Irene Papas, a Greek actress and singer who starred in over 70 films in a career spanning more than 5 decades has died. She died on Sept. 14, 2022, eleven days after she turned 96 years.
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Born Eirini Lelekou on Sept. 3, 1926, in Chiliomodi, Greece, and raised in Athens, Papas’ breakout role came in the 1961 war film “The Guns of Navarone” alongside the likes of Gregory Peck, David Niven and Anthony Quinn.
She played a World War II resistance fighter named Maria Pappadimos, who made the difficult decision to shoot an unarmed woman because she was working with the Nazis.
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She gained international recognition through such popular award-winning films as The Guns of Navarone (1961), Zorba the Greek (1964) and Z (1969).
She was a powerful protagonist in films including The Trojan Women (1971) and Iphigenia (1977) and also played the title roles in Antigone (1961) and Electra (1962).
Irene was married twice. Firstly to Alkis Papas and then secondly to José Kohn. In between those marriages, she dated Marlon Brando.
There are no records of Irene Papas’ children.
Details regarding her funeral will be announced in due course.
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