Michael Constantine
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| Michael Constantine | |
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| Born | Constantine Joanides May 22, 1927 Reading, Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1953 – present |
| Spouse(s) | Julianna McCarthy (1953-1969) |
Michael Constantine (born 22 May 1927) is a American Emmy Award-winning actor.
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[edit] Biography
Constantine was born Constantine Joanides in Reading, Pennsylvania, the son of Andromache Efstration (née Foteadou) and Theoharis Joanides (a steel worker), both immigrants from Greece.[1]
Constantine began his career on the New York stage and in the mid-1950s as understudy to Paul Muni in Inherit the Wind. While in the cast, he met and married actress Julianna McCarthy.
He also studied acting with such prominent mentors as Howard DaSilva. He was playing character roles on and off Broadway in his mid-twenties, supplementing his income as a night watchman and shooting-gallery barker. In 1959 he appeared in his first film, The Last Mile (1959). He is perhaps best known for his extensive TV work, notably his four-season (1969-1974) stint as long-suffering high school principal Seymour Kaufman on Room 222 and his starring appearance as night-court magistrate Matthew J. Sirota on the brief 1976 sitcom Sirota's Court.
He had a small but memorable supporting role in the classic 1961 film The Hustler. He also played Santa Claus in the 1989 film Prancer. He played Tadzu Lempke in Stephen King's Thinner in 1996. In 2002, he enjoyed an unexpected comeback as the Windex-toting Gus Portokalos in the hit movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding, a role he reprised in the short-lived television series My Big Fat Greek Life.
He married actress Julianna McCarthy in Erie, Pennsylvania on October 5, 1953. They had 2 children, Thea Eileen and Brendan Neil. The marriage ended in divorce in 1969.
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