Katina Paxinou
Encyclopedia
Katina Paxinou was a Greek film and theatre
actress.
, Greece, she trained as an opera
singer, and appeared in the operatic version of Maeterlinck's "Sister Beatrice," with a score by Dimitri Mitropoulos, but changed career and joined the Greek Royal Theater
in 1929. According to her bio in Playbill (1942), Paxinou was disowned by her family after she decided to seek a permanent stage career. Paxinou distinguished herself on the stage. In Greece, she translated and appeared in the first of Eugene O'Neill's plays to be seen in Greece, "Desire Under the Elms." In Greece she also appeared in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Strindberg's Father. In 1932, she became the star of Athens's Theatre Royal, where she worked for nine years. When World War II
broke out, Paxinou was performing in London. Unable to return to Greece, she emigrated to the United States, where she had earlier appeared in 1931, performing Clytemnestra in a modern Greek version of Electra.
, winning an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
. She continued appearing in Hollywood films until 1949. She made one British film as well, the 1947 film version of Uncle Silas
, starring Jean Simmons
. She played mother to Tyrone Power
in Prince of Foxes
in 1949. After 1949, Paxinou returned to Hollywood only once more, to play, again, a gypsy woman, this time in the 1959 Technicolor
religious epic
, The Miracle.
In 1950, Paxinou resumed her stage career. In her native Greece, she formed the Royal Theatre of Athens with Alexis Minotis
, her principal director and her husband since 1940.
Paxinou made several appearances on the Broadway
stage and television as well. She played Hedda Gabler for 12 performances at New York City's Longacre Theatre, opening on June 28, 1942. She also played the lead role in the first production in English of Federico Garcia Lorca
's The House of Bernarda Alba, at the ANTA Playhouse in New York in 1951, and a BBC
production of Lorca's Blood wedding (Bodas de sangre
), broadcast on June 2, 1959.
in Athens, Greece in 1973 at the age of 72. She was survived by her husband, and her one daughter from her first marriage to Ioannis Paxinos, whose surname she had been using after their divorce. Her remains are buried at First Cemetery of Athens
.
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
actress.
Early life
Born Aikaterini (Catherine) Konstantopoulou in PiraeusPiraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
, Greece, she trained as an opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer, and appeared in the operatic version of Maeterlinck's "Sister Beatrice," with a score by Dimitri Mitropoulos, but changed career and joined the Greek Royal Theater
National Theatre of Greece
The National Theatre of Greece is based in Athens, Greece.-History:The theatre was originally founded in 1880 with a grant from King George I and Efstratios Rallis to give theatre a permanent home in Athens...
in 1929. According to her bio in Playbill (1942), Paxinou was disowned by her family after she decided to seek a permanent stage career. Paxinou distinguished herself on the stage. In Greece, she translated and appeared in the first of Eugene O'Neill's plays to be seen in Greece, "Desire Under the Elms." In Greece she also appeared in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya and Strindberg's Father. In 1932, she became the star of Athens's Theatre Royal, where she worked for nine years. When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
broke out, Paxinou was performing in London. Unable to return to Greece, she emigrated to the United States, where she had earlier appeared in 1931, performing Clytemnestra in a modern Greek version of Electra.
Career
She was selected to play "Pilar" in the 1943 film For Whom the Bell TollsFor Whom the Bell Tolls (film)
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 film in Technicolor based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. It stars Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff and Katina Paxinou. This was Ingrid Bergman's first technicolor film. Hemingway handpicked Cooper and Bergman for their roles. The film...
, winning an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year....
. She continued appearing in Hollywood films until 1949. She made one British film as well, the 1947 film version of Uncle Silas
Uncle Silas
Uncle Silas is a Victorian Gothic mystery-thriller novel by the Irish writer J. Sheridan Le Fanu. It is notable as one of the earliest examples of the locked room mystery subgenre...
, starring Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons
Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE was an English actress. She appeared predominantly in motion pictures, beginning with films made in Great Britain during and after World War II – she was one of J...
. She played mother to Tyrone Power
Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power, Jr. , usually credited as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as Ty Power, was an American film and stage actor who appeared in dozens of films from the 1930s to the 1950s, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads such as in The Mark of Zorro, Blood and Sand, The Black Swan,...
in Prince of Foxes
Prince of Foxes (film)
Prince of Foxes is a 1949 film based on the Samuel Shellabarger novel Prince of Foxes. The movie starred Tyrone Power as Orsini and Orson Welles as Cesare Borgia.-Plot:...
in 1949. After 1949, Paxinou returned to Hollywood only once more, to play, again, a gypsy woman, this time in the 1959 Technicolor
Technicolor
Technicolor is a color motion picture process invented in 1916 and improved over several decades.It was the second major process, after Britain's Kinemacolor, and the most widely used color process in Hollywood from 1922 to 1952...
religious epic
Epic film
An epic is a genre of film that emphasizes human drama on a grand scale. Epics are more ambitious in scope than other film genres, and their ambitious nature helps to differentiate them from similar genres such as the period piece or adventure film...
, The Miracle.
In 1950, Paxinou resumed her stage career. In her native Greece, she formed the Royal Theatre of Athens with Alexis Minotis
Alexis Minotis
Alexis Minotakis, known as Alexis Minotis , was born 8 August 1898 or 1899 in Deliana , Chania, Crete and died on 11 November 1990 in Athens, Greece....
, her principal director and her husband since 1940.
Paxinou made several appearances on the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
stage and television as well. She played Hedda Gabler for 12 performances at New York City's Longacre Theatre, opening on June 28, 1942. She also played the lead role in the first production in English of Federico Garcia Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
's The House of Bernarda Alba, at the ANTA Playhouse in New York in 1951, and a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
production of Lorca's Blood wedding (Bodas de sangre
Bodas de sangre
Blood Wedding is a tragedy by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1932 and first performed in Madrid in March 1933 and later that year in Buenos Aires...
), broadcast on June 2, 1959.
Death
Paxinou died from cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in Athens, Greece in 1973 at the age of 72. She was survived by her husband, and her one daughter from her first marriage to Ioannis Paxinos, whose surname she had been using after their divorce. Her remains are buried at First Cemetery of Athens
First Cemetery of Athens
The First Cemetery of Athens is the official cemetery of the City of Athens and the first to be built. It opened in 1837 and soon became a luxurious cemetery for famous Greek people and foreigners....
.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | For Whom the Bell Tolls For Whom the Bell Tolls (film) For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 film in Technicolor based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. It stars Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff and Katina Paxinou. This was Ingrid Bergman's first technicolor film. Hemingway handpicked Cooper and Bergman for their roles. The film... |
Pilar | |
| 1943 | Hostages | Maria | |
| 1945 | Confidential Agent Confidential Agent Confidential Agent is a 1945 spy film made by Warner Bros. It was directed by Herman Shumlin and produced by Robert Buckner with Jack L. Warner as executive producer. The screenplay was by Robert Buckner, based on the novel The Confidential Agent by Graham Greene... |
Mrs. Melandez | |
| 1947 | Mourning Becomes Electra Mourning Becomes Electra Mourning Becomes Electra is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932... |
Christine Mannon | |
| 1947 | Uncle Silas Uncle Silas (film) Uncle Silas is a 1947 British drama film directed by Charles Frank and starring Jean Simmons, Katina Paxinou and Derrick De Marney. It is an adaptation of the novel Uncle Silas... |
Madame de la Rougierre | |
| 1949 | Prince of Foxes Prince of Foxes (film) Prince of Foxes is a 1949 film based on the Samuel Shellabarger novel Prince of Foxes. The movie starred Tyrone Power as Orsini and Orson Welles as Cesare Borgia.-Plot:... |
Mona Constanza Zoppo | |
| 1955 | Mr. Arkadin Mr. Arkadin Mr. Arkadin is a French-Spanish-Swiss coproduction film, written and directed by Orson Welles and shot in several Spanish locations, including Segovia, Valladolid and Madrid.Its history is convoluted... |
Sophie | |
| 1959 | La Roca | ||
| 1960 | Rocco e i suoi fratelli Rocco e i suoi fratelli Rocco e i suoi fratelli is a 1960 Italian and French film directed by Luchino Visconti. Set in Milan, it tells the story of an immigrant family from the South and its disintegration in the society of the industrial North. The film stars Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Annie Girardot, and Claudia... |
Rosaria Parondi | |
| 1961 | Morte di un bandito | ||
| 1968 | To Nisi tis Afroditis | Lambrini | |
| 1968 | Tante Zita | Aunt Zita | |
| 1970 | Marya | ||
| 1970 | Orsetta |