"Stella go away, I'm holding a knife." This is one of the most famous episodes of Greek cinema.
Giorgos Fountas said it in the movie "Stella", where he co-starred with Melina Mercouri, under the direction of Michalis Kakogiannis.
The director had mentioned about Fountas: "When I saw them together, I knew that she would ideally bring to life Miltos, the beast she needed in her stature, leventia and knife".
The first impression of Michalis Kakogiannis proved to be correct, since Fountas after his interpretation, was identified in the public consciousness with manhood and youth.
"Stella" was not the first film of the actor.
George Fountas appeared in the cinema in the role of accomplice, in 1944 in the film "Applause".
In total he took part in almost 50 films.
The most famous are: "Never on Sunday", "The Red Lanterns", "The Bastard", "Alexis Zorbas", "Trump '67" and others.
Elias Kazan's internationally acclaimed film, "America America" also stands out.
The road to 007
The foreign language film "Never on Sunday", in which Fountas played in 1960, his paved the way for an international career and made him known abroad.
The performance of the actor was so liked by foreign producers that, when Sean Connery decided to stop incarnating James Bond, they suggested to Founta that he replace him.
The proposal, which other actors dreamed of, left Founta almost indifferent and at first thought of rejecting her.
Philopimen Finos, through whose company the proposal was made, finally persuaded him to accept and do the necessary trials.
Fundas and George Leisenby were left at the end of the audition.
The Greek actor lost the role of the most famous film agent at the last minute, because he told the producers that he would not have time to learn English until the shooting started.
Then the protagonist always prevailed to be British, but in the early 60's this unwritten rule did not apply yet.
Source: Time Machine