Tribute to Greek actress Despo Diamantidou
Despo Diamantidou born 13 July 1916 in Athens, she was a Greek actress of theater and cinema. She was the granddaughter of engineer Spyridon Kritsilis, who served many times as a Member of Parliament. She spoke four foreign languages (English, French, Italian and Russian), which helped her translate a number of foreign plays. In the spring of 1967, Despo Diamantidou participated in a theatrical tour in the USA, staging the play "Illya Darling" (theatrical adaptation of the film "Never on Sunday") at the Broadway Theater in New York. During her stay there, the April coup d'état took place in Greece. Diamantidou decided not to return to Greece under these conditions and remained "in exile" in the United States until the transition to democracy, having returned to Greece only late in the summer of 1974. While in the USA she participated in Woody Allen's 1975 film The Peacemaker, playing the mother of the protagonist. A milestone in her career was her participation in the 1960 film Never on Sunday by American director Jules Dassin starring Melina Mercouri. Listen to the podcast and find out more about this remarkable woman that was characterized by her husband as a real free spirit but a real lady that opened the way and empowered female actresses to be independent.
