Famous Modern Greeks

[Makedonia25]

Here are some pictures of some famous Modern Greeks! :clapping:

Jennifer Aniston
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/290/10aniston8rt.th.jpg

Anthony Kiedis
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/6450/anthonykiedis4lk.th.jpg

Billy Zane
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/2708/billyzane025rp.th.jpg

Cat Stevens
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/3217/cat20stevens18zh.th.jpg

Costa Gavras
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/8508/costagavras4200rz.th.jpg

Demis Roussos
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/8336/demisroussos5ly.th.jpg

Emmanuelle Beart
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/9836/emmanuellebart2xx.jpg

Evelina Papantoniou
http://img453.imageshack.us/img453/1044/epp067fw.th.jpg

John Stamos
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/8804/johnstamos282qg.th.jpg

Maria Menounos
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/6114/mariamenounosfhmet3kq.jpg

Tom Kostopoulos
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/5343/kostopoulosgrn18ns.jpg

Michael Chiklis
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/459/michaelchiklis2ob.jpg

Sofia Milos
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/6334/sofiamilos150c4dt.jpg

Tommy Lee
http://img385.imageshack.us/img385/1637/tommylee5on.th.jpg

Mark Philippoussis
http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/4131/philippoussis1950ug.jpg

Pete Sampras
http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/5084/photosampras5ve.jpg

Melina Kanakaredes
http://img453.imageshack.us/img453/3659/providence4kh.th.jpg

And I'm sure there's many more! :)

[Ellinas]

Just ''famous''. Nothing more....:)

[Spartan]

Here are a few more known Modern Greeks.
Sorry no pics.

Spiro Agnew

Olympia Dukakis

Michael Dukakis-(U.S presidential Candidate Democratic Party)

George Stephanopoulos

George Tenet-(Former CIA Director and a disgrace)

John Aniston-(Jens Dad)

John Cassavetes-(Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in Dirty Dozen

George Chakiris-(Academy Award for Best supporting Actor in West Side Story

Melina Merkouri-(A truely Great Greek)

Telly Savalas-(Kojak)

Nia Vardalos-(My Big Fat Greek Wedding)

Maria Callas-(Best Female Soprano Ever in Opera)

Aristotle Onassis

Mikis Theodorakis-(Greatest Composer)

Nikos Kazantzakis-(Last Temptation of Christ/ Zorba the Greek)

Lets's not forget about:

Yianni-(Modern Composer)

Frank Zappa

George Michael-(Cypriot)

George Dalaras-(World renowned singer)

Bob Costas-(sports writer and Commentator)

Odysseas Elytis-(Nobel Prize winner)

Arriana Huffington-(Attorney and Political Activist)

Giorgos Seferis-(Nobel Prize winner)

Tina Fey-(From Saturday Night Live)

Chris Chelios-(One of the All-Time Greats in the NHL)

George Pan Cosmatos-(Director of Rambo: First Blood and Tombstone)

Christos Cotsakos-(Co-Founder of E*Trade)

Angela Michelle Harmon-(Law and Order T.V Series)

Dean Karnazes-(Ultra Runner and record holder)

Andreas Katsulas-(Star Trek the Series, The Fugitive)

Alex Karras-(Former NFL Great played for the Detroit Lions, he also acted as the father in the series Webster)

ELIA KAZAN(KAZANJOGLOU)-Director of a Street Car Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, On The Waterfront, East of Eden,

Debbie Matenopoulos-(Journalist and Talk Show host)

John (Dimitri) Negroponte-(Diplomat, son of a Shipping Magnate, Member of the Yale Skull & Cross Bones, Ambassador to Iraq(after Gulf war), a very controversial person,

Nicholas Negroponte-(Brother of John and Founder of the Massachessettes Institute of Technoloy/M.I.T. Media Lab)

Alexander Payne(Born Alexandros Papadopoulos)- (Writer of Election with Mathew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon, wrote Sideways wrote
About Schmidt)

Spyros Skouras-(President of 20th Century Fox and THIRD COUSIN OF MY UNCLE)

Jimmy the "Greek" Snyder(Dimetrios Georgos Synodinos)- Well know Sports Commentator

Alexander Gus Spanos-(Owner of the NFL San Diego Chargers)

Mena Suvari(Greek Mother)-Actress in American Beauty the first 2American Pies, Loser, Musketeer and Spun

Rita Wilson(Married to Ton Hanks)- (Actress Bonfire of the Vanities, Sleepless in Seattle, Runaway Bride, and T.V Series Frasier

Hank Azaria(Shepardic Jewish parents from Greece)-(Actor and voice of many Simpsons characters, played in Mystery Men, America's Sweethearts)



It is amazing how many well-known Greeks there are in the world with names that have been changed!

[nsminc]

I was once on a plane coming back from Greece with Demis Roussos.He does
the best version of Little Drummer Boy.I love Christmas songs.

Yanni has written amazing pieces of music just like Vangelis.

Who's Emmanuelle Beart?

[Spartan]

From what I have checked out on the web, I can't find anything that says she is Greek. It says she was born in San Tropes France. If anyone else finds anything post it.

[Makedonia25]

From what I have checked out on the web, I can't find anything that says she is Greek. It says she was born in San Tropes France. If anyone else finds anything post it.

Well, apparently she's born to half Italian, half Greek mother and her dad is French :)

[Melbourne]

Can someone clarify the following:

- Anthony Kiedis, I heard he is Hispanic, are you sure he is Greek
- Katy Clarkson, I heard on the grapevine she is of Greek background (find it hard to believe.

[achilles]

I believe Kiedis is of Lithuanian descent. And Frank Zappa was Italian.

[Euklid]

Mena Suvari??????? I had no idea, i truly love that b..ch.

[Truth Bearer]

George Christopher

George Christopher (December 8, 1907 - September 14, 2000) was the 34th Mayor of San Francisco, serving in that office from January 1956 until January 1964. He was, as of 2007, the last Republican to be elected mayor of San Francisco; all San Francisco mayors since he left office have been Democrats.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/44/George_Christopher.jpg

34th Mayor of San Francisco
In office
January 8, 1956 – January 8, 1964
Preceded by Elmer Robinson
Succeeded by John Shelley

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Born December 8, 1907
Arcadia, Greece
Died September 14, 2000 (aged 92)
San Francisco, California
Political party Republican
Spouse Tula Sarantitis
Profession Accountant, businessman
Religion Greek Orthodox


Biography
Born George Christophes in Arcadia, Greece, the son of James Christophes and Mary Koines Christophes, Christopher and his family emigrated to the United States in 1910 and settled in San Francisco's South of Market Street neighborhood, then known as "Greektown", when Christopher was two years old. Christopher left day school at the age of fourteen when his father James died, and he became sole support of his family. He sold papers then talked his way into a job at the San Francisco Examiner as a copy boy. In 1935, he married Tula Sarantitis, daughter of a baker whom George did bookkeeping for.

After studying accounting at Golden Gate College from which he earned a BA in Accounting in 1930, he worked for numerous small firms keeping their accounts and eventually bought out a small dairy on Fillmore Street, which became the Christopher Dairy. He was prosecuted in the 1940s for breaking the newly passed milk price-fixing laws.

Christopher began his political career in 1945 when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, on re-election, he became board president. Christopher ran for Mayor in 1951 and lost to incumbent mayor Elmer Robinson, but was eventually elected mayor in November 1955, taking office the following January. He was re-elected in 1959 for a second term.

Christopher was instrumental in bringing the New York Giants baseball team to San Francisco in 1958 (where they became the San Francisco Giants) and in securing the funding to build Candlestick Park, which opened in 1960, for the team. His administration has been credited with the building of the Brooks Hall, twelve new schools, seventeen firehouses, six public swimming pools, the five story Fifth and Mission and the underground Civic Center garages.

He is known for his strong stand on civil rights, his childhood experience of anti-Greek sentiment informed his stand, he gained world-wide headlines offering his home to Willie Mays after it was reported that a Forest Hill realtor had refused to sell to Mays. Christopher also lobbied and succeeded in opening mental health and alcohol treatment centers under city funding.

He presided over the redevelopment of major portions of city and private lands, labeled Slums, some not without controversy; the Embarcadero Center and Golden Gateway, displacing the ancient Produce Market from the filled land southeast of Telegraph Hill to the Alemany location where it remains, Japantown and the Fillmore urban renewal that displaced the African-American and the remnants of the Jewish Community for concrete highrises, the new Hall of Justice and the opening of the Embarcadero Freeway, which blocked the Embarcadero and Ferry Building from the city, spawning the first Freeway Revolt.

In Christopher's second term, the House Subcommittee on Un-American Activities held hearings in the City Hall supervisor's chambers. A large group of students and active citizens were fire-hosed down the marble steps inside City Hall rotunda by the SFPD when they protested their exclusion from admission to committee hearings. Christopher later told the Federal Government they were no longer welcome in city buildings, but he sided with the committee and spoke for the propaganda newsreel-style film made by the committee about the event titled, "Operation Abolition"[1], that blamed Communists for the so-called City Hall riot of May 13, 1960. Christopher was criticized for endorsing the film, but was quoted in Time Magazine of March 17, 1961 saying that "at least 90% of the students were not organized by the Communists."

Perhaps Christopher's most famous moment came when he hosted Nikita Khrushchev, on a tour of the states in 1959. They became friends and Christopher visited Khrushchev in the Soviet Union in March 1960.

He ran for lieutenant governor when Richard Nixon ran for governor, and U.S. Senate. He lost the 1966 Republican primary for Governor of California to Ronald Reagan.

[Truth Bearer]

Some famous people of Greek heritage


YouTube - Some famous people of Greek heritage

[Truth Bearer]

Famous greeks, the new age!

YouTube - Famous greeks, the new age!

[Truth Bearer]

http://www.sfmuseum.org/images/main2.gif



George Christopher (1907-2000)


George Christopher, San Francisco's 34th mayor, died Sept. 14 at 92. Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr., immediately ordered City flags lowered to half-staff to honor his predecessor.

Born in Arcadia, Greece, December 8, 1907, he was brought to San Francisco at the age of two and educated in the public schools, later graduating with a degree in accounting from the Golden Gate Night College.

In 1930, after becoming a citizen of the United States, he changed his surname from Christopheles to Christopher.

The Excelsior Dairy made him an official in 1937, followed by a partnership in the Meadow Glen Dairy, which eventually became Christopher Dairy.

In 1945 he began his political career when elected to the Board of Supervisors. He was reelected in 1949 and served as president of the Board.

George Christopher was elected mayor of San Francisco in 1955 to succeed Elmer Robinson and took office Jan. 8, 1956. He was elected to a second term in 1959 after a bruising campaign. Russ Wolden, who ran against Christopher, charged that the mayor, and Police Chief Thomas Cahill, had allowed San Francisco to become "the national headquarters of organized homosexuals in the United States."

In the 1966 primary election George Christopher ran against Ronald Reagan for governor, but was defeated.

Mayor Christopher was also responsible for encouraging the New York Giants baseball team to move to San Francisco with the promise of a new baseball stadium to be built at Candlestick Point. Christopher Drive, in San Francisco's Twin Peaks area, is named for the former mayor.