Nikos Foskolos
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).
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Movies (65)
Deadly dilemma
1989 · Director, Writer
ABE Mafia... National academy of crooks
1989 · Writer, Director
Markisia tou limaniou
1988 · Director, Writer
Εκείνη η Γυναίκα...
1988 · Writer, Director
Sentenced to Death
1987 · Director, Writer
Unknown War 2: The Man with Two Faces
1987 · Director, Writer
Front Page Woman
1987 · Director, Writer
Gate 7: The Big Moment
1983 · Director, Script
Ο στόχος
1983 · Director, Writer
Wild Youth
1982 · Writer, Director
Nelly, the Spy
1981 · Writer
17 Bullets for an Angel
1981 · Director
Emergency exit
1980 · Director, Writer
The Brave Die Twice
1973 · Writer
The years of rage
1973 · Writer
Captives of Hate
1972 · Director, Writer
Love and Betrayal
1972 · Writer
With Fear and Passion
1972 · Director, Writer
Frenzy
1971 · Writer
Ο δρόμος των ηρώων
1971 · Writer
Abuse of authority
1971 · Writer
I loved a bum
1971 · Story
Lieutenant Natassa
1970 · Director, Writer
The Jungle of Cities
1970 · Writer
In the name of the law
1970 · Director, Writer
Visibility Zero
1970 · Director, Script
Ο μεγάλος ένοχος
1970 · Writer
Treason Avenue
1969 · Writer
When the City Dies
1969 · Writer
I Die Every Dawn
1969 · Director
The Refugee
1969 · Writer
The Avenue of Hate
1968 · Writer, Director
A Woman's Past
1968 · Writer
Love and Blood
1968 · Writer, Director
The Asphalt Fever
1967 · Writer
Bullets Don't Come Back
1967 · Director, Writer
Concert for Machine Guns
1967 · Writer
The Drunk of the Harbor
1967 · Writer
Tears for Electra
1966 · Writer
Zero Hour Society
1966 · Writer
I blame the People
1966 · Writer
Thankless
1966 · Writer
Blood on the Land
1966 · Writer
The man who returned from pain
1966 · Writer
The Devastated
1966 · Writer
Ruthless
1965 · Writer
The Enemies
1965 · Writer
Dirty city
1965 · Writer
Betrayed
1965 · Writer
Scream
1964 · Writer
The barker
1964 · Writer
It is a great pity
1964 · Writer
Without parents and siblings
1964 · Writer
The Scum
1963 · Writer
The Golden Eagles
1963 · Writer
Mother, why did you give birth to me?
1963 · Writer
What the Night Hides
1963 · Writer
Ο Γεροδήμος
1962 · Writer
Death Will Return
1961 · Author
Love and storm
1961 · Screenplay
The mother's curse
1961 · Writer
Φλογέρα και Αίμα
1961 · Writer
Tsakitzis: The Patron Saint of the Poor
1960 · Writer
Krystallo
1959 · Writer
Jeep, Pavilion and Love
1957 · Writer
