Katina Paxinou

Katina Paxinou was a Greek actress of stage and screen who began her career in the theater in Athens and later worked in Hollywood and Europe. Born in Piraeus, she trained as an opera singer in Geneva, Berlin and Vienna, and gave her first performance in 1920 at the Municipal Theatre of Piraeus. She acted with Marika Kotopouli's company from 1928 and helped found the National Theatre of Greece in 1932, where she played Electra and roles in Ibsen's Ghosts and Hamlet, some of them also staged in London, Frankfurt and Berlin. She emigrated to the United States in 1941. For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) was her first film, and the part of Pilar brought her an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for best supporting actress. Later movies included Prince of Foxes (1949), Mr. Arkadin (1955) and Rocco and His Brothers (1960). She returned to the stage in 1950 and also worked on Broadway and in television.