
Nikos Foskolos
Personal Info
Known for
Writing
Gender
Male
Birthday
1927-11-26
Day of Death
2013-10-30 (85 years old)
Place of Birth
Athens, Greece
Nikos Foskolos
Biography
Nikos Foskolos (Greek: Νίκος Φώσκολος; 26 November 1927 – 30 October 2013) was a Greek screenwriter and director. He is one of the most commercially successful screenwriters of Greek cinema. He has been called the "Goldfinger of commercial shows". He has been described as "the maître of exaggeration" and "the king of TV shows". His film Ipolochagos Natassa kept the most commercially successful film record for almost three decades from 1970 to 1999.
Foskolos was born in Athens on 26 November 1927. He studied Political Science at the University of Athens but did not graduate. From the age of 17, he started writing successful radio plays with both a historical and modern background. His radio series Police Stories were the most popular radio series for three years. In the 1960s, he worked as a theatre critic and also wrote plays for the theatre and radio. He wrote screenplays for over 70 Greek films, mostly working for Finos Film. He introduced Spaghetti Westerns to Greek cinema.
His TV daily serial Lampsi was a huge success and ran for 14 seasons getting into the Guinness World Records in 1995. He gained another entry into the Guinness World Records for writing two daily TV series, Lampsi and Kalimera Zoi, for ten years. Lampsi was shown for 13 years from 1991 to 2005 with a total of 3457 episodes produced.
In the 1970s, his TV serial Agnostos Polemos (Unknown War) broke the record of TV ratings with 92% of Greek households tuning in to the show. Foskolos has been described as an "important screenwriter", a "talented director", a "wonderful human being" and "the father of TV-serials and films". Ta Nea refers to him as "hyperproductive". The same paper also calls him polygrafotatos translating as "a prolific writer".
Foskolos has received awards for The Asphalt Fever (Πυρετός στην άσφαλτο), and The Ruthless (Οι αδίστακτοι). His film Blood on the Land (Το χώμα βάφτηκε κόκκινο) was an Academy Awards Best Foreign Film nominee in 1965. He also received three awards and a state award for Concert for Machine Guns (Κοντσέρτο για πολυβόλα).
Known For
Crew
(1989)
Deadly dilemma
Director, Writer
(1989)
ABE Mafia... National academy of crooks
Writer, Director
(1988)
Μαρκησία του λιμανιού
Writer, Director
(1987)
Front Page Woman
Director, Writer
(1987)
Sentenced to Death
Director, Writer
(1987)
Unknown War 2: The Man with Two Faces
Writer, Director
(1983)
Θύρα 7: η μεγάλη στιγμή
Director, Script
(1982)
Wild Youth
Director, Writer
(1981)
17 Bullets for an Angel
Director
(1981)
Nelly, the Spy
Writer
(1980)
Emergency exit
Director, Writer
(1973)
The years of rage
Writer
(1973)
The Brave Die Twice
Writer
(1972)
With Fear and Passion
Director, Writer
(1972)
Captives of Hate
Director, Writer
(1972)
Love and Betrayal
Writer
(1971)
Frenzy
Writer
(1971)
Ο δρόμος των ηρώων
Writer
(1971)
Abuse of authority
Writer
(1971)
I loved a bum
Story
(1970)
Lieutenant Natassa
Director, Writer
(1970)
Visibility Zero
Director, Script
(1970)
Ο μεγάλος ένοχος
Writer
(1970)
The Jungle of Cities
Writer
(1970)
In the name of the law
Director, Writer
(1969)
I Die Every Dawn
Director
(1969)
When the City Dies
Writer
(1969)
The Refugee
Writer
(1969)
Treason Avenue
Writer
(1968)
The Avenue of Hate
Director, Writer
(1968)
Love and Blood
Director, Writer
(1968)
A Woman's Past
Writer
(1967)
Bullets Don't Come Back
Director, Writer
(1967)
The Drunk of the Harbor
Writer
(1967)
The Asphalt Fever
Writer
(1967)
Concert for Machine Guns
Writer
(1966)
Thankless
Writer
(1966)
Blood on the Land
Writer
(1966)
I blame the People
Writer
(1966)
Tears for Electra
Writer
(1966)
Zero Hour Society
Writer
(1966)
(1966)
The Devastated
Writer
(1965)
The enemies
Writer
(1965)
The Ruthless
Writer
(1965)
Dirty city
Writer
(1965)
Betrayed
Writer
(1964)
The barker
Writer
(1964)
Scream
Writer
(1964)
It is a great pity
Writer
(1964)
(1963)
The Golden Eagles
Writer
(1963)
(1963)
The Scum
Writer
(1963)
What the Night Hides
Writer
(1961)
Death Will Return
Author
(1961)
Love and storm
Writer
(1961)
The mother's curse
Writer
(1960)
(1959)
Krystallo
Writer
(1957)
Jeep, Pavilion and Love
Writer