Dimitris Horn

Dimitris Horn (09/03/1921 - 16/01/1998)

Dimitris Horn (full name: Dimitris – Eleftherios Horn) was a famous Greek actor.

He was born in Athens in 1921; his father, Pantelis Horn, was a famous playwright, while his godmother was a distinguished Greek actor, Kyveli Andrianou. He studied at the Drama School of the National Greek Theatre, completing his studies in 1940. He was the protagonist on numerous theatrical plays and his debut was at the Strauss operetta “The Bat”. Other plays were “The Twelfth Night”, “Richard II”, “Richard III”, “Amlet”, “Ivanov” etc. In 1944, he formed his own troupe, while in 1946, he returned to the National Theatre. In 1951, he went to USA and UK, where for two years, studied the evolution of theatre.

From 1953 to 1959, he returned to Greece and formed another troupe, with which he went on tour to Istanbul and Egypt. He participated in ten movies, which were box office successes in Greece, receiving the Best Actor Award at Thessaloniki Film Festival in 1960. He also had a radio show called “The Postman Just Arrived”, and with a surreal sarcasm in his voice, he read imaginary letters by his listeners.

He was married to Rita Filippou. After his divorce, he had a seven-year relationship with another famous Greek actor, Elli Lampeti. In 1967, years after his relationship with Lampeti had ended, he married Anna Goulandri. Despite his temperamental character, his talent, his charm and his finesse made him famous and beloved to Greek people. It is also said that after the end of a theatrical play he participated in, he apologized to his audience for his “terrible” performance; the audience applauded him anyway. He was a close friend to Konstantinos Karamanlis, while in 1980, with his last wife, Anna, they founded the Goulandri – Horn Foundation, its target being the study of Greek culture. He received the Golden Cross of George I by the Greek government. He died on 16 January 1998. After his death, an award was introduced in his memory, the Horn award, given to young actors for their performance in theatrical plays.