Nikos Tsiforos

Biography

Nikos Tsiforos (Greek: Νίκος Τσιφόρος; 27 August 1912 – 6 August 1970) was a Greek humorist, screenwriter, and film director. He had more than 60 film scripts to his credit between 1948 and 1970. He further directed 17 films between 1948 and 1961.

He was born in Alexandria, Egypt, in 1912; two years later, his family was permanently resettled in Athens. From age eleven to his death, Nikos Tsiforos had been writing with gusto. In 1938, he wrote his first play, performed in an outdoors theatre in Freattyda; although his first effort did not quite succeed, young Nikos was not disappointed. He went on to earn a degree in Law, and work, for two years, at the Election Supervision Council. He soon resigned to travel the seas.

He continued switching jobs regularly until 1939, all the while writing film scripts as well as doing other types of writing. His first big break came in 1944 when the company of Dimitris Horn and Mairi Aroni staged a play of his at the Akropol theatre. The play was "Η Πινακοθήκη των Ηλιθίων" (The portrait gallery of dolts). In 1948-1949, he scripted and directed his first film Τελευταία αποστολή (Last Mission).

He went on to work as a reporter for the Athens press: newspapers (Φιλελεύθερος; Βήμα; Ελεύθερος Κόσμος), and magazines (Τραστ, Ρομάντσο, Ταχυδρόμος, Πάνθεον), all the while writing over 40 theatrical plays and over 80 film scripts.

He collaborated extensively with Polyvios Vassiliadis on numerous hit film scripts, earning exceptional renown for their scintillating wit and hilarious humor.

His deft use of the Greek contemporary vernacular is considered peerless by several leading literary critics.