It is 1959, and a 27-year-old young man leaves the National Theatre after having just attended the first theatrical performance of his life. “I came out of the theater and I was almost hit by cars. From the charm that had been exerted on me, I could not see where I was going,” he would confess decades later, trying to describe the unique feeling he experienced during his first contact with the art to which he would eventually devote himself completely.

The young man was Angelos Antonopoulos, the actor who left an indelible mark on the theater stage, as well as the small and big screen with his performances, and who passed away at the age of 94, full of years and experience, discreetly and quietly, as he had moved through his entire earthly life. Timelessly courteous, charming without having the classic features of a leading man, highly expressive and with great acting abilities that allowed him to fully embody each character he portrayed, he always managed to captivate audiences and win them over not only in leading roles but also in supporting ones.

After that first, overwhelming theatrical experience of his, his steps led him to the Drama School of the Art Theatre of Karolos Koun, where he would learn the secrets of acting from one of the greatest masters of the field. However, conditions were far from easy. Having lost his father at a young age, there was no one to support him financially, so he had to work in order to make a living as well as pay for his studies. He therefore worked as a taxi driver, and on cold winter nights he would read Shakespeare in the taxi while waiting for his passengers to finish their entertainment.

When he graduated from drama school, he was already over 30, a relatively advanced age for someone who wanted to become an actor. Most of his peers already had several years of career behind them. His passion, however, and his deep love for the art of acting were strong, as was his determination.

And thus his theatrical journey began, alongside Karolos Koun initially, and later Dimitris Myrat, leading him through an early, highly rich decade in theatre, coming into contact with and measuring himself against great classical works by Shakespeare, Chekhov, and Brecht. He would remain active in theatre almost until the end of his life, performing roles from an extremely wide repertoire.

He acted alongside all the great stars of cinema

Cinema entered his life at the age of 32, when his godmother and brilliant leading actress Jenny Karezi – who had also been the one to marry him to Ninetta Antonopoulou, daughter of the owner of a well-known bridal shop, whom he later divorced – suggested him for a small role in the comedy “Miss Director”.

From there began his significant cinematic career, during which he participated in approximately 30 films by the most renowned directors and screenwriters of the time, including Dinos Dimopoulos, Giannis Dalianidis, Vasilis Georgiadis, Errikos Andreou, and Giorgos Tzavellas, among others.

He was loved through his television roles

Although his cinematic career was long and successful, television was the medium that propelled Angelos Antonopoulos’ popularity, as in the 1970s he became one of the most beloved, prominent, and in-demand actors of the era, with the female audience discovering in his face a low-key, dignified, and exceptionally charming leading man.

The reason for all the above was the television series “The Unknown War”, with a screenplay by Nikos Foskolos and directed by Kostas Koutsomytis, in which he played Colonel Diagoras Vartanis. The series aired from 1971 and ran for three consecutive seasons, captivating television audiences who followed it obsessively, pushing viewership ratings to as high as 80% and even 90%!

In 1977, the equally popular “The Pantheoi” followed, in which Angelos Antonopoulos played the doctor Andreas Pantheos, whose beautiful wife Marmo—played by Kakia Analyti—would betray him, as she had fallen deeply in love with his young nephew Kitsos. This illicit love affair sparked a civil war within the domestic television audience, with half supporting it and the other half condemning it, defending the dignified and noble wronged husband.

Over the years, we also encountered Angelos Antonopoulos in other television series, such as “The Light of Dawn” by Errikos Andreou, with Koralia Karanti and Alberto Eskanazy, and the beloved “Madame Sousou”, where he played the “aristocrat”, the second husband of Anna Panagiotopoulou’s character, Minas Kantakouzenos, as well as later in “Dress Rehearsal” and “The Children of Niobe”, both directed by Kostas Koutsomytis.