Andreas Filippides(1919-1989)

Andreas Filippidis was a Greek actor whose career encompassed theater, cinema, radio and television. The son of musical theater actor Manos Filippidis and actress Hrysoula Pateraki, he graduated from the National Theatre Drama School while also completing his studies at the University of Athens Law School. He made his stage debut in 1943 with Katerina Andreadi's company in Eugene O'Neill's "Strange Interlude", appearing alongside established performers including Vaso Manolidou, Mary Aroni, Giorgos Pappas and Dimitris Horn. From 1946 to 1957, he held leading roles with the National Theatre, later working with the State Theatre of Northern Greece and the Free Theatre. He also headed his own theatrical company for several years and directed works by major playwrights including Anton Chekhov, Molière and Grigorios Xenopoulos. For two decades, he taught at the Theodosiadis Drama School, contributing to the training of younger actors. He appeared in numerous Greek films and also maintained a substantial presence in radio and television. After the restoration of democracy in Greece, he was elected vice president of the Greek Actors' Union. Outside acting, Filippidis was an accomplished chess player and won the first Greek Actors' Chess Championship in 1973. In 1987, he hosted Tyheri skakiera (1987), a short-lived chess-themed television game show on ERT2 that ended after six episodes.