Who Are Those Guys? ~ Spiros Focas

 

Spyros Fokas was born Spyridon Androutsopoulos in Patras on 17 August 1937.

Focás made his first appearance in 1959. He first appeared in Andreas Lambrino's film Bloody Twilight in 1959. The film was screened at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and was the starting point for his international career. He became one of Greece's most respected and well-known actors. He was discovered by legendary Italian director Luchino Visconti and cast in a lead role in the classic “Rocco and His Brothers” (1960). He went on to star in many Greek and Italian films throughout the 1960s and 1970s, working with such famous directors as Vincente Minnelli and Ferdinando Baldi. His work in Hollywood includes the hit films “The Jewel of the Nile” (1985) and “Rambo III” (1988). His most recent work includes the role of Uncle Telly in “3 Nights in Nisyros” (2009).

Focas appeared in one Spaghetti western using the alias Clyde Garner as Ken Dakota in 1968’s “Hate Thy Neighbor” and starred as Pedro Suarez/Zorro in the 1969 semi-western “Zorro in the Court of England”. He was scheduled to play the role of Pancho in an upcoming American western entitled “Showdown in Durango”.

Focas died on October 11, 2023, in Eleusis, Greece at the age of 86.

FOCAS, Spiros (aka Xiro Andros, Spyros Focas, Clyde Garner) (Spyridon Michael Androutsopoulos) [8/17/1937, Patras, Achaea, West Greece, Greece – 10/11/2023, Eleusis, Greece] – film, TV actor, married to actress Nia Leivada (Nia Livada) [193?-    ] (1958-1968), married to flight attendant Veta Rebetseri (196?-197?), married to director Renee Pappas [1947-    ] (1984-1994), married to actress Lilian Panagiotopoulou (2013-2023), stepfather of Konstantina.

Hate Your Neighbor – 1968 (Ken Dakota) [as Clyde Garner]