Manos Filippidis(1897-1948)

Manos Filippidis was a Greek actor, writer, and theatrical entrepreneur who became one of the leading figures of Greek musical theater and revue during the first half of the 20th century. Coming from a theatrical family, he was the son of actor Andreas Filippidis and Fotini Dikaiou, and the brother of actress Marika Filippidou. According to accounts from the period, he was already assisting theater companies as a copyist during his childhood while accompanying his father's troupe. He made his stage debut in 1917 with the company of legendary actress Marika Kotopouli and later collaborated with Giannis Papaioannou, one of the founders of the Greek operetta tradition, establishing himself as a prominent performer in musical theater. During the early 1930s he turned to revue theater, where he emerged as one of the genre's most recognizable actors and contributed to its wider establishment on the Greek stage. Over the years he worked with several major theater companies, became a troupe leader himself at a young age, and toured internationally. Beyond acting, Filippidis also wrote operettas including "Gynaika Diavolos", "Exofreniko spiti", and "O kleftis tis Vagdatis". His personal life was closely tied to the theater world through his marriages to actresses Hrysoula Pateraki, Nora Bastie, and Mary Flery, while his son Andreas Filippides also went on to become a well-known actor.