Stathis Giallelis
| Stathis Giallelis | |
|---|---|
| Born |
January 21, 1941 Greece |
| Years active | 1963–1983 |
Stathis Giallelis (Greek: Στάθης Γιαλελής; born January 21, 1941) is a Greek actor. He won brief international renown in the early 1960s as the star of Elia Kazan's Academy Award-nominated epic America, America, a role which brought him the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actor, as well as a nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama.
Stathis Giallelis' entire prominence revolves around his central role in America, America. He appears in nearly every scene of the 174-minute film and gives what some critics described at the time as a "towering performance". He has not, however, faced a camera since 1980 and his biographical details remain sketchy. The date of his birth is generally accepted as correct, although two sources indicate 1939 as the year. All listings agree that he was born in Greece, but none specify the location. The medium-height, slightly built Giallelis was twenty-one years old in mid-1962, upon Elia Kazan's arrival in Greece to meet the future star of his long-planned cinematic representation of his uncle's life in 1890s Anatolia and the eventual fulfillment of his determined dream of immigrating to the United States. Kazan wanted an unknown actor in whom the audience would see the character rather than the familiar face. In his autobiography, Elia Kazan: A Life, the director describes the details of his search for "a ferret, not a lion", someone who, like his uncle, did not always behave honorably, but had "my boy's single redeeming quality, devotion to his father and family".
Kazan first tried to find his leading actor in England and, subsequently, in France, where a likely candidate was found, tested and rejected as "too handsome" and "lacking desperation" (although the actor was never named, circumstantial evidence points to Alain Delon). Even the Actors Studio proved deficient in providing the ideal aspirant. Finally, as he described it, "I did the obvious, went to Athens, and in the office a film director found an apprentice sweeping the floor so he could be near production work". This was the office of Greek producer/director Daniel Bourla. Unfortunately, Stathis Giallelis was severely limited in both acting experience and knowledge of English. The only son in a family with four daughters, he nevertheless impressed Kazan with his sincerity and deeply felt reminiscences of his Communist father's martyrdom in the aftermath of the Communist–centrist/rightist struggle in the Greek Civil War. Kazan continued to insist over the following decades that had the central role been played by a contemporary actor of the caliber of Marlon Brando or Warren Beatty (both of whom became stars under Kazan's direction) or one of the 1970s stars such as Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino or Robert De Niro, the project would have lacked verisimilitude, even while enjoying much greater financial success. He compared Giallelis' performance to that of the protagonist in Vittorio De Sica's 1949 neorealist classic The Bicycle Thief.
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