'Zorba the Greek' composer Mikis Theodorakis passes away at 96
Theodorakis's prolific career that started at age 17 produced a hugely varied body of work.
By AP | Updated:
AFP
The towering man with trademark worker suits, hoarse voice and wavy hair also is remembered by Greeks for his stubborn opposition to postwar regimes that persecuted him and outlawed his music.
ATHENS, GREECE: Mikis Theodorakis, the beloved Greek composer whose rousing music and life of political defiance won acclaim abroad and inspired millions at home, died Thursday. He was 96.
His death at his home in central Athens was announced on state television and followed multiple hospitalizations in recent years, mostly for heart treatment.
Theodorakis' prolific career that started at age 17 produced a hugely varied body of work that ranged from somber symphonies to popular television and the film scores for 'Serpico' and 'Zorba the Greek'.
File photo (Aug. 21, 1974): Mikis Theodorakis talks with Greece's top singer Maria Farandouri during a break at the Athens recording studio. But the towering man with trademark worker suits, hoarse voice and wavy hair also is remembered by Greeks for his stubborn opposition to postwar regimes that persecuted him and outlawed his music.
