Actor and singer Nikos Xanthopoulos has died at the age of 89 after serious health problems that left him hospitalized. Mainly popular in the 1960s when he appeared in many dramatic films, he became known as “Children of the People” due to his roles as a poor and downtrodden child of the people who lives in poverty but is eventually redeemed.

Nikos Xanthopoulos was born on March 4, 1934 in Nea Ionia, in the refugee area of ​​Athens. The child of Pontic refugees, he grew up in poverty with his mother, who, in fact, raised him alone, since his father was away for a long time. His father sometimes worked as a shoemaker and fisherman, and during the occupation he was imprisoned for his action of resistance. As a teenager, he was an AEK athlete. Growing up, he decided to work in the theater, although he was initially fascinated by the idea of ​​​​becoming a philologist. His mentor was Manos Katrakis.

Studied at the National Theater School. He made his first professional theater appearance in 1957 with “Tiaso Katerinas” in the comedy Virginia. Until the mid-60s, he played various roles, including Orestes in Sophocles’ Elektra directed by Dimitris Rodiris, and also collaborated with the Manos Katrakis troupe in Mikis Theodorakis’ Dead Brother’s Song. He also briefly performed in musical theater. He participated in 24 theatrical productions and played in all types of theater. In 1970 he founded his own troupe and toured Greece.

Since the mid-60s, cinematography has conquered him. His first film appearance was in 1958 in Philippa Fylaktos’ comedy The Collector alongside Vassilis Avlonitis and Nikos Rizos. He was recognized as a movie star by director-producer Apostolos Tegopoulos (Clack Film), with whom he collaborated exclusively from 1964 to 1971 on musical drama films. In the films of the newly created Clack Film, he first participated in 1963 with Heartbreak as the evil son-in-law. The beginning of his standardization as a child of the people occurred a year later in the film “I loved and hurt.” Nikos Xanthopoulos sang in these films, and composers such as Apostolos Kaldaras wrote songs for him. His discography includes 9 major albums and 55 singles. He performed as a singer in major nightclubs and toured extensively abroad in the centers of the Greek diaspora. The last time he appeared in cinema was in 1995 in the film “With Orpheus in August” by Giorgos Zervulakos.

In late 2005, he published his autobiography What I Remember and What I Loved as a book. He was married twice, had four children and five grandchildren.

Television – the era of video cassettes

He first appeared on television in 1973 in the TV series Agrimia.

Eight years after Agrimia, in 1981, he plays in the TV series of Errikos Thalassinos “The Janitor’s Diary”. He plays a captain who wants to set sail and can’t find where to leave his son. The role prompted him to start smoking again.

In 1994, he played in the television series “On the Razor’s Edge”.

In 1989, he collaborated with Apostolos Tegopoulos and Panos Kontelis in the film Minor of the Heart, which was released on 3 cassettes and then shown on ERT in 16 episodes. This was followed by “Love Knows No Limits”, which was filmed in Athens, Istanbul and Paris. It was released on two cassettes. It was later featured in 8 episodes on MEGA.

Two more video productions followed, “Father’s Heart” and “Erotas sto perithorio”, which were also televised on ANT1 in 1992.

Song

For the needs of films, he became a singer under the guidance of Apostolos Kaldar and Eftichia Papagiannopooulou.

After 1971, he stopped acting in films and switched to a new career in folk singing. In total, he released 9 albums and 55 singles. There are about 300 songs in his discography. His songs are signed, in particular, by Akis Panu, Christos Nikolopoulos, Harchakos and others.

In his long absence from cinema and television, he had the opportunity to visit and tour the United States, Australia and almost all of Europe, always knowing the recognition and apotheosis of the Greek diaspora.