KAKOYANNIS, Michael, Greek film and stage director and actor; b. 11 June, 1921, Limassol, Cyprus; s. of the late Sir Panayotis and of Lady Cacoyannis; brother of Mrs. Stella Sourlioti, q.v.; ed. Greek Gymnasium, and London at Gray's Inn, Central School of Dramatic Art and Old Vic School; called to the Bar 1943; Producer for Overseas Service of BBC 1941-50; Acting career 1946 - 1951; screen and stage producer 1953.
Stage appearances include : Wilde's Salome as Herod 1947, in Camus's Caligula 1949, in Two Dozen Red Roses 1949, etc.
Directed films: Windfall in Athens 1953, Stella 1955, A Girl in Black 1957, A Matter of Dignity 1958, Our Last Spring 1959, The Wastrel 1960, Electra 1961, Zorba the Greek 1964, The Day the Fish Came Out 1967, The Trojan Women 1971, The Story of Jacob and Joseph 1974, Attila '74 1975, Iphigenia 1977, Sweet Country 1986, Up, Down and Sideways 1992, The Cherry Orchard 1999.
Stage Productions (Plays N.Y.:) The Trojan Women, N.Y. 1964, Things that go Bump in the night 1965, The Devils 1966, Iphigenia in Aulis 1968, Lysistrata 1972, The Bacchae 1980, Zorba (Musical) 1983-86,
Dir. Oedipus Rex (Abbey Theatre Dublin);
(Dir plays Paris) The Trojan Women 1965, Romeo and Juliet 1968, 7 + 7 1970, The Bacchae 1977;
Dir plays Greece incl: Miss Margarita 1975, The Glass Menagerie 1977, Antony and Cleopatra 1979, The Three Sisters 1981, Electra 1983, Naked 1989, Henceforward 1990, The Trojan Women 1995, Master Class, Athens 1998, Chapter Two, 2002, Hamlet, National Theatre, Athens 2003,
Medea, Spain 2001 - 2002 Lysistrata, Athens 2005, Coriolanus, Athens 2005 - 2006
Publications: (In Greek:) Translations of four Shakespearean tragedies; Antony and Cleopatra (1979), Hamlet (1985), Coriolanus (1990). Othello (2001). In Other Words, a collection of essays (1990), Stella, a screenplay (1990), Euripides' The Trojan Women into modern Greek (1995).
In English: The Trojan Women, the screenplay, Bantam books, New York (1971), The Bacchae, Introduction to and translation of the Euripides play, New York Library, 1982, Penguin USA.
Honours
- Order of the Golden Phoenix (Greece)
- Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres (France)
- Doctor of Arts (Columbia College, Chicago)
- Honorary Citizen (Limassol, Cyprus)
- Honorary Citizen (Montpellier, France)
- Honorary Citizen (Dallas, Texas)
- Life Achievement Award (Salonica Festival, 1995)
- Honoured by the Greek Academy with its highest award for national services (1995)
- Special Grand Prix of the Americas - Montreal 1999.
- Phidippides Award (New York 1999)
- Life Achievement Award (Jerusalem Film Festival 2000)
- Life Achievement Award (Cairo Film Festival 2002)
- Honorary Doctorate (Athens University) 2002
- Honorary Doctorate (University of Cyprus) 2003
- Honorary Doctorate (University of Salonica) 2005
- Grand Cross / Order of Makarios 3rd 2006
