Dionyssis Papayannopoulos was born in 1912, in Diakofto, Greece. He
studied at the Drama School of the National Theater of Greece, where he
made his stage debut in 1938, appearing (as the Knight) in
Shakespeare's "King Lear". During the next two decades he collaborated
with many prestigious stage groups, excelling in, among others,
Shakespeare's "Hamlet" (as the Grave-digger) and Dimitris Psathas'
"Fonazei o kleftis" (as Solon Karaleon).
In 1961 he created his own stage group and gave memorable performances
in a series of modern Greek comedies, like Gerasimos Stavrou's "Zito i
zoi" and Asimakis Gialamas and Costas Pretenderis' "Despinis
Diefthindis" (as Mr. Vassiliou - a role he repeated in the 1964 film
version, opposite
Jenny Karezi). He was also very good in Iakovos
Kampanellis' "To megalo mas tsirko" (as Kolokotronis, Venizelos and
Karagiozis).
His film work has been prolific, too: he appeared in about 120 films,
usually in scene-stealing supporting parts. One of his few starring
film roles was as the kind-hearted tavern-keeper in _Kyr-Giorgis ekpedevetai, O (1977)_. He died of
a stroke in 1984.