Tzeni Karezi

Infobox actor
name =Tzeni Karezi


caption =
birthname =Evgenia Karpouzi
birthdate =January 12, 1932
birthplace =flagicon|Greece|old Athens, Greece
deathdate = Death date and age|1992|07|27|1932|01|12
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occupation = actress
yearsactive =1955 - 1992
spouse =Zahos Hadjifotiou (1963 - 1965)
Kostas Kazakos (1968 - 1992)
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children =Konstantinos Kazakos
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Tzeni Karezi (Greek: Τζένη Καρέζη, January 12 1932 - July 27 1992) was a Greek film and theatre actress. She was considered as one of the most popular and successful actresses of the cinema of Greece.

Biography

Early life

Tzeni (or Jenny) Karezi was born Evgenia Karpouzi, in Athens, to highly educated parents; her father was a mathematician and her mother a high school teacher. She studied under the direction of nuns in a private French school in Thessaloniki and as a result she spoke French fluently. When she was a teenager, her father left the family and she continued to live with her mother. She did not see her father until he died in a car accident, in 1971.

In 1951 she was accepted at the Greek National Theater ("Eθνικό Θέατρο"), where she studied in the Drama School. The play writer Angelos Terzakis and the director Dimitris Rontiris were among her teachers. Upon graduation, in 1954, she was immediately thrust into starring roles in the theatre, playing alongside actors such as Alexis Minotis and Katina Paxinou.

Career

She first appeared in the theatre, in this of the actress Marika Kotopouli, along with Melina Mercouri and Vassilis Daiamantopoulos in the French comedy, "The beautiful Helen". She continued starring in theatrical plays of Lorka, Shakespeare, Miller, Tolstoy and of Greek contemporary writers like Psathas, Fotiadis and Kampanellis.

In 1955, Karezi made her first appearance in the cinema, in the movie "Laterna, ftoheia kai filotimo" in 1955, by Alekos Sakellarios, which was a massive success, just like the sequel to her first movie, "Laterna, ftoheia kai garyfallo" in 1957 and "To nisi ton genneon" in 1959, where she sang a song of the subsequent Academy Award-winner Manos Hadjidakis, a classic one named "Min ton rotas ton ourano" (Do not ask the sky). Later this song was sung by Brenda Lee under the title "All alone am I", and was a success in the United States and Europe.

Her career flourished in the 1960s, when she made her own stable in 1961 and starred in some of the most classic movies of the Greek cinema, like "Lola" in 1964, "Mia trelli...trelli oikogeneia" in 1965, "Tzeni-Tzeni" in 1966 and "Kontserto gia polyvola" in 1967. Maybe her greatest success was the film "Ta kokkina fanaria" ("The Red Lanterns") in 1963, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and made her known outside of Greece. Her last appearance in film was in her production of "Lysistrati" in 1972, from the ancient Greek comedy "Lysistrata" by Aristophanes.

Karezi continued to produce and star in difficult plays in the following decade, inspired by famous plays like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", and the ancient Greek tragedies "Medea" of Euripides and "Electra" of Sophocles. She appeared for the last time in theatre in 1990 in the Greek play "Lula Anagnostaki, diamantia kai blouz", while she suffered from cancer, she was in terrible pain and she had to stop her appearances in order to continue with her treatment.

Tzeni Karezi was considered the greatest "rival" of the other major Greek star Aliki Vougiouklaki, in terms of popularity and success, although actually they were close friends and they followed the same paths in life, while they had the same end as both were attacked by cancer.

Personal life

In 1963 Karezi made her first marriage to the journalist Zahos Hadjifotiou, but this marriage did not last for a long as it ended up in 1965. In 1967, during the filming of "Kontserto gia polyvola", she met Kostas Kazakos, "the love of her life" as she continuously said, with whom she gave birth to her only child, Konstantinos Kazakos. They formed a popular duo and this forced Karezi to change her theatre career to more sophisticated and intellectual plays. They were led to prison where they spend several nights, for the production of the play "To megalo mas tsirko" ("Our great circus") in 1973, which was humiliating the Greek dictatorship (1967-1974).

Tzeni Karezi died on 27 July 1992 from cancer at her home. She was buried at a public expense, while thousands of people were present to attend her funeral. She, as a cancer sufferer, greatly admired the new branch of medical science for the cancer pain relief and palliative care and the work of the specialized doctors who helped relieve her pain. As a result she asked those close to her, to make it widely-known and assist the development of this branch, so that other fellow sufferers could be freed from the agony of cancer and be able to live through their last days with dignity. After her death, her wish materialized and her family founded the "Tzeni Karezi Foundation", for the people who suffer great pains from cancer [cite web|url=http://www.worldday.dk/168 |title=World Day 2007 - Greece |publisher=Hospice Innovation DK |language=English |date= |accessdate=2008-02-06] .

Filmography

References

External links

*imdb name|0439206|Tzeni Karezi
* [http://www.finosfilms.gr/sudelestes.asp?id=164 Finos Film] el icon en icon
* [http://homepage.mac.com/anthonysigalas/greekcinema/h8opoioi/gynaikes2/karezh/karezh.html Τζένη Καρέζη] el icon