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He lost the battle for life, after complications caused by coronavirus, actor Kostas Kleftogiannis, at the age of 75. He had starred in performances at the National Theatre, in films by Pantelis Voulgaris and had worked closely with Yannis Tsarouchis and many Greek stage directors.
The actor Kostas Kleftogiannis was born in Kalamata. He studied at the Drama School of Pellos Katseli (1969) and then attended theatre seminars in New York (Jim Frankel Workshop, 1969-1971).
He collaborated in Montreal, Canada with the "Greek Folk Theatre" and first appeared on stage in 1970, with N. Pergialis' play "The Night Song".
Returning to Greece in 1971, he played the role of Aemon in Sophocles' "Antigone" (Bournellis Theatre), and collaborated with Thanasis Papageorgiou's Stoa Theatre, where he portrayed Callimachus in Machiavelli's "Mandrake" and Enclave in L. Kouretzis' "Trapped". With the George Constantinos Theatre Company he played, among others, in "Manolakis the Bombardier" by A.Sakellarios. He continued with the company of Elsa Vergis (1973-1979), presenting and touring Zacopoulos' "Choro", the composition "Forms of ancient drama", "Medea" (Creon), Terzakis' "Theophanos", "Iphigenia in Taurus" (Pylades) and "Andromache" (Orestis).
With the company of Alice Georgoulis at the "Apothèque" theatre she performed in "Cazo Kliniko" by Bugatti (Mascherini) and in "The Comedy of the Bank" by Dürenmat. With the "Scene", directed by Lefteris Vogiatzis, he played the role of Platon Mikhailovich Boric in Grimboyedov's "Symphony from the Very Brain".
He worked with the company of Vassilis Mitsakis ("Antigone", where he played Aemon and "Alexander Delmuzos"). He worked for many years with the National Theatre in a wide range of repertoire, from Shakespeare (Antony in "Twelfth Night") and Aristophanes (Priest in "Pluto"), to Molière (Dubois in "Misanthrope"), Brecht (Inna in "Arturo Ui") and ancient tragedy. He played Xerxes in Aeschylus' "Persians" at Epidaurus, and Lieutenant Tasic in Dusan Kovacevic's "St. George Slays the Dragon". For the latter performance he was honoured at the Novi Sad Festival in Serbia by World War II veterans. Finally, he played, among other roles, Hephaestus in Aeschylus' "Prometheus Bound", directed - and with Prometheus - by Nikita Tsakiroglou. The performance had also travelled to Makronissos (1998).
In cinema, it was almost exclusively associated with Pantelis Voulgaris. He played in "Stone Years", starred in "Flannel with a 9" (Galantis), and in "Soul Deep" (Brigadier General of the National Army, Tsaglis/Tsakalotos), and participated in "Little England".
Kostas Kleftogiannis also played in Errikos Thalassinos' "Round of Death", in Yannis Prokova's "Krypto in Elassona" and in Joe Camp's American film "For the Love of Benzi".
In 1986, with the encouragement of Yannis Tsarouchis, who became his constant collaborator until his death, and with whom they planned to stage "Helen" (the great painter passed away and they did not have time to realize the plan), Kostas Kleftogiannis and his actress wife Atalanti Klapaki created the Athmonyo Theatre in Maroussi, with which, having, among other collaborators, the director Diagoras Chronopoulos and the composer Christos Leontis, they presented Koromilas' "The Luck of Maroula", Byzantios' "Womanhood" and Kapetanakis' "The General Secretary" in the scenography of the great painter. With Atalanti Klapakis the painter directed and staged "Stella Violanti" (1986-1989) for the Athmonios Theatre.
After a long participation in the Public and Culture of Maroussi, as vice-president of the Cultural Centre of the Municipality of Maroussi and then its artistic director, he organised summer festivals at the Anavryton Theatre, and turned the Municipality into an open-air sculpture gallery, with the works of our leading artists, as a tribute to the Maroussian Olympic champion Spyros Louis. At the same time, he curated an exhibition entitled "11 Greek painters create for Maroussi 2004 and the Olympic Idea" at the Municipal Gallery of the Municipality, in which the visual artists Panagiotis Gravalos collaborated, Vlasis Kaniaris, Christos Karas, Nikos Kessanlis, Yannis Migadis, Chronis Botsoglou, Dimitris Mytaras, Pavlos (Dionysopoulos), Kostas Tsoklis, Alekos Fassianos and Yannis Psychopedis.
He wrote the book "Tsarouchis", with works, testimonies and documents from his close collaboration with the great painter, while he was preparing, without having time to complete it, a monograph on the pioneer aviator, folklorist and Greek poet, Thanos Mourais Velloudios.
In 2000 he was producer and presenter of the radio show "Agathon to Exomologizithai", on ERA, where he anthologized texts by Yannis Tsarouchis. He had a passion for photography, especially black and white photography, and was a distinguished marathon runner.
His only daughter Ioanna Kleftogiannis is a journalist.
Statement by Pantelis Voulgaris
Informed of the death of Kostas Kleftogiannis, Pantelis Voulgaris said of his beloved actor:
"And Kostas! No. A good actor, a good partner, a good photographer, a good friend. We worked together on four films, but we also hung out a lot between film adventures. Saturday nights, in the cozy house of the Kleftoyannaians, at that time, in Maroussi. The company was large, all ages. Warmth was guaranteed. A nice man, gentle, modest. I admired his quality in his scene with Thanasis Vengo. We were in the mountains of Kastoria, in Mankowitz, in the cold and anxiety of filming. In Kleftogiannis' eyes, adoration and respect for Thanasis. When the eyes of the artists really meet, a real spark is lit. It was seen by those of us who were there, crew, extras and people who had come up from the city to watch the filming."
Source: in.gr
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