Michael Cacoyannis

Michael Cacoyannis (; ; 11 June 1921 – 25 July 2011) was a Cypriot and Greek filmmaker, playwright and actor. He is best known for writing, directing, producing, and editing Zorba the Greek, an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' novel of the same name. He also directed the 1983 Broadway revival of the musical based on the film in addition to writing, directing, designing, and translating dozens of stage play and opera productions.

Cacoyannis was nominated for five Academy Awards, more than any other Cypriot: three of the nominations were for Zorba the Greek (Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay) whilst the other two were Best Foreign Language Film nominations for Electra (1962) and Iphigenia (1977). He received many other accolades, including the Technical Grand Prize and six Palme d'Or nominations at the Cannes Film Festival.

Early life Cacoyannis was born Michalis Kakogiannis in on 11 June 1921 in Limassol, which was then part of British Cyprus. His father, Panayotis Loizou Cacoyannis, had been knighted in King Edward VIII's 1936 Birthday Honours for public services in Cyprus. His sister, Stella Soulioti, became a politician.

Career In 1939, Cacoyannis was sent to London by his father to become a lawyer; however, after graduating from law school, he joined the BBC World Service and soon took charge of its new Cyprus Service. His deputy there was Beba Clerides, sister of Glafkos Clerides, a Royal Air Force fighter pilot who later became President of Cyprus. After producing Greek-language programmes for the World Service during World War II, he enjoyed a brief stage acting career under the name Michael Yannis at The Old Vic before he began pursuing a filmmaking career. After having trouble finding a directing job in the British film industry, he moved to Athens in 1952 to instead work in the Greek film industry, where he soon made his directorial debut with Windfall in Athens (1953).

Cacoyannis' film Electra (1962) received an Academy Award nomination Best Foreign Language Film. His most notable work came when he wrote, directed, produced, and edited the film Zorba the Greek (1964), an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' novel of the same name, which earned him nominations for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. His film Iphigenia (1977) also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, bringing his Academy Award nominations to a total of five, more than any other Cypriot. His other accolades included the Technical Grand Prize and six Palme d'Or nominations at the Cannes Film Festival. He was offered the chance to direct Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando in the film Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), but he declined and the job went to American filmmaker John Huston.

Cacoyannis translated some of William Shakespeare's plays such as Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Hamlet into Greek, and Euripides' play The Bacchae into English. He directed the 1983 Broadway revival of the musical based on the film in addition to writing, directing, designing, and translating dozens of stage play and opera productions.

Personal life From 1959 to 1967, Cacoyannis was in a relationship with Israeli politician and author Yael Dayan, with whom he lived in Athens.

Death Cacoynnis suffered an acute coronary episode on 15 July 2011 and he was taken to Evangelismos Hospital. He died of cardiac arrest on 25 July 2011, at age 90. He was buried in the grounds of Michael Cacoyannis Foundation.

Filmography

Windfall in Athens (Kyriakatiko xypnima) (1954): director, screenwriter Stella (1955): director, screenwriter, producer A Girl in Black (To koritsi me ta mavra) (1956): director, screenwriter A Matter of Dignity (To telefteo psemma) (1957): director, screenwriter, producer Eroica (Our Last Spring) (1960): director, screenwriter, producer The Wastrel (Il Relitto) (1961): director, screenwriter Electra (1962): director, screenwriter, producer Zorba the Greek (Alexis Zorbas) (1964): director, screenwriter, producer The Day the Fish Came Out (Otan ta psaria vgikan sti steria) (1967): director, screenwriter, producer The Trojan Women (1971): director, screenwriter, producer The Story of Jacob and Joseph, director Attilas '74 (1975): director, producer Iphigenia (1977): director, screenwriter Sweet Country (Glykeia patrida) (1986): director, screenwriter, producer Up, Down and Sideways (Pano kato ke plagios) (1993): director, screenwriter, producer The Cherry Orchard (1999): director, screenwriter, producer