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Katína Paxinoú is a Actor Grecque born on 17 december 1900 at Piraeus (Grece)

Katína Paxinoú

Katína Paxinoú
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Birth name Ekateríni Konstantopoúlou(Αικατερίνη Κωνσταντοπούλου)
Nationality Grece
Birth 17 december 1900 at Piraeus (Grece)
Death 22 february 1973 (at 72 years) at Athens (Grece)
Awards Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Katina Paxinou (Greek: Κατίνα Παξινού; 17 December 1900 – 22 February 1973) was a Greek film and stage actress.

She started her stage career in Greece in 1928 and was one of the founding members of the National Theatre of Greece in 1932. The outbreak of World War II found her in the United Kingdom and she later moved to the United States, where she made her film debut in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Paxinou appeared in a few more Hollywood films, before returning to Greece in the early 1950s. She then focused on her stage career and appeared in European films. She died in 1973, after a long-term battle with cancer.

Biography

Après des études musicales à Genève, Berlin et Vienne, Katína Paxinoú s'essaie comme chanteuse d'opéra dans les années 1920 (avec un premier rôle, en 1920, à la création d'un opéra de Dimitri Mitropoulos). Assez vite, elle renonce à la musique pour se consacrer au théâtre, où elle débute à Athènes en 1928 (à noter que son nom d'actrice résulte d'un premier et bref mariage avec Ioannis Paxinos). En 1929, elle intègre le Théâtre national de Grèce (alors dénommé Théâtre Royal de Grèce) à Athènes, où elle rencontre son futur second époux, l'acteur et metteur en scène Alexis Minotis (1898-1990). Elle se produit entre autres, et jusqu'à la fin de sa carrière, dans des pièces d'Henrik Ibsen, William Shakespeare, Eugene O'Neill et, bien entendu, dans les tragédies grecques : d'ailleurs, lors d'une tournée de la troupe aux États-Unis, en 1930-1931, elle joue notamment à Broadway (New York), dans Électre de Sophocle. Lorsque la Seconde Guerre mondiale éclate, les époux Minotis — ils se marient en 1940 —, alors en tournée à Londres (Royaume-Uni), décident d'émigrer aux États-Unis. Ainsi, l'actrice est choisie pour interpréter Pilar dans Pour qui sonne le glas (sorti en 1943), son premier film (hollywoodien) et l'un de ses plus connus ; quatre autres films américains suivront jusqu'en 1949. Auparavant, elle joue de nouveau à Broadway, en 1942 et 1944.

En 1950, les époux Minotis reviennent s'installer en Grèce et y poursuivent leurs activités théâtrales, notamment au sein du Théâtre national de Grèce. En 1952, Katína Paxinoú est la compositrice d'une musique de scène, pour la tragédie Œdipe roi de Sophocle (celle-ci est présentée la même année à Broadway, où l'actrice était déjà retournée en 1951, avant un dernier rôle en 1961). Et en 1959, elle participe à son ultime film américain, Quand la terre brûle . Outre le cinéma américain, elle apparaît dans des films français et italiens, Dossier secret d'Orson Welles en 1955 (coproduction européenne), un film britannique en 1947 et un seul film grec en 1965, pour un total de quatorze films — voire quinze : cf. Filmographie et Note (référence) ci-après —, jusqu'en 1970. En 1972, atteinte d'un cancer qui allait l'emporter l'année suivante, elle fait sa dernière apparition au théâtre, dans Mère Courage et ses enfants de Bertolt Brecht.

En marge de ses prestations au cinéma et au théâtre, l'actrice joue également pour la télévision (américaine et britannique), entre 1952 et 1970 (quatre séries et un téléfilm), sans compter deux documentaires.

Pour son premier film américain pré-cité, Katína Paxinoú gagne en 1944 un Golden Globe Award et un Oscar, tous deux dans la catégorie du meilleur second rôle féminin. De plus, une étoile lui est dédiée sur le Walk of Fame d'Hollywood Boulevard.

Best films

For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls
(1943)
(Actress) Rocco and His Brothers
Rocco and His Brothers
(1960)
(Actress)

Usually with

Orson Welles
Orson Welles
(3 films)
Dudley Nichols
Dudley Nichols
(2 films)
Akim Tamiroff
Akim Tamiroff
(3 films)
Bertram C. Granger
Bertram C. Granger
(3 films)
Mikhail Rasumny
Mikhail Rasumny
(3 films)
Source : Wikidata

Filmography of Katína Paxinoú (14 films)

Display filmography as list

Actress

A Savage Summer
A Savage Summer (1970)
, 1h35
Directed by Alain Corneau, Marcel Camus
Origin France
Genres Drama
Actors Daniel Beretta, Nino Ferrer, Katína Paxinoú, Juliet Berto, Albert Augier, Jacques Legras
Rating61% 3.0832953.0832953.0832953.0832953.083295
Prise en auto-stop par Serge, Sylvie se rend sur la Côte d'Azur afin de rejoindre un groupe de jeunes en vacances improvisées. Serge y fait la connaissance de Helle.
The Island of Aphrodite
The Island of Aphrodite (1969)
, 1h20
Directed by George Skalenakis
Origin Grece
Genres Drama, War
Actors Katína Paxinoú, Anne Lonnberg, George Skalenakis, Stavros Xenidis
Roles Lambrini
Rating70% 3.5022753.5022753.5022753.5022753.502275
Un membre de l'Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston, groupe de résistance chypriote contre la présence britannique, est arrêté par les autorités militaires. En représailles, ses compagnons d'armes enlèvent le fils d'une Anglaise (Zorz Sarri), amie du gouverneur de l'île. Le résistant est pendu. Cependant, sa mère (Katína Paxinoú) interdit que l'otage soit pendu à son tour.
Zita
Zita (1968)
, 1h45
Directed by Robert Enrico, Philippe Fourastié, Bernard Queysanne
Origin France
Genres Drama
Actors Joanna Shimkus, Katína Paxinoú, Bernard Fresson, José-Maria Flotats, Paul Crauchet, Roger Ibáñez
Roles Aunt Zita
Rating65% 3.2695553.2695553.2695553.2695553.269555
Tante Zita est à l'agonie. Annie (Joanna Shimkus), adolescente parisienne, et sa mère se relaient à son chevet. Annie n'en peut plus, elle a peur de la mort, et s'enfuit dans la nuit au gré des rencontres.
The Trial
The Trial (1962)
, 2h
Directed by Orson Welles
Origin German
Genres Drama, Crime
Themes Political films, Dystopian films
Actors Anthony Perkins, Orson Welles, Jeanne Moreau, Romy Schneider, Akim Tamiroff, Elsa Martinelli
Roles la savante (rôle supprimé au montage final)
Rating75% 3.797673.797673.797673.797673.79767
Josef K. (Anthony Perkins) is sleeping in his bedroom, in an apartment he shares with other lodgers. He is awakened when a man in a suit opens his bedroom door. Josef assumes the glib man is a policeman, but the intruder does not identify himself and ignores Josef's demand to produce police ID. Several detectives enter and tell Josef he is under open arrest. In another room Josef K. sees three co-workers from his place of employment; they are there to provide evidence regarding some unstated crime. The police refuse to inform Josef K. of his misdeeds, or if he is even being charged with a crime, and they do not take him into custody.
Rocco and His Brothers
Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
, 2h49
Directed by Luchino Visconti
Origin France
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime, Romance
Themes Films about sexuality, Sports films, Rape in fiction, Martial arts films, Boxing films, Le boxe anglaise
Actors Alain Delon, Renato Salvatori, Claudia Cardinale, Annie Girardot, Katína Paxinoú, Alessandra Panaro
Roles Rosaria Parondi
Rating81% 4.097794.097794.097794.097794.09779
After the death of his father, Rocco Parondi (Alain Delon), one of the five sons of a poor rural Italian family travels north from Lucania to join his older brother Vincenzo in Milan by the matriarch Rosaria(Katina Paxinou). She is the "hand to which the five fingers belong" as she states in the film and she has a powerful influence on her sons. Presented in five distinct sections, the film weaves the story of the five brothers Vincenzo, Simone, Rocco, Ciro and Luca Parondi as each of them adapt to their new lives in the city.
The Miracle
The Miracle (1959)
, 2h1
Directed by Irving Rapper
Genres Drama
Themes Films about religion, Films about sexuality, Films based on plays, Films about virginity
Actors Carroll Baker, Roger Moore, Walter Slezak, Vittorio Gassman, Katína Paxinoú, Gustavo Rojo
Roles La Roca
Rating59% 2.9548152.9548152.9548152.9548152.954815
Teresa (Carroll Baker), a postulant at the convent of Miraflores in Salamanca, Spain, is an orphan taken in by the sisters there. She enjoys the convent life, despite being a handful for her superiors. She sings worldly love songs to the other postulants and reads secular stories and plays such as Romeo and Juliet. Still, she has a lively devotion to Christ and to His Blessed Mother. A statue of the Madonna, in fact, is held in high regard by Teresa as she goes about her duties.
Mr. Arkadin
Mr. Arkadin (1955)
, 1h39
Directed by Orson Welles
Origin France
Genres Drama, Thriller, Crime
Themes Films set in Africa, Medical-themed films, Films about psychiatry, Films about disabilities
Actors Robert Arden, Paola Mori, Akim Tamiroff, Michael Redgrave, Patricia Medina, Orson Welles
Roles Sophie
Rating70% 3.547523.547523.547523.547523.54752
Guy Van Stratten, a small-time American smuggler working in Europe, is at the scene of the murder of a man named Bracco. The dying man whispers two names that he claims are very valuable, one of which is Gregory Arkadin. Using this small bit of information and lots of bluffing, Van Stratten manages to meet the apparent multi-millionaire business magnate and socialite Arkadin, and Arkadin then hires Van Stratten to research his own past, of which he claims to have no memory before 1927.
Prince of Foxes
Prince of Foxes (1949)
, 1h47
Directed by Henry King, Robert D. Webb
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Action, Adventure, Historical
Themes Children's films
Actors Tyrone Power, Orson Welles, Everett Sloane, Wanda Hendrix, Marina Berti, Katína Paxinoú
Roles Mona Zoppo
Rating68% 3.442813.442813.442813.442813.44281
In August 1500, Andrea Orsini (Tyrone Power), an artistic minor nobleman who is equally skilled with the brush, the sword, words, and women, serves the Machiavellian Prince Cesare Borgia (Orson Welles) as a soldier. Pleased with Andrea's ability to "follow my mind and keep his eyes fixed on the ultimate goal," Borgia selects Andrea to accomplish an intrigue: arrange the marriage of his widowed sister, Lucrezia (whose husband he has just had assassinated for the purpose), to Alfonso d'Este, the son of the Duke Ercole d'Este of Ferrara. By doing so, Borgia will remove Ferrara as an impediment to conquest of central Italy. In being selected, however, Andrea earns the enmity of Don Esteban (Leslie Bradley), an ambitious captain and rival.
Mourning Becomes Electra
Mourning Becomes Electra (1947)
, 2h53
Directed by Dudley Nichols
Origin USA
Genres Drama
Themes Films based on plays
Actors Rosalind Russell, Michael Redgrave, Raymond Massey, Katína Paxinoú, Leo Genn, Kirk Douglas
Roles Christine Mannon
Rating62% 3.1485953.1485953.1485953.1485953.148595
A wealthy New England family, the Mannons, await the return of patriarch Ezra, general for the Union in the Civil War, and son Orin, a timid young man before becoming an Army officer.
Uncle Silas
Uncle Silas (1947)

Origin United-kingdom
Genres Drama, Horror
Actors Jean Simmons, Katína Paxinoú, Derrick De Marney, Derek Bond, Esmond Knight, Marjorie Rhodes
Roles Madame de la Rougierre
Rating65% 3.2901753.2901753.2901753.2901753.290175
Caroline Ruthyn is the teenage niece of the her elderly uncle Silas, a sickly and at one time unbalanced man who becomes her guardian on the death of her father. The fact that Silas is broke and greedy and young Caroline is the heir to her father's vast fortune is reason enough for Caroline to be wary, but her fears increase when she meets Silas's perverted son and when she discovers that her fearsome former governess, Madame de la Rougierre, is working with her uncle...
Confidential Agent
Confidential Agent (1945)
, 1h58
Directed by Herman Shumlin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Spy
Themes Spy films, Political films
Actors Charles Boyer, Lauren Bacall, Peter Lorre, Victor Francen, Wanda Hendrix, George Coulouris
Roles Mrs. Melandez
Rating64% 3.243093.243093.243093.243093.24309
In the midst of the Spanish Civil War, Luis Denard (Charles Boyer), a former concert pianist, travels to England as a confidential agent of the Republican government. His mission is to buy coal in order to deny it to the Fascist rebels. On the ship he meets rich girl Rose Cullen (Lauren Bacall), whose father, Lord Benditch (Holmes Herbert), heads the firm with which Denard will negotiate.
For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
, 2h50
Directed by Sam Wood
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War, Thriller, Adventure, Historical, Romance
Themes Political films
Actors Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Joseph Calleia, Katína Paxinoú, Arturo de Córdova
Roles Pilar
Rating67% 3.3971853.3971853.3971853.3971853.397185
During the Spanish Civil War, an American (Gary Cooper), who is allied with the republicans, gets involved in a mission to blow up an important bridge.
Hostages
Hostages (1943)

Directed by Frank Tuttle
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War
Actors Luise Rainer, Arturo de Córdova, William Bendix, Paul Lukas, Katína Paxinoú, Oskar Homolka
Roles Maria
Rating66% 3.315913.315913.315913.315913.31591
A group of twenty-six Czechoslovakian citizens are jailed as hostages by the Gestapo until the supposed killer of a Nazi officer – who actually committed suicide – is turned in. The hostages include the leader of the underground resistance movement (William Bendix), whose cover is that of an apparently ignorant washroom attendant in the nightclub where the victim was last seen alive.
Hostages
Hostages (1943)

Directed by Frank Tuttle
Origin USA
Genres Drama, War
Actors Luise Rainer, Arturo de Córdova, William Bendix, Paul Lukas, Katína Paxinoú, Oskar Homolka
Roles Maria
Rating66% 3.315913.315913.315913.315913.31591
A group of 26 Czechoslovakian citizens are jailed as hostages by the Gestapo until the supposed killer of a Nazi officer – who actually committed suicide – is turned in. The hostages include the leader of the underground resistance movement (William Bendix), whose cover is that of an apparently ignorant washroom attendant in the nightclub where the victim was last seen alive.