Andréas Voutsinas

Andreas Voutsinas (Greek: Ανδρέας Βουτσινάς) was born on 22 August 1930 in Khartoum, then part of the Anglo‑Egyptian Sudan, to Greek parents from the Ionian island of Kefalonia. His family owned a pasta factory that allegedly supplied spaghetti to Italian forces during the Fascist invasion of Abyssinia, but the business collapsed during World II, prompting Voutsinas to relocate with his mother to Athens. In Athens he absorbed the rich traditions of Greek culture before moving to the United Kingdom to pursue formal training. He studied acting and costume design at the Old Vic School and later attended the Webber‑Douglas Academy, where he also explored drama and song. In 1957 he became a life‑member of the prestigious Actors Studio, marking the start of a prolific career that would span more than five decades. Voutsinas quickly established himself as both an actor and a director, directing over 130 productions across London, Paris, New York, Canada and Greece. He made his Broadway directorial debut in 1963 with "The Fun Couple", casting the then‑emerging Jane Fonda in the lead role. His association with Fonda led him to Hollywood, where he coached her on several films and later mentored other stars such as Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty. His friendship with Anne Bancroft, Mel Brooks’s wife, secured him memorable comic roles in three Brooks films, most famously as Carmen Ghia in The Producers (1967) and a turn as Bernaise in History of the World, Part I (1981). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s he founded the acting workshop Le Théâtre Des Cinquante in Paris, attracting numerous French talents, and continued directing plays ranging from Tennessee Williams to Euripides for the State Theatre of Northern Greece. In the 2000s he taught at the same institution, and after a stroke he opened the Superior Drama School Andreas Voutsinas in Thessaloniki. He died on 8 June 2010 in Athens after a respiratory infection, leaving a legacy as a versatile performer, dedicated educator and cross‑cultural bridge between Greek and international theatre.