Anna Fonsou

Biography: Anna Fonsou (Greek: Άννα Φόνσου; born July 6, 1939) is a Greek actress and social activist. Anna Fonsou was born in 1939 in Kaisariani in Greece and grew up in Tinos. She studied at the drama school of Dimitris Rondiris. She studied dance with Rallou Manou and singing with Popi Petrioli. Fonsou made her first theater appearance in 1956 with the troupe of Katerina Andreadi and her first film appearance in 1957 in the movie Το παιδί του δρόμου (The Child of the Street). In 1965, she founded Proskinio together with Alexis Solomos and Aimilios Hourmouzis. In cinema, she played in dozens of films, almost exclusively leading roles, in both dramas and comedies alongside famous comedians such as Thanasis Veggos with whom she co-starred in several films. In the early 1970s, she also did a series of erotic films, mainly directed by Omiros Efstratiadis, which are now considered cult. On television she participated in various series (The Two Orphans, The Ragpickers, etc.) and in theatrical performances on the show The Theater of Monday. She starred at the Lyric Stage in the operetta The Apaches of Athens, and since 2001, she has been part of the National Theatre of Northern Greece. In the 1996 parliamentary elections and the 2000 elections, she was a candidate with the KKE, and in the 2009 and 2012 elections she was a candidate with the PASOK in Athens A. In 1997 she founded charitable foundation "The Actor's House" (Greek: Το σπίτι του Ηθοποιού) to provide housing for impoverished actors, of which she is a president. She produces theatrical performances, the proceeds of which are also donated to "The Actor's House". From 1998 to 2000, she served as president of the Greek Actors Union. In 2016 she was awarded the Nikolaos Karolos prize by the Academy of Athens for her social work related to "The Actor's House". She was married to theater entrepreneur and civil engineer Kostas Paltoglou, architect Nikos Sofianos, and in 1985 to singer-songwriter and composer Takis Bougas until they divorced in 1993.