Antenna News in English 240796

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From: Antenna Radio <http://www.antenna.gr> - email: antenna@compulink.gr

News in English, of 24/07/1996

ALIKI/DEATH

The announcement of Aliki Vouyouklaki's anticipated death was the final act in a struggle that began in April.

"Unfortunately", said doctor Yiannis Poulantzas, "we're here to announce an unfortunate event. Aliki Vouyouklaki lost her battle for life this morning, Tuesday, July 23rd, at 10:15.

All of Greece lost with her, the woman with the smile, who will be remembered as forever young.

The groundswell of emotion at Aliki Vouyouklaki's death was enormous.

Hundreds of people accompanied her body as it was taken to the church where it lays in state.

People gathered outside Aliki Vouyouklaki's theatre in central Athens Thursday, laying flowers, before continuing their sombre march with her body, to the Metropolitan cathedral where she will lay in state until Thursday.

The theatre was lit up in her honour after her death was announced. In honour of Greece's national star, who will never again light up the stage with her presence, who will never again smile upon those around her.

Her family expressed its gratitude to everyone who helped Aliki during her trying final months, including the media, for the discretion they showed during her illness. Aliki, ever sensitive to her public, had asked the media to be discreet in reporting her illness.

Outside the Athens medical centre, no one could hide their sadness at the loss of their beloved Aliki.

They came, and they cried.

One woman called her the "soul of Greek theatre for all young people". "I'm stunned", added the mourner, "she left so suddenly. I can't believe she's dead".

One man said, "I was returning from my trip to Chalkidiki, in northern Greece, when I heard about her death on the radio, I stopped by to pay final tribute to her....the Greek people will miss Aliki".

Late into the night Thursday, they went in their thousands to pay their respects at Aliki's coffin in the chapel at Athens Metripolitan Cathedral.

Some people laid bouquet's of flowers at the entrance to her theatre.

Almost everyone who grew up and lived with Aliki's movies and plays will have similar experiences.

In his message over the death of Aliki Vouyouklaki, president Kostis Stephanopoulos said "I am deeply shaken by her death. Aliki Vouyouklaki has been a great actress and has offered alot to the theatre and the movies. In everything she did during her long and successful carreer she was very popular. She was accompanied by the love of the greek people. That's why her early death has hit all Greeks so hard".

Prime minister Kostas Simitis said "She was a piece of our lives. We traveled with her in imaginary and human worlds.Her bright smile will never be lost. Her star will shine over the imaginary world of theatre and film."

Government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said "She will remain a star in the world of our memories. We hope the love of the Greek people will, in time, alleviate the pain of her family".

Culture minister Stavros Benos said "It seems almost unbelievable that Aliki Vouyouklaki isn't with us anymore".

New Democracy leader Miltiades Evert said "Aliki, in addition to being a great actress has been a symbol of hope and joy to the Greek people in difficult times".

Political Spring president Antonis Samaras said "The famous smile of life, action and beauty has been extinguished. Greece has lost its greatest star.Every Greek lost a person that they felt close to, and I...a rare friend".

Communist Party secretary Aleka Papariga sent a telegram to Aliki's family. She said "Aliki earned the love of the people, she offered them freshness".

There was international reaction too.

The Associated Press called her Greece's national star.

In France, one broadcast put it simply: "A particularly popular Greek star departed today, taking much of the people's love with her".

Perhaps that says it all.

ILLNESS

It was the beginning of the end for the woman Greece adored. And, as she prepared to face her greatest test, she said what she needed more than anything else, was love.

Aliki Vouyouklaki announced what was to be her farewell to the stage at the Athineon theatre in Thessaloniki, where Greece's national star had been performing in the "Sound of Music".

As the curtain came down on that last performance, Aliki thanked her collaborators in the production, many of them weepy children, for working with her. And she thanked her fans, for their love. "They say love is the best weapon you can have in life", she said. "I need that weapon, I want you to love me". And she announced that there would be no more performances. It was a moving movement, two years after she started running the musical, it was ending on an inauspicous note.

But not without the hope that filled Aliki's big heart. "I promised the kids I'll come back and we'll all sing toghether when I'm better".

Aliki said "terrible stomach pains" had forced her to withdraw from the stage at the end of April. And they forced her to begin the search for a cure.

Her search took her first to Germany, after Greek doctors detected trouble in her liver. Aliki flew to Munich at the urging of her close friend, Antenna president Minos Kyriakou.

After Munich, Boston. After examining her on May 15th, doctors at Massachusetts Gerneral Hospital gave her two weeks to live, but no one told Aliki. Everyone prayed for the best. And, just as she took strength from people's love, she gave the nation strength and hope with her courage.

Her personal doctor, Iannis Poulantzas said, "Her desire is for all of us to reassure her that we'll fight and beat this thing".

Returning from the US, Aliki immediately entered the Athens Medical Centre for treatment. Throughout her two-month stay there, she believed that only God could help her. On one of her better days, she and her partner Kostas Spyropoulos visited a small chapel to pray.

That the battle was lost became clear last Thursday, when the star began showing the first signs of an hepatic coma.

Her condition worsened from there on. During the moments when she pulled momentarily out of the coma, she asked for her mother, Emy, or if her son Yiannakis had eaten, or if her partner, Kostas, had shaved.

Even when she was withdrawing from the world, Aliki kept her smile. By Saturday, her heart was her only organ that kept going strong. By Monday, even that was failing, as an irregular heartbeat began, and her blood pressure dropped.

Even at the end, Aliki gave her all to hang on to the life she so dearly loved. Late Monday night, her pulse dropped to zero. Nonetheless, she would live for another ten hours.

Poulantzas said, "After 2 o'clock Tuesday morning, her medical test results were incompatible with life".

"She wants to live", was all they could say throught that long, final night outside her room. Outside, the hospital, people prayed that God would grant her that desire, let the eternally young woman dance a while longer on this earth.

BIOGRAPHY ALIKI

Born in 1933, Aliki Vouyouklaki grew up, like all the other Greeks or her generation, with war. Her father died during the Greek civil war, which followed tragically on the footsteps of World War Two.

She went to high school in an Athens suburb and entered the National Theatre Dramatic School.

In 1953, she made her acting debut, and her 43- year romance with the Greek people, appearing in the movie, "The little mouse". The same year, she starred in Moliere's, "The Imaginary Patient", at the National Theatre. She won good reviews for her performance.

The following year, she would play Juliet, also at the National.

There was much, much more to come. At the Kentrikon, Rex, and Kotopouli theatres, she would play leading roles on the stage.

Her first major success came in 1958, at the age of 25, when she starred in "My Fair Lady". It was a performance she would repeat several years

later, at her own theatre in Athens, called "Aliki".

The beginning of the '60s was the beginning of the Aliki legend. The star will leave her impressive mark on what became known later as the golden age of commercial Greek cinema, which produced movies that remain household favourites to this day.

Finos films gave her the call, and she responded.

Aliki made film after film, working with great Greek directors: Sakellarios, Tzavellas, Grigoriou, Dimopoulos, and Dalianides.

Alekos Sakellarios wrote the biggest comedy hits in Greek cinema, and Aliki acted in them, singing the unforgettable songs of composer Manos Hatzidakis. Vouyouklaki's performance in the film "Madalena" won her professional distinciton, winning her the Thessaloniki film festival award for interpretation.

But the greatest reward for her hard work was the hearts of her fans. The movie houses filled as people went to see the blonde idol in "Mousitsa", or the saucy woman, "Astero", "Holiday in Aigina",

"Spanking from Heaven", "School Desk Heart Throb", "Aliki in the Navy", "Carnival Girl", "The Teacher with blond hair", "Oh, my wife", and so on and so on...the total list contains 40 movies.

In 1965, Aliki married actor Dimitris Papamichael. The marriage lasted 10 years, and she would have her only child, Yiannis, with him.

Vouyouklaki's made her last film, "Silent Maria", in 1973. But her stage career continued until shortly before her death. She opened her own theatre in 1971. Since then, it has staged one hit after another, among them "Cabaret", "Evita", "My Fair Lady", "Educating Rita", "Shirley Valentine", and the final play she would ever act in, "The Sound of Music".

The critics were not always kind to Aliki. Neither was the press, often given to gossiping about her personal life. But Aliki made her way deep into the hearts of most Greeks. When she opened her theatre, long lines formed, as people remembered how she had won their hearts on the big screen.

And it is on the big screen that Aliki will continue to live and share her joy at life with people from all walks of life, and of all ages.

LAST INTERVIEW

In that interview, Greece's national star shared her pain, but also her undying courage with the Greek people.

After undergoing an exhausting and painful regime of medical tests in Munich, Aliki Vouyouklaki turned to the Greek people for love in her darkest hour.

She shared her ordeal, which had so unexpectedly overwhelmed her, with Antenna's Irini Anastasopoulou.

"It all started with bronchitis", she recalled, "which tormented me for about a month in Thessaloniki, causing terrible stomach pains. There, a good friend of mine, Yiannis Raptopoulos, persuaded me to have an x-ray and run some tests to see what was wrong with my stomach".

Bad news followed.

"The Russian doctor who ran the tests found something in my liver", explained Aliki. "The doctors told me to cancel my performances in Thessaloniki and return to Athens".

In Athens, tests revealed an apparent problem in the star's pancreas.

"That made things very hard", she said. "They said I'd have to go to the States for more tests. My good friend, Antenna president Minos Kyriakou, introduced me to doctor Nikos Lygidakis, who recommended I come to Munich".

It was a trying time for Aliki. "They went through my esophagus three times", she related. "It hurt so much I told the doctors to turn on the gas and let me die. fI, who am brave, have learned to fight tough battles, but the battle for our life may be the hardest one to fight".

And she asked everyone to give her the love she needed to get through that fight.

Turning away from the camera to hide her emotions, Aliki had another desire. "All I want to do now", she said, "is hold my son".

SPORTS/MEDAL

Greece's second silver medal was won, as Leonides lifted 187.5 kg in the snatch, beating his own world record of 183 kg.

Unfortunately, he lost the gold medal to Turkish champion Naim Souleimanoglou, who lifted 2.5 kg more than Leonides in the jerk, and matched Leonides's snatch twice, breaking the world record with his total.

Another Greek, Giorgos Tzelilis placed fourth, losing out to China's Xian Gang. Although Tzelilis lifted the same weight, the bronze went to Xian Gang Xian Gang because of his lighter body weight.

© ANT1-Radio 1996

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