Míkis Theodorakis
Born: 1925-07-29 in Chios, Greece
Died: 2021-09-02
Known For: Sound
Biography
Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis (Greek: Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης,29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films Zorba the Greek (1964), Z (1969), and Serpico (1973). He was a three time BAFTA nominee, winning for Z. For the score in the movie Serpico (1973), he earned Grammy nominations. Furthermore, for the unforgettable score to Zorba the Greek (1964), with its ‘Zorba’s Dance’, he was Golden Globe nominated. He composed the "Mauthausen Trilogy", also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen", which has been described as the "most beautiful musical work ever written about the Holocaust" and possibly his best work.Up until his death, he was viewed as Greece's best-known living composer. He was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize. Politically, he was associated with the left because of his long-standing ties to the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). He was an MP for the KKE from 1981 to 1990. Despite this however, he ran as an independent candidate within the centre-right New Democracy party in 1989, in order for the country to emerge from the political crisis that had been created due to the numerous scandals of the government of Andreas Papandreou. He helped establish a large coalition between conservatives, socialists and leftists. In 1990 he was elected to the parliament (as in 1964 and 1981), became a government minister under Konstantinos Mitsotakis, and fought against drugs and terrorism and for culture, education and better relations between Greece and Turkey. He continued to speak out in favour of leftist causes, Greek–Turkish–Cypriot relations, and against the War in Iraq. He was a key voice against the 1967–1974 Greek junta, which imprisoned him and banned his songs.
Filmography
2024
- Milva, diva per sempre as Himself
2023
- An Buachaill Geal Gáireach/The Laughing Boy as (Archive footage)
2017
- Dance Fight Love Die: With Mikis On the Road as Mikis Theodorakis
2010
- Mikis Theodorakis. Composer as Self
2008
- The Stubborn Donkey ... (Thanks)
2006
- Ein Lied für Argyris as Himself
2004
- An All-Weather Man as Self
2001
- Δροσουλίτες ... (Sound)
- The Seventh Sun of Love ... (Music)
2000
- Beware of Greeks Bearing Guns ... (Original Music Composer)
- About Winds and Waters ... (Sound)
1986
- Greece: The Hidden War ... (Music)
1983
- Athens, Return to the Acropolis ... (Original Music Composer)
1979
- An Uncompromising Man ... (Music)
1977
- Iphigenia ... (Original Music Composer)
1975
- Letters from Marusia ... (Original Music Composer)
- Songs of Fire as Self
- The Secret Carrier ... (Original Music Composer)
- Evidence as Self
1974
1973
- Serpico ... (Original Music Composer)
- The Hunchback ... (Sound)
- The Battle of Sutjeska ... (Music)
1972
- Le Grand Échiquier as Self
- State of Siege ... (Original Music Composer)
1971
- Samedi soir as Self
- Biribi ... (Music)
- The Trojan Women ... (Original Music Composer)
- Nausicaa ... (Music)
1969
- Z ... (Original Music Composer)
1968
- The Lost Generation ... (Original Music Composer)
- Punisher ... (Original Music Composer)
1967
- The Day the Fish Came Out ... (Original Music Composer)
1966
- From Greece ... (Music)
- A Bullet Through the Heart ... (Original Music Composer)
1964
- Zorba the Greek ... (Original Music Composer)
1962
- Phaedra ... (Original Music Composer)
- Electra ... (Original Music Composer)
- Five Miles to Midnight ... (Original Music Composer)
- The Lovers of Teruel ... (Original Music Composer)
1961
- Synoikia to Oneiro ... (Music)
- The Shadow of the Cat ... (Conductor)
1959
- Honeymoon ... (Music)
1957
- Ill Met by Moonlight ... (Original Music Composer)