Popular Greek actor Danis Katranidis passed away on Sunday at age 75. For the past two years, he had retired from acting as was struggling with health issues.
Katranidis had a long and fulfilling career in theater, television, and radio. Born on August 4, 1949 in the Egaleo neighborhood of Athens, he left behind a great legacy and an important contribution to the art of acting.
A graduate of the Athens Drama School “Giorgos Theodosiadis” in 1971, Katranidis began his career at the National Theater, where he was an actor until 1978. His legendary performance as a compere in the play “Cabaret” in the 1978-1979 season, directed by Aliki Vougiouklaki, established him as one of the most significant actors of his time.
He participated in all kinds of theatrical plays from tragedy and comedy to musicals and revues, while his voice also left an indelible mark on theater plays on radio broadcast in the 1970s.
The talented actor did not limit himself to acting, but he was also dedicated to teaching the art. He taught at the Higher Drama School “Iasmos” and the Theater Workshop “Vassilis Diamantopoulos.” Alongside his artistic career, he was a sea lover and enjoyed sailing, having participated in several open sea races with distinction.
In 1971, the beloved actor married his Drama School classmate and actress Mirka Papakonstantinou, but they divorced in 1977.
Danis Katranidis in his own words
In his interviews, Danis Katranidis spoke candidly about his childhood and how he found his love for the theater and his private life.
“I was born in Athens and grew up between Egaleo and Salamis, where my mother was from. My bond with the theater is thanks to her, because she […took] me to the cinema, to the evening screenings, always under the condition that I would have finished my school work first,” he said.
He also added:
“Now, I realize that my first audience was my friends, the neighborhood kids who were waiting for me to tell them about the movie I saw. At that time we had a house with many steps, the children would sit on these steps, amphitheatrically, and I would describe the film to them. It was a tremendous communication lesson, unconsciously of course, an exercise in stimulating the imagination of your audience. At the same time, there was a lot of play, soccer in neighborhood streets and yards, just like you see in old Greek movies.”
The Greek actor was married three times, but he never fathered children.
“I got married three times because I wanted to have a family,” he said. “The marriages between them were many years apart. The first and the second are 17 years apart and the second and the third 10. It is a reasonable time for someone to say I can settle down, start a family and have children. I haven’t regretted…it.”
“The reason I didn’t have any children was not for pathological reasons,” Katranidis explained. “The reason was different and better than it seemed to others. I have no complaints from my life. I have been generously given things both at work and in life, more than I expected.”
“I have made many mistakes, [and] I thank the people who treated me with leniency,” he confessed.
