Talented, versatile, charismatic, witty and most importantly a good and kind man. Oh, and an incurable “worshipper” of love, of women. Takis Miliadis, while he quickly rose to the top, being described as the “Greek Maurice Chevalier”, for his ability, apart from acting, to sing and dance superbly, something unprecedented for post-war Greece, eventually retreated -especially in cinema- to supporting roles, only to emerge as one of the best caricaturists of the old Greek cinema.
Although 37 years have passed since his unexpected death, his image is so familiar that you think you'll walk down the street, pass a hairdresser's and hear in his characteristic melodic voice «and I'm waiting for a medicine from Baaden, Baaden who drops ten kilos a day...», as he said as “Lucian” in the 1965 film “Eve Didn't Sin”. A minor comedy bit, one of too many in the 1960s, where you wait throughout the film for Miliadis to show up to do his thing.
Takis Miliadis, who has been largely standardized over time, mainly in feminine roles, managed to escape from the clichés of Greek cinema, creating unique characters, especially from his collaboration with his good friend Thanasis Vengos.
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth (26 September 1922), we will remember his first steps, his launch into the theatrical scene in Athens, his career and his unexpected end. And at the same time, we will express in his person our unlimited appreciation to that endless post-war generation of caraterists who contributed greatly to the success of the old commercial cinema.
DNA from a theatrical stage
Dimitrios Miliadis was born on September 26, 1922, to actor parents, as his father, Nikos Miliadis, and his mother, Marika Anthopoulou, were popular musical theatre actors. Also, his grandmother, Magda Komninos, was an opera singer, while his father's brother and his father's first wife, Anthi Miliadis, who was killed in Loutsa in 1952, during filming, when the car carrying her stepped on a mine forgotten since the war, were musical theatre actors. As was logical, it would have been incongruous for Takis Miliadis to escape from acting as well. And yet, his parents, who knew firsthand what it meant to be an actor - even a successful one - in Greece, would push him to become a doctor. And although he entered the Athens Medical School, he would not stray from his roots and would step onto the stage, at the urging of Kostis Bastia, then director of the National Theatre, and the renowned theatre man Dimitris Rontiris.
The Chevalier of Greece
Thus, in 1944, it was enough for him to appear at the “Welkham” revue, with the troupe of Anna and Maria Kalouta and Orestis Makris, to show his talent and for the whole of Athens to start talking about a charismatic young man who would leave a lasting impression. His success in musical theatre and his talent for singing would make him a favourite leading man; and in 1952, the Kalouta sisters would christen him “Chevalier”. It was then that he would sing, with them, at a concert at the Maison Gaveau in Paris, which was attended by the famous French actor and singer Maurice Chevalier, who was fascinated by his young Greek colleague.
Always desperately in love
However, his career will not be similar as with the years, the change of times and standards, mainly due to cinema, Miliadis will slowly retreat to supporting roles. Where he would never retreat is in his weakness for women, as he was either in love and almost always desperate («I'm in love, she doesn't want me...»). Moreover, his obsession with dressing well was memorable. Eventually, apart from his many love adventures, he would marry three times, to actresses Betty Moschona and Sasa Kazeli, while in between he would have three marriages, to Paraskevi Kollias, with whom he would have his only son.
Spiritual interpretations
Takis Miliadis, who has been involved in all genres of theatre, except tragedy, will fill many theatres, will win even more applause, next to great protagonists, with his light-hearted performances, his witty humour, his grace to share carefree moments in difficult times.
In 1947 he would first appear in the cinema, in the forgotten film “Megali Agapi”, while he would actually enter the cinema sets for good in the mid-50s, with the comic actress “Office of Tenants” by Frixos Eliades, with Nikos Stavridis and Nikos Rizos as his co-stars. In the 1960s he would appear in more than 50 films, sometimes - and when the circumstances allowed it - giving some memorable performances. Indeed, who can forget him in the roles of the fallen Condé Leonard de la Cibila, in ‘Cologne Conduct Zero“, the German ex-Nazi Von Giffren, in ”An Incomprehensible Sucker“, in the role of the perpetually love-struck Napoleon, in ”Take Kosme“?;
Thou Bou and the Lolo
His collaboration with his friend Thanasis Vengos, with whom he and his friend were artistically and mentally linked, a good-hearted cocktail, was long and productive. From his unforgettable one-minute performance in the hilarious comedy “Thu-Vu bald agent. Operation: Land of Midian”, as the “cute” director Lolo (really if the film could be rendered in English, the Oscar for Best Actor was in his pocket) to the late 70‘s social comedies Vengos made. Especially in the film “From Pane to Havuzah”, in the role of an abrasive politician, he gives perhaps one of his most mediocre performances.
Charismatic flexible voice
What is not particularly well known about his artistic career was his participation in the dubbing of famous children's animated films, giving his voice to the film, in the 1970s as the conjoined dwarf in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Dionysius in Aristocats, the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood and one of the two bandits in 101 Dogs of Dalmatia.
The tragic finale of an entertainer
In April 1985, while travelling in his car, he has a car accident outside Ioannina, which initially did not seem serious. Nevertheless, two days later, on 14 April, after being diagnosed with multiple fractures, he would breathe his last, plunging the country's artistic world and his countless fans into mourning. Takis Miliadis may not have been utilized as much as he deserved, especially in cinema, but his charismatic figure, with his big eyes and even bigger mouth, which you always expected to sing, will always remain in our hearts as a sweet light-hearted memory, one of those that neither the entire film industry nor rigid political correctness will ever take away from us.
