Acting
Dec 31, 1918
Heraklio, Greece
Aleka Paizi
Acting
Biography
Aleka Paizi (Greek: Αλέκα Παΐζη, Heraklion, Crete, 1919 - Athens, 4 February 2009) was a Greek actress. She studied at the Drama School of the National Theatre. Her family was financially comfortable, as her father was a tobacco manufacturer and experienced difficult times when he lost his business. She made her theatre debut in 1941, playing Susanna in Carlo Goldoni's Fan, on the Main Stage of the National Theatre. In 1945 and 1946 she participated in the theatre group "United Artists", which was founded by order of the KKE as the cultural arm of the party. In 1946, she formed a troupe with Dimos Starenios and Tito Vandis, her first husband. She collaborated with the troupe of Kostas Mousouris, Katerina, Elsa Vergi and others. From 1963 to 1966, she performed various roles in plays by the State Theatre of Northern Greece. She made her film debut in 1957, in the film Barba-Yiannis, the juggler. She also played in the films O Mimikos kai imairi by Grigorios Xenopoulos, To paid tou dromo by T. Aliferis, Synikoia to oneiro by Alekos Alexandrakis, etc. Abroad, she worked in Italian cinema. She also appeared on television, most famously in the role of Chrysostomi in Pantheoi by Tasos Athanasiadis, directed by Vasilis Georgiadis. On 28 November 1994, at an event of the Hellenic Theatre Study and Research Centre, she was awarded the "Marika Kotopouli" award for her overall contribution. In 2008, she participated in the exhibition and corresponding photographic album of nude portraits entitled "White Book" by photographer Takis Diamantopoulos. Aleka Paizi was also a leftist activist: she participated in the National Resistance during the Occupation, through EAM and the KKE, she passed through Makronissos, Trikeri, and was arrested several times. After the declaration of the dictatorship in April 1967, she fled abroad. Returning to Greece after the Revolution, she collaborated with Leonidas Trivizas's People's Experimental Theatre, with Manos Katrakis, with Karolos Koun's "Karolos Koun" Art Theatre, etc. She died on 4 February 2009, after a long health crisis, about a month before her starring role in "Moonlight Sonata", a stage adaptation of the poem by Yannis Ritsos, having served the theatre for more than 60 years. She was buried in the Second Cemetery of Athens, in a family grave.
Feature Films (19)
Sylvia, an industrial scientist, is troubled by strange hallucinations related to the tragic suicide of her mother.
The Perfume of the Lady in Black
The inhabitants of Praxos, a mountain village in an occupied country, organize their own resistance to the oppressor. Faced with reprisals, they decide that every hour a man will cross the bridge that is the population's only supply route. The action, which results in the death of all those taking part, continues until dawn on the third day.
Dawn on the Third Day
The tragic story of a couple that upset Athenian society at the end of the 19th century. Michail Mimikos (Andreas Barkoulis) is a doctor in the Greek army, and Mary Weber (Aliki Vougiouklaki) is an upper-class girl. The two want to get married, but Mary’s parents want her to marry a rich man. When Mimikos leaves abruptly for Nauplion for professional reasons, he writes her a letter which she never gets, leading to tragic consequences...
Mimikos and Mary
A poor neighborhood of Athens, Asyrmatos, is the center of the world for the people who live there and try in every way to escape from poverty and destitution. A handsome released youth, Ricos (Alekos Alexandrakis), is trying to make money, at the same time that his lover, Stefi (Aliki Georgoulis), is seeing other men and her father, Nekrophoras (Manos Katrakis), is trying to contribute in family finances. Rico will set up a job, but will spend the money raised before he can put it into action. As a result, one of his "partners" (Alekos Petsos) will commit suicide, leaving his pregnant wife, Eleni (Aleka Paizis), to her fate. Rikos, his beloved and her father, defeated and disappointed because of the expectations that were never fulfilled, will be forced to come to terms with the harsh reality.
Synoikia to Oneiro
Television & Series (4)
A woman who did not experience a carefree youth. A romance that arrived unexpectedly, at the wrong time. When she attempts to make up for lost time and reclaim the life she never lived, she must pay the price. The series' protagonist—a Greek refugee from Odessa—married a much older man at sixteen and had a son with him. He constantly cheated on her and eventually left her for a younger woman. She raised her son on her own and, now forty-five, has finally got her life in order.
