Part I (in 6 parts)
Taking joy in life is a woman’s best cosmetic. – Rosalind Russell
A best-seller book on the relationship between Maria Callas and Aristotle Onassis refer to a conversation that took place aboard the Golden Greek’s opulent 325-ft seaworthy mansion, the Christina in early days of 1960. To perpetuate soprano Callas’ celebrity status which was floundering at that time due to inconsistency of her voice, the Anatolian shipping tycoon was apprehensive of her future and seriously sought ways to prolong her celebrity status.
On that particular day, Onassis’s guest aboard the Christina was the American Screenwriter/Film Producer Carl Foreman (1914-1984) who also held his share of admiration for the opera diva Maria Callas. Foreman suggested casting María Callas opposite actor Anthony Quinn in his up-coming production of The Guns of Navarone which will have everything a war movie should have. Theoretically, almost seven to eight months of filming was envisaged for this movie: four months, April to July, 1960, on location at the town of Lindos on the island of Rhodes, Greece and rest of the filming utilizing the good facilities at Shepperton Studios which is nicely situated in Surrey, England. To finalise the film’s production procedures, Foreman was scheduled to visit London shortly – at a time when London was abuzz with the ensuing engagement in February of Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, with Antony Armstrong-Jones, and nuptials at Westminster Abbey scheduled for May 1960.
For the moment, Onassis was delighted when Foreman broached his offer (1). Foreman’s proposal was a stroke of strategic chance. The billionaire Greek shipowner who exuded power and wealth had a reputation of working hard and had great faith in the guiding principle of chance. However, Maria Callas lost courage and declined the part of the Greek resistance fighter, Maria Pappadimos. The role finally went to Greek-born stage and screen star Irène Papas.
One of the most talented and strikingly photogenic stars whose first name is pronounced as “Ee-ree-nee,” Irène Papas was only an upcoming actress at that time. Her celebrity status was only gathering momentum, even though, as an actress she was not unpopular to the motion picture audiences as well as to moviemakers throughout Europe and also in Hollywood where she starred in a movie opposite James Cagney in 1955. Indeed, she was not a stranger to Anthony Quinn. In one of his books, Quinn described their long association as a love-hate relationship which originated from September-November, 1953 during the making of Carlo Ponti-Dino De Laurentiis production of Attila. It was the first feature movie of Irène Papas that I saw.
According to Quinn, in total, he made nine pictures with Irène Papas which includes Attila, Flagello di Dio (1954); The Guns of Navarone (1961), Zorba the Greek (1964); A Dream of Kings (1969), El asesinato de Julio César (1972); The Message (1976), Omar Mukhtar, Lion of the Desert (1980) while some publications state the true count as seven films. Quinn also related in his book that Irène is one of the later stars like Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, among others, who attended and absorbed the lessons from the free acting classes for students arranged by Quinn during the latter half of the 1950s in a rented space above a retail store in Hollywood.
Irène Papas was born Eirini/Irini/Irène Lelekou on September 03, 1929 to Stavros (a teacher of classical drama) and Elini Lelekou (née Prevezanou, a school teacher), in the semi-mountainous village of Chiliomodi (Chiliantari), located 21km away from the Greek city of Corinth, gate-way to the Peloponnese (2). According to a publication of 1863, the name “Chiliomodi” presumably originated from the nearby Monastery of Panagia Faneromeni Chiliomodi which was built in the 13th century upon an area of land equal to a thousand “modi”. When the founder of this monastery, St. Simeon, came to build here, the measure of beans he sowed had brought forth a thousand fold: hence the name Chiliomodi or Chilia Modia or a thousand measures. Gradually, the word became corrupted into Chiliantari.
According to Irène herself, her vocation for art was born out of jealousy. One of four daughters of her parents, as a teenager there were times when Irène had to stand aside and watch other girls being harassed by boys while no one even looked at her. At the Balls, she was the only one who was never asked to dance. The turning point came on the day a friend from her school came to visit her at home and began to recite a scene from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Faust in which the improvised actor had to cry.
Irène who was 12 years old at that time, observed her friend’s act and decided that she could do much better in that performance. It was at that juncture she realized that she wanted to become an actress. Besides, this could also be a way she could attract people’s attention to herself. No sooner had she informed her parents her wish to enrol in a drama course, her plea was met with their opposition as they encouraged Irène to study architecture. They decided that their Irène koukla (doll) is not crazy but just crazed over to become an actress. To prevent Irène’s wish without winning her eternal resentment, an idea was mounted, probably half-heartedly.
Through their colleagues at the school who taught Irène, they intervened to induce Irène to concentrate in her studies so that she would engross herself to flower in her studies and give up pursuing an acting career. However, Irène must have loved such a play of her parents. She enrolled in the Royal School of Dramatic Art in Athens and devoted herself to studying classical theatre (3). There she was also regaled by the subject of Greek legends.
During the waning days of World War II, the country was caught up in the violence of the Greek Civil War erupted in end of 1944 between the Royalists and the communists. In 1948, after graduation, she presented her stage debut with a joyful performance by singing and dancing in a variety show which earned her first 30 drachmas (about a US dollar). That remuneration would, no doubt, suggest that in her performance she was lithe and intense; and caught up with the spirit of the dance, she had moved with grace, expression and agility.
A period of vocation into printed magazine sector and dramatic theatre transpired early in Irène’s acting career. During that time, in the sunshine and optimism of young love, she walked down the aisle with Greek actor/writer/director Alkis Papas (1922-2018). The marriage was short-lived but his surname “Papas” stuck to become a permanent part of her identity. Years later, she starred in Alkis Papas’ directorial debut, Hey, Girls! (Psit… koritsia!, 1959) – the first Greek movie to be shown on Greek television.
Jo (Continued in Part II: Irène Papas – Greece Comes to LA)
Notes:
- In 1963, Italian producer Dino De Laurentiis wanted to cast María Callas as Sarah, the barren wife of Abraham, in his blockbuster biblical epic, THE BIBLE in the Beginning… (1966) while director-actor John Huston wanted American actress Ava Gardner who eventually portrayed that role;
- In 1960, actor Gregory Peck and his French-born wife Veronique Passani visited Corinth while Peck was filming The Guns of Navarone on location in the Greek Isles. A special “Navarone” poster highlighting the visit of Mr. & Mrs. Gregory Peck at Corinth was brought out by the American Society of Travel Agents in tie-in with the film’s promotion campaign stressing the slogan, “Vacation in Greece, The Country Where “Navarone” was Filmed,” which was sent at that time to its member agencies throughout the country;
- She was christened Irène possibly in honour of St. Irene, the Great Martyr whose life holds some conspicuous similarities to the life of Irène Papas. Originally named Penelope, St. Irene was born in the city of Magedon in Persia to the pagan king Licinius. During her young days, St. Irene was kept isolated in a high tower by her father to avoid her exposure to Christianity she longed to be part of. Enlightened by her special reverence for the Christian Faith as well as to the Christian virtues taught by her private tutor a great deal of the time, she actively proclaimed Christianity and brought thousands of people to Jesus Christ. This led to her persecution and eventually, St. Irene was beheaded.
- Up to now, the sources of reference for this tribute to Irène Papas are archives of the past including printed publications and visual media. DVD/Blu-ray of most of the movies mentioned in this write-up is available with some leading dealers.
- DVD sleeves/images shown here are only for promotional purpose. Source: Wikipedia, amazon.com, imdb, and from sleeves of movies in my collection.
- This illustrated article is an affectionate nosegay to the actress and movies referred above. Please refer to “About” of my webpage for more details.
- To the illustrious memory of my late wife Renate Elisabeth Simeon (Carina) who forever bloom in my heart where she is planted.
(© Joseph Sébastine/Manningtree Archive)
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