone approaches me at a good time and says to me: - Mr. Katraki, are you selling it? - I sell it. Can't you see it? To be here and keep it goes to say how I sell it. - Do you want to come with me?
He takes me and takes me to a club in Omonia. I had no dealings with clubs. I say what will we do in the club? - is someone who will buy your suit. Not to mention we went, we found the man, he did not want such a suit because it was too thin, he asked me if I had any other Scottish. I used to have. He told me to give it to him the next day. "I went the next day and got the suit."
This acquaintance "put" Katrakis in the world of gambling. At first, as he narrates, he was allowed to win, however, then the "bleeding" began. Katrakis quickly understands what is happening and escapes the mud. He is looking for an honest job to boost his income. It sells fish for about four months.
The war is over but not the difficulties. Katrakis returns dynamically to the theater, but his communist ideology, combined with his unwavering stance, puts him on new adventures.
The "unrepentant communist" and the file 20822
According to what we know, Katrakis' file in the Security opens in 1942 and does not stop filling until the fall of the junta of colonels. State authorities are asking Katrakis to sign a statement of remorse. In 1947 the time of exile and persecution had come. The more Katrakis insists, the more revenge the state becomes against him.
The sequel is known. Ikaria, Makronisos, Ai Stratis, for seven whole years. And there, however, Katrakis continues to fight. She comes in contact with Giannis Ritsos, him Menelaos Lountemi and others. In his file there is also the "Greeting of the Exiles" from "St. Efstration "to the" Second Peace Conference ". In 1950, the exiles in Ai Stratis had sent a text to the UN entitled "Peace is worth all its substance"!
In the biography of the great actor there is a shocking dialogue with his mother, from those difficult years of exile and persecution.
- What is Manoli?
- Do you want me to come home, mother?
- How will you come?
- I will sign and I will come
- Inda to sign?
- Statement
- Inda statement?
- That I am not what I am…
- And you are not?
- I am
- Do not sign, cheat, do not sign…
Katrakis returns to Athens in 1952 but the post-war state reserves a warm welcome. All the doors are closed and the great actor has few opportunities to do what he wants. He occasionally works in radio and manages to get some small roles in the theater. Gradually, however, with his insistence, he began to establish himself again, although in essence, until the fall of the junta, he did not cease to be a target for the state.