Irene Papas (Greek Ειρήνη Πάππας, born September 3, 1926 in Corinth) is a Greek-born actress who has starred in over seventy films in a career spanning more than fifty years.
She began her early career in Greece achieving widespread fame in that country before staring internationally renowned films such as The Guns of Navarone, Zorba the Greekand critically acclaimed films such as Z and Elektra.
Irene Papas in Z
She has recently been seen in the film, Captain Corellis Mandolin and is currently working in theatre in Portugal.
Federico Fellini was a huge admirerer of her work.
She was a close friend of Katharine Hepburn, with whom she co-starred in The Trojan Women. Hepburn once said that Papas was "one of the best actresses in the history of cinema".
One of the more unusual moments in Papas' career came in 1970, when she guested on the album 666 by Greek rock group Aphrodite's Child on the track 8 (infinity symbol). She chants "I was, I am, I am to come" repeatedly and wildly over a percussive backing. The track was considered lewd by record company executives, and resulted in the album being withheld from release for two years by Polydor Records. Upon its release in 1972, the song caused some furor in Greece and was again accused of lewdness and indecency by Greek religious figures and government authorities.
Quotations
"Falling in love is like death... they are both facts".
