Biography

Mary Chronopoulou (Greek: Μαίρη Χρονοπούλου; 16 July 1933 - 6 Octomber 2023) was a Greek actress. She was one of the most popular actresses of the 1960s. She starred in many films, 16 of which were produced by Finos Film. She was one of the main protagonists of Greek theatre and cinema. She was born and raised in Athens. She graduated from the National Theatre School, where she appeared in dance groups and in ancient dramas. In 1957 she began collaborating with the independent theatre, performing at the Acropolis in the plays by Alekos Sakellarios-Christos Giannakopoulos “The Lady” and “Romance of a Maid”. She first appeared in cinema as an extra in Dinos Dimopoulos’ Happy Beginning in 1954, when she was still a student. In 1958 she took a small role in Michael Cacoyannis’ The Last Lie. From 1963 onwards, she starred in dozens of dramatic films by Finos Film, and not only, in the roles of a damsel and a femme fatale, alongside all the male protagonists of the era, such as Nikos Kourkoulos, Phaedon Georgitsis, Dimitris Papamichael, Giorgos Fountas and Alekos Alexandrakis. Among these social and dramatic films, she also appeared in three successful musicals by Yannis Dalianidis: The Sea Beads, A Lady with a Bouzouki and Mermaids and Guys. In the period 1967-1968, she won the Critics' Association Award for Best Leading Actress. In her theatrical career, she collaborated with all the major troupes of Athens. In 1972 she formed her own troupe, with which she staged the plays: "What Time Will You Come Back, Penelope" by Somerset Maugham and "A Hot Girl" by Iakovos Kambanelis. She also had important performances in the new Greek cinema, such as in Theodoros Angelopoulos' films The Hunters and Journey to Kythera, while she won the Best Actress award at the Thessaloniki Festival with the film The Swallow's Children by Kostas Vrettakos, in 1987. On June 16, 2021, Mary Chronopoulou was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the IRIS Awards Ceremony by the Hellenic Film Academy. She passed away on October 6, 2023, at the age of 90.