Alex Minotis

Alexis Minotis Greek ?????? ??????? born Alexandros Minotakis Greek ?????????? ?????????8 August 1900 11 November 1990 was a Greek actor and director He first appeared on stage in his native Crete as Chorus Leader and later as Messenger in Sophocles Oedipus Tyrannus From 1925 until 1930 he worked in close collaboration with the famous Greek actress Marika Kotopouli in her own theatre During this period he appeared in the great Shakespearan roles in The Merchant of Venice King Lear Macbeth and played the title role in Hamlet the first time the play had been staged in Greece Other roles in the classical repertoire were Henrik Ibsens Ghosts and Peer Gynt He expanded his talents by directing ancient Greek tragedies such as Hecuba Antigone The Phoenissae Prometheus Bound Oedipus at Colonus as well as Seán OCaseys Juno and the Paycock August Strindbergs The Father and Brechts Mother Courage In 1940 he married the actress Katina Paxinou and together they appeared in many productions at the National Theatre of Greece in Athens which was founded in 1930 by Minister of Education Georgios Papandreou In 1946 he went to Hollywood to appear in Alfred Hitchcocks Notorious with Cary Grant Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains In the same year he also appeared with Robert Cummings and Michèle Morgan in The Chase His other films include Siren of Atlantis 1949 with Maria Montez Boy on a Dolphin 1957 with Sophia Loren and Land of the Pharaohs 1955 with Joan Collins In 1955 he directed Katina Paxinou in Euripides Hecuba for the National Theatre of Greece at The Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus and starred in Oedipus Rex as well as directing In 1956 he made his first appearance in Oedipus at Colonus The production received great acclaim and Minotis went on a long international tour with the company He appeared on Broadway in Electra with the Marika Kotopouli company in 193031 and in Oedipus Tyrannus with the National Theatre of Greece in 1952 In 1958 Minotis directed Maria Callas in a production of Medea presented in Dallas The production was then seen at Covent Garden Teatro alla Scala and Epidaurus He also directed the Greek National Opera production of Norma with Callas in Epidaurus in 1960