Giorgos Vasileiou(1950-2016)

Giorgos Vasileiou was a Greek actor of theater, cinema, and television. He grew up in Lamia, where as a child he worked various jobs to help support his family after his father's death. He was a gifted athlete, excelling in track and field and playing as a goalkeeper for the local football team, and at twenty-two he was offered a position with A.E.K. Athens F.C., though he chose to pursue acting instead. In 1967 he moved to Athens to study acting, working as a construction laborer and taxi driver to cover his expenses. He graduated with honors from the Drama School of Giorgos Bellos. On November 17, 1973, during the Polytechnic uprising, he met his future wife, Lia Thermogianni, then a law student, and was subsequently arrested and brutally beaten by the military junta. The couple married four years later and had two children. Vasileiou performed alongside major figures of Greek theater and cinema, including Thanasis Vengos, Rena Vlahopoulou, and Stathis Psaltis. In the early 1990s, he met director Nikos Foskolos, whom he regarded as a mentor and father figure. Foskolos entrusted him with significant roles, most notably that of Stathis Theoharis in the daily television series Kalimera zoi (1993), which brought him widespread recognition. He also worked extensively in voice acting for dubbing and children's productions, and taught at the Drama School of Mary Vogiatzi-Traga. In 2004, he was elected to the Greek Parliament as a member of New Democracy, representing the B' Piraeus constituency, a role he held until 2007. He later joined the Democratic Alliance party in 2011. During the final years of his life, he resided permanently on Salamis Island with his wife.