(photo by Vangelis Rassias)

Greek actor Spiros Fokas, with an internationally acclaimed career in cinema, passed away today at the age of 86.

Born in Patras as Spyros Androutsopoulos, as was his real name, on August 17, 1937, Spiros Fokas made his first appearances on the big screen in 1959, standing out with his presence – since then he has participated in dozens of productions in Greece & abroad.

One of his first roles was in “Matomeno Iliovasilema” by Andreas Lambrinos. The film was then screened at the Cannes Film Festival and was the starting point for his international career – a career that established him as one of the most talented actors, but also the most handsome in the field, not only in Greek films, but also in the European post-war cinema.

A year after “Matomeno Iliovasilema”, he played in “Rocco and his brothers” by Luchino Visconti, as well as in “Via Margutta” – both Italian productions.

In 1977, Vincente Minnelli gave him, after an audition, a role opposite his daughter Lisa, Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer in “A Matter of Time”, and soon after he played opposite Kirk Douglas in “Holocaust 2000”.

Several films and hits later, Hollywood invited him to Morocco for the 1985 action comedy The Jewel of the Nile, where he played an Arab tycoon alongside Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny de Vito. Since then he had roles in other major American productions, such as “Rambo 3” with Sylvester Stallone.

Throughout his film career, Fokas acted in over 30 films, most of them in Italy and America, and it is worth mentioning that he appeared in several well-known theater productions abroad. His presence on Greek television was also worth noting, since he had roles in several drama TV series.