Oscar-winning art director Fotopoulos dies

    Vassilis Fotopoulos, the Greek art director, stage designer, costume designer and painter who won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction (black and white) at the 37th Academy Awards in 1964 for the film "Zorba, the Greek", died Sunday at the age of 72.

   

    Fotopoulos was born in Kalamata in 1934 and worked as a stage designer in productions at the National Opera House (Lyriki Skini), the National Theatre, and the State Theatre of Northern Greece, as well as in Europe and the United States.

   

    His work was characterised by a "semiological" approach, and what initially set him apart from other art directors was the way he could perceive the undercurrents and subtleties of a script and transfer them to his sets, essentially creating a set from zero.

   

    Besides his work in "Zorba, the Greek", which won three Academy Awards, he had also created 75 sets for Elia Kazan's acclaimed 1963 film "America, America". His name was removed from the film's credits, and when Fotopoulos asked why, Kazan replied: "But who would believe that these scenes were made by a Greek boy?"

   

    "America, America" received the Oscar for Art Direction, which went to Gene Callahan (the man who signed the work of the "unknown Greek").

   

    Acclaim, however, came for Fotopoulos with the Oscar he received in 1964.

   

    In 1966 he collaborated with Frances Ford Coppola as the art director in the film "You're a Big Boy Now", the first breakthrough for the noted Italian-American director.

    Caption: A photo of late art director Fotopoulos. ANA-MPA / STR