George Kapiniaris is an Australian stage, television and film actor and comedian. He is of Greek descent and is best known for his role in popular sitcom ''

Acropolis Now ''Acropolis Now'' was an Australian television sitcom set in a fictional Greek cafe, called the "Acropolis Cafe" in Melbourne that ran for 63 episodes broadcast from 9 August 1989 to 4 November 1992 on the Seven Network. It was created by Nick ...

'' and composed the series' theme song.

Professional background

Theatre work

Kapiniaris appeared in the stage show ''

Wogs Out of Work ''Wogs Out of Work'' is an Australian play which was written by Nick Giannopoulos, Simon Palomares, and Maria Portesi. It debuted in 1987 at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and was enormously successful, touring for a number of yea ...

'' with

Nick Giannopoulos Nicholas Giannopoulos (born 1 July 1963) is an Australian stand-up comedian, film and TV actor and film director. He is best known for his comedy stage show '' Wogs Out of Work'' alongside George Kapiniaris, the television sitcom ''Acropolis ...

, in the 1980s. In 2007, he joined forces with fellow comedians

Joe Avati Joe Avati (born 1974) is an Italian-Australian comedian who is popular among Italian and descendant of Italians from his native Australia, as well as in Canada, United Kingdom and the United States, where he has performed on several occasions. ...

Nish Selvadurai Nishan "Nish" Selvadurai (born 10 September 1978) is an Australian comedian of Sri Lankan descent, living in Brisbane. Career Nish first performed stand-up in 2004. In 2005, he won the Queensland State Final of the FHM Cougar Rum Search for A ...

and

Simon Palomares Simon Palomares is a German-born Australian comedian and actor of Spanish descent. He is best known for his character as cafe manager Ricardo "Ricky" Martinez in ''Acropolis Now''. Biography Simon Palomares was born in Dusseldorf, Germany. Hi ...

for a national tour ''Il Dago''. In late 2012, he played in the Australian stage version of '' Chitty Chitty Bang Bang''.

Television

In 1987, Kapiniaris joined the cast of the drama series ''

The Flying Doctors ''The Flying Doctors'' is an Australian drama TV series produced by Crawford Productions that revolves around the everyday lifesaving efforts of the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, starring Andrew McFarlane as the newly arrived Dr. ...

'' as Demetris "D.J." Goannidis. He stayed on this role until 1991. During this time, he also starred in the Melbourne-based popular sitcom ''

'' with Giannopoulos,

and

Mary Coustas Mary Coustas (born 16 September 1964) is an Australian actress, comedian and television personality and writer. Originally from Melbourne, Coustas often performs as the character "Effie", a stereotypical second-generation Greek Australian prone ...

. Since that show's cancellation, he has continued stand-up comedy and has produced a few stage performances, as well as emceeing events such as weddings. Some of his songs include a parody of ''

Knockin' on Heaven's Door "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, written for the soundtrack of the 1973 film '' Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid''. Released as a single two months after the film's premiere, it became a worldwide hit, ...

'', called "

Gnocchi Gnocchi ( , , ; singular ''gnocco'') are a varied family of dumpling in Italian cuisine. They are made of small lumps of dough most traditionally composed of a simple combination of wheat flour, egg, salt, and potato. Variations of the dish sup ...

on Heaven's Door". In 2007, Kapiniaris starred in the television comedy series ''

Kick A kick is a physical Strike (attack), strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee (strike), ...

'' on SBS as Takis Mavros. He also appeared in the same year on the television soap opera '' Neighbours'', in a guest role as a celebrity chef. Kapiniaris appeared in the controversial 2008 mini series ''

Underbelly Underbelly is the side of something that is not normally seen. Figuratively, it means a vulnerable or weak part, similar to the term Achilles' heel, or alternatively, a hidden, illicit side of society. This term could refer to: Business * ...

'', where he played a real life character George Defteros. Also in 2008, Kapiniaris (and his ''

'' co-star

) made consecutive appearances on successful Channel 31 show, the Deakin TV produced ''TheatreGames LIVE''. Kapinaris has also had minor stints in

Paul Fenech Paul Fenech (born 21 November 1972) is an Australian filmmaker, film and television actor, director, producer and writer. He is best known for writing, directing, producing and starring in the television series ''Pizza'', ''Swift and Shift Cou ...

comedies, such as '' Pizza'' as an Albanian war criminal, '' Swift and Shift Couriers'' as a marriage celebrant and the 2011 comedy ''

Housos '' Housos '' is a Logie Award-winning Australian comedy television series created by Paul Fenech for SBS, that screened on SBS One. The series is a satirical parody of low income Australian residents of fictional suburb Sunnyvale, New South Wale ...

'' in a minor role. Kapiniaris has appeared in a series of comedic commercials for South Australian automotive repairer and insurance broker, the RAA, featuring Kapiniaris talking to a confidante; a

barista A barista (; ; from the Italian/Spanish for "bartender") is a person, usually a coffeehouse employee, who prepares and serves espresso-based coffee drinks. Etymology and inflection The word ''barista'' comes from Italian where it means a male ...

named 'Trev' at a coffee shop. Kapiniaris created his own website based on the RAA ads. He also created a satirical ''

Today Tonight ''Today Tonight'' is an Australian current affairs television program produced by the Seven Network. It aired from January 1995 to November 2019 in Adelaide and Perth. Editions in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne were previously produced befor ...

'' segment entitled ''The Dummies'', poking fun at politicians through the use of puppets.

Film

In 2003, he had a role in the film ''

Fat Pizza ''Fat Pizza'' is a 2003 Australian comedy film based on the ''Pizza'' television series, both of which were created, produced, written and starred in by Paul Fenech. It was produced by Village Roadshow Pictures and SBS Independent (uncredited). ...

'', playing the character of Ronnie McDoggle. In 2012, he had a minor role in ''Housos vs Authority'', the screen version of the sitcom ''

''. In 2009, he appeared as Ricardo in '' Broken Hill'', an inmate who played guitar in a jail band. He plays Uncle Taso in the hit Australian stage play which has turned into a big screen sensation, written by Alex Lykos, ''

Alex & Eve ''Alex & Eve'' is a 2016 Australian comedy-drama and romance film, directed by Peter Andrikidis and written by Alex Lykos, based on his play of the same name. The film is about dating in a multicultural landscape when Greek Orthodox school teache ...

'' 2015.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kapiniaris, George Australian male stage actors Australian stand-up comedians Australian male television actors Australian people of Greek descent Living people 1961 births