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Titos Vandis

{{short description|Greek actor}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}

{{Infobox person

| image =

| name = Titos Vandis

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|11|7|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Piraeus, Greece

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2003|2|23|1917|11|7|df=yes}}

| death_place = Athens, Greece

| occupation = Actor

| yearsactive = 1953–2000

}}

Titos Vandis ({{langx|el|Τίτος Βανδής}}; 7 November 1917 – 23 February 2003) was a Greek actor.

Biography

Vandis began his career on the Greek stage in the late 1930s.{{cite book |last1=Lentz III |first1=Harris |title=Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2003 |date=2004 |publisher=McFarland & Co. |location=Jefferson, NC |isbn=0-7864-1756-0 |page=413}} In 1962, he won the Best Actor award for the film Poliorkia at the Thessaloniki International Film Festival.{{cite book |last1=Schuster |first1=Mel |title=The Contemporary Greek Cinema |date=1979 |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |location=Metuchen, New Jersey |page=317}}{{cite news |title=Just In Time . . . |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/464181686/ |access-date=December 26, 2020 |work=Daily News |location=New York, New York |date=October 3, 1962}} Vandis left Greece when a dictatorship took power and lived in the United States for 24 years.{{cite journal|last=Savvas|first=Minas|title=Hellenic Happenings|journal=Greek - American Review|date=31 March 2003}}

Vandis appeared in over 250 plays before making his Broadway debut{{cite news |title=Greek Film Star Will Make Debut |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=13 July 1965}} in the Tony-nominated musical On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965). He originated the role of Themistocles Kriakos, a Greek shipping magnate who believed in reincarnation and planned to leave his fortune to his future self.{{cite AV media notes |title=On A Clear Day You Can See Forever |year=1965 |type=CD booklet |publisher=RCA Victor |location=New York, NY}} Boston Globe critic Kevin Kelly wrote that Vandis played the role with "marvellous finesse" and that the character was "rather like Zorba as a businessman with $4 million."{{cite news|last=Kelly|first=Kevin|title=Lerner-Lane Musical Bright, But Too Complex|newspaper=Boston Globe|date=8 September 1965}}

Vandis was in the original Broadway cast and led the title song in Illya Darling (1967), a musical based on his film Never on Sunday (1960).{{cite book|last1=Mordden|first1=Ethan|title=Open a New Window: The Broadway Musical in the 1960s|date=2001|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=0312239521|page=227}}{{cite news|last1=Oppenheimer|first1=George|title='Illya' an Olympian Hit, Then Comes the 2nd Act|work=Newsday|date=12 April 1967}} The title character Illya was a carefree Greek prostitute. Newsday critic George Oppenheimer wrote, "Major credit goes to Titos Vandis for his playing of Illya's oldest client, who sings and dances as rousingly as the youngsters{{nbsp}}..." Vandis reprised his role in a Westbury Music Fair production in 1968. Newsday critic Murry Frymer wrote that Vandis "...{{nbsp}}is delightfully authentic. In fact, he's better than that. Vandis has been in both the film Never on Sunday and the Broadway production of Illya Darling and he's not tired of it at all. His portrayal was fresh and kept bringing the affair back to the colorful gayety that bubbled through the motion picture."{{cite news|last1=Frymer|first1=Murry|title='Illya' in Westbury|work=Newsday|date=26 June 1968}}

In 1970 Vandis joined the cast of Man of La Mancha as Sancho Panza at the Martin Beck Theater.{{cite book|last1=Guernsey|first1=Otis|title=The Burns Mantle Theater Yearbook: The Best Plays of 1969-1970|date=1970|publisher=Dodd Mead|page=390}}{{cite news |title=A New Sancho |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/492672455/ |access-date=December 26, 2020 |work=The Record|location=Hackensack, New Jersey |date=May 20, 1970}} He also played the title role in the musical Zorba at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ. Critic W. C. Flahault wrote, "His portrayal of the Greek vagabond with an eye for the girls has an earthiness which brings reality to the role."{{cite news |last1=Flahault |first1=W. C. |title='Zorba' Gay and Tuneful |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/539832210/ |access-date=December 26, 2020 |work=The Item of Millburn and Short Hills |location=Millburn, New Jersey |date=December 3, 1970}}

In 1972 Vandis played an uneducated coal miner on Ironside who sought Ironside's help in discovering the murderer of his daughter. He admitted "that drama was easier for him than the musical stage." Vandis said, "I suppose this part can be considered a change of pace for me, but as an actor, I find myself considering each role I play as a separate entity{{nbsp}}... During the days of my early training, I often played old men; in fact, I relished the opportunities. Today, of course, as I grow older, I wish the positions were reversed!"{{cite news |title=Titos Changes For 'Ironside' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/230854420/ |access-date=December 26, 2020 |work=Fort Lauderdale News |location=Fort Lauderdale, FL |date=December 1, 1972}}

That same year, he appeared in the Woody Allen film Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask) as Milos Stavros, an Armenian shepherd who was in love with a sheep.{{cite web|title=AFI Catalog of Feature Films|url=http://www.afi.com/members/catalog/DetailView.aspx?s=&Movie=54496|website=afi.com|publisher=American Film Institute|accessdate=21 March 2015}} In The Exorcist (1973), he played the uncle of protagonist Father Damien Karras. Vandis wore a hat in one shot that obscured his face, as director William Friedkin felt that Vandis's face would be connected with his previous role as Milos.{{cite book|last1=Clagett|first1=Thomas|title=William Friedkin: Films of Aberration, Obsession, and Reality|date=1990|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|location=Jefferson, NC|isbn=0-89950-262-8|pages=113–114}}

Vandis had a recurring role in the detective series Baretta (1975-1978), having appeared in four episodes,{{cite book|last1=Abbott|first1=Jon|title=Stephen J. Cannell Television Productions: A History of All Series and Pilots|date=2009|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|location=Jefferson, NC|isbn=978-0-7864-4173-0|pages=75–81}} and guest-starred alongside Hulk Hogan in The A-Team episode "Body Slam" (1985-1986 season).Abbott, pp. 152-153. His other TV appearances have included Trapper John, MD, M*A*S*H, The Odd Couple, Kojak, Barney Miller, Wonder Woman, Newhart, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.{{cite book |last1=Solomonson |first1=Ed |last2=O'Neill |first2=Mark |title=TV's M*A*S*H: The Ultimate Guide Book |chapter=Broadcast/Production Order - Season 1|date=2015 |publisher=BearManor Media |location=Albany, Georgia |isbn=9781593935016}}

Selected filmography

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References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • {{IMDB name|0888937|Titos Vandis}}
  • {{IBDB name}}

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Category:1917 births

Category:2003 deaths

Category:Greek male film actors

Category:Male actors from Thessaloniki

Category:Greek expatriates in the United States

Category:Greek male stage actors

Category:Greek male television actors

Category:20th-century Greek male actors