In 1961, she appeared in the World War II film The Guns of Navarone, which was partly shot on the Greek island of Rhodes. MGM gave her a contract the following year, though the only resulting film was a 1956 Western called Tribute to a Bad Man, which starred James Cagney. Papas built her career in Greece in the 1940s and 50s, and was soon championed by the Greek-American film director Elia Kazan, who had her read for him in 1954. In the 1970s and 1980, she appeared in several New York productions of classical plays as well as a short-lived 1967 Broadway retelling of Phaedra called That Summer - That Fall.
In a career that lasted some 50 years, Papas made over 70 films in her native Greece and internationally. By the time she was a teenager, she had begun studying drama. 3, 1926, in the village of Chiliomodi near Corinth, but grew up largely in Athens. Papas, whose last name was also occasionally transliterated as Pappas, was born as Eirini (Irene) Lelekou on Sept. In a statement posted to social media, the ministry wrote of Papas: "Majestic, stately, dynamic, she was the personification of Greek beauty on the cinema screen and on the theater stage, an international star who radiated Greekness." The Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports announced her death. With her haunting looks and acclaimed gift for dramatic roles, Papas was also known for her stage work, particularly in ancient Greek tragedies. Irene Papas, a Greek actress who became famous worldwide thanks to her roles in such films as Zorba the Greek, Z and The Guns of Navarone, died Wednesday at age 96. International News Photos/AFP via Getty Images A 1952 portrait of Greek actress Irene Papas taken in Paris.