Actor Michael Constantine has just passed away at his residence in Reading, Pennsylvania, at the age of 94. This news has been confirmed by the actor’s agent, Julia Buchwald, according to Deadline, saying that Constantine died last Tuesday, August 31 at his home. He died of natural causes.
The actor was born on May 22, 1927, and the role for which he is best known is that of Gus Portokalos in the film ‘ My Great Greek Wedding ‘, in which he played the role of father of Nia Vardalos’ character. Constantine repeated this same role in the sequel to this film released in 2017 under the title ‘ My great Greek wedding 2 ‘, which would also be his last film. The actor also returned to embody this role that made him known around the world in the sitcom based on said films, which lasted only one season on CBS.
However, the actor where he stood out the most was in small roles in large renowned series of the seventies and eighties. Constantine made small interventions in series such as ‘ The girl on TV ‘, ‘Vacation by the sea’, ‘Remington Steele’, ‘MacGyver’, ‘ A crime has been written ‘. However, before going through these fictions, Constantine already appeared in series such as ‘ Perry Mason ‘ or ‘ The Twilight Zone ‘ and had a role in the film ‘ The Go-hunt ‘, starring Paul Newman in 1961. Constantine also won an Emmy award Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy in 1970 for the series ‘Room 222’, issued between 1969 and 1974.
In recent years he continued to appear in some episodes of series such as ‘ Law and order ‘ or ‘ Open case ‘ and had a small role in the film ‘Thinner’, a horror film based on a novel by Stephen King.
Nia Vardalos’s message
Nia Vardalos, creator and protagonist of ‘My great Greek wedding’ has wanted to dedicate a few words of farewell to the actor who played her father on the big screen. For this she has published the following message through her own Twitter account:
“Michael Constantine, the father of our cast, a gift for the written word and a friend forever. Acting with him was a great burst of love and fun. I will always remember this man who brought Gus to life He gave us a lot of laughs and now he deserves a break. We love you, Michael. ” After this tweet, the actress included a small Greek flag and an image of the film in which the entire cast can be seen.
Michael Constantine, the dad to our cast-family, a gift to the written word, and always a friend. Acting with him came with a rush of love and fun. I will treasure this man who brought Gus to life. He gave us so much laughter and deserves a rest now. We love you Michael. 🇬🇷 pic.twitter.com/PV0sIBtaUX
— Nia Vardalos (@NiaVardalos) September 9, 2021
Amelia Warner
Amelia Warner writes all the Latest Articles. She mostly covers Entertainment topics, but at times loves to write about movie reviews as well.
