Zoe Laskari ( el, Ζωή Λάσκαρη, ; 12 December 1942 – 18 August 2017) was a Greek film and stage actress.

Life

Zoe Laskari was born Zoe Kouroukli in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, on 12 December 1942—not 1943 or 1944, as had been misreported during her lifetime and after her death—into a

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

family which had a long tradition of service to the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

. father was murdered during the German occupation in late 1943. She was raised by her maternal grandparents. In 1959, she won the title of

Star Hellas Star Hellas ( el, Σταρ Ελλάς, Μις Ελλάς, Μις Γιάνγκ) is a national beauty pageant in Greece. The Star Hellas, Miss Hellas, Miss Young title is a trademark for Vassilis Prevelakis and Associates E.E. George Prevelakis, ...

(Miss Greece) - in order to participate in the pageant she added two years to her age to be of age and went on to represent

at the

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international beauty pageant that is run by a United States and Thailand based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stre ...

pageant in

Long Beach, California Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporate ...

where she made it to the semifinals. However, while being in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, it was revealed that she was still legally a minor, having obscured her true age. She refused to return to Greece and stayed in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

for about 18 months.

Marriages

In 1967, she married industrialist Petros Koutoumanos, by whom she had her first daughter, Martha Koutoumanou. Their marriage ended in 1971. In June 1976, she married criminologist Alexandros Lykourezos, by whom she had a second daughter
Maria-Eleni Lykourezou

Career

Due to her success at the beauty pageant, director

Giannis Dalianidis Giannis Dalianidis ( el, Γιάννης Δαλιανίδης; 31 December 1923 – 16 October 2010) was a Greek film director. His first film was ''Mousitsa'', released in 1959, which was followed by a series of musicals. Between 1974 and 1981, ...

, offered her the starring role in ''O katiforos'', a 1961 film, whose success gave her a rapid popularity and she shortly signed an exclusive contract with the biggest Greek film production company at the time,

Finos Film Finos Film (Greek: Φίνος Φιλμ) is a film production company that dominated the Greek film industry from 1943 to 1977. It was founded by Filopimin Finos in 1942 during World War II. It was the biggest film production company in Greece at ...

. The films in which she appeared ranged from dramas to comedies and

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

. Some of her later movies were ''Stefania'' (1966) and '' Oi Thalassies oi Hadres'' (1967). Other Laskari film hits were ''Nomos 4000'', ''Merikoi to protimoun kryo'', ''Koritsia gia filima'', ''Dakrya gia tin Ilektra'', ''Mia kyria sta bouzoukia'' and ''Marihouana stop''. Her stage work included famous plays like

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), '' The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), '' A Delicate Balance'' (1966) ...

's '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'', the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

'' The Trojan Women'' by

Euripides Euripides (; grc, Εὐριπίδης, Eurīpídēs, ; ) was a tragedian Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful e ...

and Neil Simon's '' Barefoot in the Park''. Her theatrical hits include the play ''Oi erastes tou Oneirou'' which was also her first play in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

. Laskari's first television appearance was her leading role in the

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

''Romaios kai Ioulieta'' in 1976.

Death

Laskari died on 18 August 2017 at Porto Rafti,Notice of death of Zoe Laskari
Thenationalherald.com; accessed 22 August 2017. from heart failure. She had two daughters, Martha Koutoumanou and Maria-Eleni Lykourezou.

Filmography

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laskari, Zoe 1942 births 2017 deaths Age controversies 20th-century Greek actresses 21st-century Greek actresses Greek beauty pageant winners Greek female models Greek film actresses Greek Macedonians Greek stage actresses Miss Universe 1959 contestants Actors from Thessaloniki Models from Thessaloniki