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A Greek actress and singer best known for her role in Jamais le dimanche (1960), Melina Mercouri went on to become a politician, twice appointed Minister of Culture. Born in Athens on October 18, 1920, to a grandfather who was mayor of the city and a father who was a member of the Greek Parliament, Amalía-María Merkoúri took drama lessons and embarked on a career as a trilingual actress, able to perform roles in Greek, English and French. In 1955, she was chosen by director Michael Cacoyannis to star in the film Stella, which brought her fame, before becoming the muse and wife of Jules Dassin, who offered her eight other roles, including Jamais le dimanche (1960), in which she sang the song "Les Enfants du Pirée", which became world-famous. Awarded the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival and nominated for an Oscar as an actress, Melina Mercouri won the Oscar for Best Original Song in 1961. Exiled to France after the 1967 Coup d'État, she recorded in French, then returned to her country in 1974 to embark on a political career. Elected to Parliament in 1978, she twice served as Minister of Culture, from 1981 to 1989 and again from 1993 until her death from lung cancer in New York on March 6, 1994, at the age of 73.
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