Michael Cacoyannis (Greek: Μιχάλης Κακογιάννης, ; 11 June 1921 – 25 July 2011) was a Greek Cypriot director, screenwriter, filmmaker, producer, playwright, actor, and lawyer. He is best known for writing, directing, producing, and editing Zorba the Greek (1964), an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' novel of the same name. He also directed the 1983 Broadway revival of the musical based on the film in addition to writing, directing, designing, and translating dozens of stage play and opera productions.
Cacoyannis was nominated for five Academy Awards, more than any other Cypriot: three of the nominations were for Zorba the Greek (Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay) whilst the other two were Best Foreign Language Film nominations for Electra (1962) and Iphigenia (1977). He received many other accolades, including the Technical Grand Prize and six Palme d'Or nominations at the Cannes Film Festival.
Cacoyannis was born Michalis Kakogiannis in on 11 June 1921 in Limassol, which was then part of British Cyprus. His father, Panayotis Loizou Cacoyannis, had been knighted in King Edward VIII's 1936 Birthday Honours for public services in Cyprus. His sister, Stella Soulioti, became a politician.
In 1939, Cacoyannis was sent to London by his father to become a lawyer; however, after graduating from law school, he joined the BBC World Service and soon took charge of its new Cyprus Service. His deputy there was Beba Clerides, sister of Glafkos Clerides, a Royal Air Force fighter pilot who later became President of Cyprus. After producing Greek-language programmes for the World Service during World War II, he enjoyed a brief stage acting career under the name Michael Yannis at The Old Vic before he began pursuing a filmmaking career. After having trouble finding a directing job in the British film industry, he moved to Athens in 1952 to instead work in the Greek film industry, where he soon made his directorial debut with Windfall in Athens (1953).
Cacoyannis' film Electra (1962) received an Academy Award nomination Best Foreign Language Film. His most notable work came when he wrote, directed, produced, and edited the film Zorba the Greek (1964), an adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' novel of the same name, which earned him nominations for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. His film Iphigenia (1977) also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, bringing his Academy Award nominations to a total of five, more than any other Cypriot. His other accolades included the Technical Grand Prize and six Palme d'Or nominations at the Cannes Film Festival. He was offered the chance to direct Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando in the film Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), but he declined and the job went to American filmmaker John Huston.
Cacoyannis translated some of William Shakespeare's plays such as Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, and Hamlet into Greek, and Euripides' play The Bacchae into English. He directed the 1983 Broadway revival of the musical based on the film in addition to writing, directing, designing, and translating dozens of stage play and opera productions.
From 1959 to 1967, Cacoyannis was in a relationship with Israeli politician and author Yael Dayan, with whom he lived in Athens.
Cacoyannis died in Athens on 25 July 2011 at the age of 89.
Cacoyiannis, Michael. Diladi. Athens: Kastaniotis, 1990.
Festival Kinimatografou Thessalonikis. Michalis Kakogiannis. Athens: Kastaniotis, 1995.
Georgakas, Dan. "From Stella to Iphigenia: The Woman-Centered Films of Michael Cacoyannis." Cineaste 30(2), 2005: pp. 24–31.
"Personality of the Month." Films and Filming, July 1960: p. 5.
Siafkos, Christos. Michalis Kakogiannis: Se Proto Plano. Athens: Psychogios, 2009.
Michael Cacoyannis at the Internet Broadway Database
Michael Cacoyannis at the Internet Off-Broadway Database (archived)