Alexis Minotis

Alexis Minotakis, known as Alexis Minotis, was born 8 August 1898 or 1899 in Chania, Crete and died on 11 November 1990 in Athens, Greece.

Minotis was a distinguished 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 Ibsen's "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 Sean O'Casey's "Juno and the Paycock", Strindberg's "The Father" and Brecht`s "Mother Courage".

In 1940, he married the actress Katina Paxinou and together they appeared in many productions at the Royal Theatre in Athens which they founded.

In 1946, he went to Hollywood to appear in Sir Alfred Hitchcock's "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 1930-31 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 1961.