Aliki Vougiouklaki

Aliki Vougiouklaki (Greek: Αλίκη Σταματίνα Βουγιουκλάκη, 20 July 1934 – 23 July 1996) was a Greek cinema and theater actress, singer and theatrical producer. She is one of the most popular actresses in Greece, and was often referred to as "the National Star of Greece". In 1950 she secretly took exams at the Drama School of the National Theatre, from which she graduated three years later with distinction. Before graduating from the School, she began her career in the theatre. Her first theatrical role was as Louison in Molière's The Imaginary Patient in 1953, while her first film appearance was in the film The Little Mouse in 1954. In 1960, she won the Best Actress award at the 1st Thessaloniki Film Festival for her performance in the film Maddalena, directed by Dinos Dimopoulos, while the same film represented Greece at the Cannes International Film Festival, where it left very good impressions. At the same festival, the 1959 film The Slapping Came Out of Paradise. In 1961, Vougiouklaki formed her own troupe, with which she staged the play My Fair Lady that winter, starting in Thessaloniki. In 1962, she staged George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra with well-known co-stars, directed by Alexis Solomos and musically arranged by Manos Hadjidakis, however, the performance did not go well despite receiving very good reviews, because the audience did not like Aliki with pitch-black hair as Cleopatra, resulting in her being withdrawn very soon. This was followed by the hugely successful works Beating Heart in the Chair in 1962 (the well-known film adaptation was made in 1963), Pass the First of the Month in 1963, etc. In 1963, wanting to give an international boost to her career, she starred with British co-stars in the English-language film Aliki my love (released in Greece in 1964 as Aliki), which, however, did not have the expected success. Later, she met Filopoimenas Finos and began a permanent collaboration with his company, Finos Film. Together they made some of the biggest box office hits of Greek cinema, including the films: Astero, The Wood Came Out of Paradise, Madalena, The Kicking Hat, Alice in the Navy, Lisa and the Other, The Liar, The Bait, The Lady and the Tramp, The Blonde Teacher, The Fairy and the Boy, Lieutenant Natasha, The Daughter of the Sun, Mary of Silence, A Funny Girl, I Love You, The Journey, etc. In addition, she starred in popular films from other companies such as: Modern Cinderella, The Soferina, Heartbeats at the Desk, The Brightest Star, My Daughter the Socialist, Ah! This Woman of Mine, Double Poverty, etc. The film roles of the cute mischievous schoolgirl, the rich girl who rebels against her wealthy father, the poor and insignificant girl who manages to rise socially, succeed and become famous, had and continue to have a great impact on the audience, ensuring the actress rare popularity, while the film Lieutenant Natasha was the biggest box office success in the history of Greek cinema for three decades, with the next two box office successes also belonging to Aliki Vougiouklaki. Vougiouklaki died in 1996 at the age of 62, just three months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.