Smaragda Karidi made her first social media post after the death of her father.
Dinos Karidis passed away on Sunday at the age of 85, with the news of his death being announced by Spyros Bibilas.
The actor had been diagnosed with cancer in the early 2010s and suffered a heart attack in 2018 during the large rally for the Prespa Agreement, which required him to have a pacemaker implanted.
His daughter, wanting to honor his memory publicly, made a post for him on her personal Instagram account.
Specifically, Smaragda Karidi posted a snapshot from her childhood, where as a baby she is in her father’s arms and kissing him.
See the photo:
The news of his death was shared through a Facebook post by Spyros Bibilas.
“Dear friend, good night forever! You were one of the sweetest people I knew and always called me your niece since we met at the ERT studios in 1980. We loved each other and were united by deep family friendship. Your talent and humor were boundless! Your love for all of us, especially for Julia and Smaragda, was immense. And Smaragda is a worthy daughter of such parents. We will always love you and will say goodbye to you on Tuesday at 1:30 PM from the Zografou cemetery. Have a good trip, our beloved ‘Dinos,’ and heartfelt condolences to your two beloved creatures,” writes Spyros Bibilas in his post.
Who Was Dinos Karidis
His acting talent unfolded on the big screen, in theater, and in television series. Through a range of roles, he skillfully showcased his phlegmatic humor and clever lines.
For many, during his youth, when he was beginning to conquer the world of art, he was the blonde actor alongside the late Aliki Vougiouklaki, as the two actors appeared together in the classic film “Aliki in the Navy.”
In fact, regarding his notable collaborations with Aliki Vougiouklaki and Jenny Karezi, he had said in an interview:
“In the film ‘Aliki in the Navy,’ when we did the parade scene, she brought the gun to my face and almost shot my eye out. She told me, ‘Dinos, be careful, I’ll bring the gun to your eye, so move a little back.’ We communicated and it happened that way. Everyone thinks it was an accident. I’m saying this for the first time. I remember when I went and saw Jenny Karezi in front of me, I was amazed by her eyes. She hadn’t found Kazakos yet. Karezi’s eyes were incredible, and I’ll never forget how impressed I was. She was already a star.”
Dinos Karidis was born in Athens, was a graduate of the Athens Drama School, and first appeared in theater with the pioneering troupe of Dodekatis Avlia in Giorgos Andritsos’ play “The Snail,” directed by Giorgos Giannisis.
During the same period, he participated in the iconic performance of Hadjidakis-Argyraki-Horn, “Odysseas Dreams,” directed by Alexis Solomos.
From his retirement from 1966 to 1982, he collaborated with most of the theater troupes in Athens.
In 1983, along with his wife Julia Argyropoulou and other lovers of modern Greek drama, he founded the Free Stage. In its over twenty-year career, the Free Stage successfully presented works of significant Greek playwrights in Athens and the wider region.
In the meantime, he collaborated with various theater groups, including D.H.P.E. of Agrinio, Volos, Veria, Serres, Modern Theater, Petros Filippidis’ troupe, Open Theater, Pemi Zouni’s troupe, Amphiareio Iros Moukios, F.S. Production of F. Synodinou and V. Panagopoulos, and the Theatrical Estia, among others.
He also participated in films, television series, episodes of “Theater of Monday” on ERT, theater-like radio shows, and dubbed television series.
He also taught at Drama Schools.
He collaborated with Aliki Vougiouklaki in several films, including “Aliki in the Navy,” “Double Penies,” “My Daughter the Socialist,” “Lieutenant Natasha,” and appeared alongside Jenny Karezi in “Erotic Symphony” and “Manto Mavrogenous.”
On television, his most well-known works were “Unknown War,” “Meneuxedonia Politeia,” “The Cry of the Wolves,” “The Death of Timotheos Konstantas,” “Due to Honor,” and more.
Dinos Karidis’ Reflection on His Difficult Childhood
In a poor neighborhood on the slopes of Gkizi, Yiannis and Smaragda Karidis proudly hold their son Dinos. They are poor, very poor, but full of love.
“I grew up in a chicken coop, with the fear of the landlord coming to ask for the rent when we didn’t have the money to pay. We lived in an inhumane 2×3 room with dirt on the floor instead of tiles, and when it rained, we had to go outside to avoid getting wet because the cardboard roof leaked. I fear hunger. I lived with this phobia as a child and I still carry it. My mother dragged me from soup kitchen to soup kitchen, and as irrational as it sounds, I can’t overcome these experiences.
The fear of hunger still comes back as a nightmare. That’s why I didn’t dare pursue bigger things in my career and always settled for crumbs, hoping not to lose even those,” he had confessed in an interview, describing in a cinematic way the difficult years of his childhood. These experiences always follow us, sketching in an indeterminate way the continuation of our lives.
Despite the difficulties, Yiannis and Smaragda Karidis managed to endow their son with the two essential qualities that make a truly good person: dignity and love, something that the great actor never forgets to mention whenever reflecting on the past:
“My parents, two orphaned children, might not have had material goods to offer, but they gave me the gift of dignity and taught me to place love as the dominant player in the game of life. I remember the first gift my father gave me was a piece of bread with butter, and I turned around in surprise and asked him, ‘Is all of this mine?’
I also remember that in first grade, I had a crush on a little girl named Stella, just because she wore… patent leather shoes. I remember asking Santa Claus for a bike, which he never brought.”
When He Talked About His Health Problems
In an interview in 2021, Dinos Karidis spoke about his love for theater and the health problems that kept him away from the art he loved.
“It saddens me that I am far from what I loved so much, the theatrical stage. Every night I dream that I am performing in theater. Every night, without exaggeration. When I get better, I plan to return to acting. I want to perform ‘Romeo and Juliet… at 80’ and hope I can achieve that.”
“I’m not well [health-wise]… I have a pacemaker and don’t walk, but I stagger. The love I receive from people keeps me standing.”
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