Acting
Jun 20, 1936
Athens, Greece
Kostas Karras
Acting
Biography
Kostas Karras (Athens, 21 June 1936 – 6 May 2012) was a Greek actor and politician. He studied Political Science in London and acting at the National Theatre's Drama School. He was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Arts in London. In 1963 he graduated from the Pelos Katselis Drama School and the same year made his debut in Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap. At that time, he began his successful collaboration with Ellie Lampeti, with whom he was in a relationship, and appeared, among others, in works such as Neil Simon's "Barefoot in the Park" (in the role of Paul Parker) and Tennessee Williams's Bus Stop (in the role of Kowalski). Since then, he has created his own theatrical groups and achieved personal success in Nikolai Gogol's Diary of a Madman and Noel Coward's The Evil Spirit (as Charles). His contribution as an actor to Greek cinema is significant, where he first appeared in 1961. However, his best film appearance is considered to be the role of Menelaus in Michael Cacoyannis' Iphigenia (1977). On Greek television, he starred with great success in many series. From 2000 to 2007, he was a member of the Greek Parliament with the New Democracy party. He was honorary president of Smile of the Child since 1994. He organized the first international fundraiser for the victims of the Bosnian War. He repeatedly gave performances to support vulnerable social groups. He was awarded by many organizations and associations for his social and humanitarian action (Lions, Smile of the Child, Municipalities and Communities). Since July 2000 he was responsible for the Cultural Movement branch of the New Democratic Party of Greece, cultural associations and the finances of Culture. In the 1994-1996 season he participated in the series Our Father in the role of Kostas Stergiou on ANT1. He died of cancer on May 6, 2012, at the age of 75 and was buried in the First Cemetery of Athens. He left behind his wife, Angeliki Baroutsou, with whom he had been married since 1965 and they had a son, Vasilis. His wife died of a heart attack on December 27, 2023.
Feature Films (39)
The Greek army is about to set sail to a great battle, but the winds refuse to blow. Their leader, King Agamemnon, seeks to provide better food, but accidentally slays a sacred deer. His punishment from the gods, the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia.
Iphigenia
The disabled Marina (Anna Fonsou) learns with joy that a childhood friend of hers (Phaedon Georgitsis) has returned to Greece as a brilliant doctor, after many years of studying abroad. She remembers the moments they lived, as well as the way another friend of hers (Kostas Karras) and her aunt (Rita Mousouri) pushed them away. Their meeting will dispel the clouds and even give the disabled girl a hope for a cure.
Bitter life
The strict and formal director Lila Vassiliou has under her orders all the staff of the technical office of which she takes over the management, but at the same time, she is looking to find ways of charm to conquer the lively sub-engineer Alekos Samiotakis.
Miss Manager
A volunteer from a World War II-era Greek resistance group agrees to seduce a German officer in order to gain secrets
The Mediterranean In Flames
The plain of Thessaly, 1910. The tenant farmers suffer untold hardships, both from the Arvanites invaders who ravage and seize their possessions and from the chief landlord of the area Stratos Karatzas, who claims the lion’s share of their harvest. The dynamic daughter of one of the tenant farmers, Maya, who is about to get married to a young farmer, Lefteris, leads their struggle for better conditions and confronts Karatzas – as well as his niece Vgenio, who also wants Lefteris. The latter plots and succeeds to separate them. Lefteris leaves for the army and Karatzas persuades Maya to marry him. Lefteris is captured during an ambush set by the Turks, but in the end he is set free and returns to Maya’s arms forever.
