Michael Cacoyannis

About Michael Cacoyannis

Who is it?: Film Director
Birth Day: June 11, 1921
Birth Place: Limassol, Cyprus, Greek
Died On: 25 July 2011(2011-07-25) (aged 90)\nAthens, Greece
Birth Sign: Cancer
Other names: Michael Yannis
Occupation: Film director
Years active: 1954–1999
Website: Michael Cacoyannis Foundation

Michael Cacoyannis Net Worth

Michael Cacoyannis was born on June 11, 1921 in Limassol, Cyprus, Greek, is Film Director. Michael Cacoyannis was a distinguished Greek Cypriot film director, producer and screenwriter considered as one of the prominent torch bearers of Greek cinema in the international platform. He was most noted for the film ‘Zorba the Greek’ (‘Alexis Zorbas’) made in 1964 that drew international audience to Greek cinema. The film bagged several nominations including seven ‘Academy Awards’, of which it won three; one ‘Grammy Award’; five ‘Golden Globe Award’; and four ‘BAFTA’ awards. He was also a director of operas and stage plays that included a 1983 musical version of the ‘Zorba the Greek’. Several of his works were based on classical books, particularly the ones from the Greek tragedian Euripides. Over the years he had delivered a number of remarkable films that were both critically acclaimed and also garnered commercial success. Some notable films of Cacoyannis included ‘Windfall in Athens’ (‘Kyriakatiko xypnima’), ‘Stella’, ‘A Girl in Black’ (‘To koritsi me ta mavra’), ‘A Matter of Dignity’ (‘To telefteo psemma’), ‘Electra’, ‘The Wastrel’ (‘Il Relitto’) and ‘Iphigenia’. Among other awards and achievements he earned five ‘Academy Awards’ nominations, a record in itself for any Cypriot film personality. These included three for ‘Zorba the Greek’ for Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director; and one each in the category of Foreign Language Film for ‘Iphigenia’ and ‘Electra’.
Michael Cacoyannis is a member of Film & Theater Personalities

💰 Net worth: Under Review

Some Michael Cacoyannis images

Biography/Timeline

1921

Cacoyannis was born in 1921 in Limassol, Cyprus. His father, Sir Panayotis Loizou Cacoyannis, had been knighted in 1936 by the United Kingdom government for public services in Cyprus. His sister was the Politician Stella Soulioti.

1939

In 1939, he was sent by his father to London to become a Lawyer. He graduated from law school and joined the BBC World Service, soon taking charge of its new Cyprus Service. His deputy was Beba Clerides, sister of the RAF fighter pilot and Future President of Cyprus, Glafkos Clerides. However, after producing Greek-language programs for the BBC World Service during World War II, he ended up at the Old Vic school, and enjoyed a brief stage career there under the name Michael Yannis before he began working on films. After having trouble finding a directing job in the British film industry, Cacoyannis moved to Greece, and in 1953 he made his first film, Windfall in Athens.

1959

He was offered the chance to direct Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando in the film Reflections in a Golden Eye, but he declined. Between 1959 and 1967, he was in a relationship with Yael Dayan, a progressive Israeli Politician and author. Cacoyannis translated some of Shakespeare's plays Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus and Hamlet into Greek, and Euripides' play The Bacchae into English.

2011

Michael Cacoyannis died on 25 July 2011 in Athens, aged 90.