Tzeni Karezi: Remembering the Legendary Greek Actress 33 Years After Her Death

Beautiful Greek actress Tzeni was born on January 12, 1932, and passed away on July 27, 1992. More than three decades after her death, she remains one of Greece’s most beloved and celebrated actresses, leaving behind a remarkable legacy in cinema, theatre and philanthropy.

Also known as Jenny Karezi, she is regarded as one of the greatest stars of Greek cinema and one of the country’s most successful performers of all time.

Born Evgenia Karpouzi in Athens, Karezi was raised in an intellectual household. Her father was a mathematician and her mother a high school teacher. She spent part of her childhood in Thessaloniki, where she attended a private French school run by nuns and became fluent in French. Her parents later separated, and she was raised by her mother. She would not see her father again until shortly before his death in a car accident in 1971.

In 1951, Karezi was accepted into the Drama School of the Greek National Theatre, where she began honing the talent that would make her a household name throughout Greece.

She made her stage debut at the Marika Kotopouli Theatre in the French comedy La Belle Hélène, appearing alongside Melina Mercouri and Vasilis Diamantopoulos. Her film debut came in 1955 with Laterna, Ftoheia kai Filotimo, which became a major box-office success and was followed by the equally popular sequel, Laterna, Ftoheia kai Garyfallo, in 1957.

For the soundtrack of the 1959 film To Nisi ton Gennaion, Karezi recorded Min Ton Rotas Ton Ourano, composed by the future Academy Award-winning composer Manos Hadjidakis.

The 1960s marked the golden era of her career. In 1961, she established her own theatre troupe and went on to star in some of the most iconic films of Greek cinema, including Lola (1964), Mia Trelli… Trelli Oikogeneia (1965), Tzeni-Tzeni (1966), and Kontserto gia Polyvola (1967).

Perhaps her greatest cinematic achievement was her starring role in Ta Kokkina Fanaria (The Red Lanterns, 1963), which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, introducing Greek cinema to international audiences.

Her final film appearance came in Lysistrata (1972). During the following decade, she devoted much of her career to the theatre, producing and starring in acclaimed productions including Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Medea and Electra. Her final stage appearance was in 1990 in Diamonds and the Blues. By then, Karezi was battling terminal breast cancer and was forced to leave the production due to the severe pain caused by her illness.

Her personal life was equally eventful. In the early 1960s, she married journalist Zahos Hadjifotiou, although the marriage lasted only two years. In 1967, while filming Kontserto gia Polyvola, she met actor Kostas Kazakos. The two would become one of Greece’s most beloved artistic couples and welcomed their only child, Konstantinos Kazakos.

Together, they brought more intellectually and politically charged productions to the Greek stage. During the military dictatorship, they were arrested and imprisoned for several days following performances of To Megalo Mas Tsirko (Our Big Circus) in 1973, a play widely regarded as a powerful act of resistance against the junta.

Tzeni Karezi passed away on July 27, 1992, at the age of 60 following her battle with cancer. Thousands of mourners attended her public funeral as Greece bid farewell to one of its brightest cultural icons.

Before her death, Karezi expressed her wish that palliative care become better known and more widely available so that those suffering from terminal illnesses could spend their final days with dignity and comfort. Her dream was realised after her passing with the establishment of the Tzeni Karezi Foundation, which continues to support patients requiring palliative care.

More than 30 years after her death, Tzeni Karezi remains a towering figure of Greek culture. Her films continue to captivate new generations, while her courage, artistic brilliance and humanitarian legacy ensure that she will never be forgotten.

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