Vladimiros Kiriakidis

Vladimiros Kyriakidis (Greek: Βλαδίμηρος Κυριακίδης) was born on June 26, 1962, in Thessaloniki, Greece. He is a Greek actor and director whose career spans theatre, television and cinema, with a professional career that began in the early 1980s.His first contact with theatre came as a teenager. In 1979, at the age of 17, he attended rehearsals of the Experimental Stage of Art in Thessaloniki. The experience had a profound effect on him and eventually led him to pursue acting professionally. He later studied at the Drama School of Roula Pateraki, while developing his career on stage.Kyriakidis began working professionally in theatre during the early 1980s, collaborating with some of Greece's leading directors and appearing in both classical and contemporary repertoire. Among his notable stage performances are Crime and Punishment, The Dog's Heart, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Coriolanus, Some Like It Hot, Zip, Caveman, The Lonesome West, Hamlet II, Lysistrata, The Odd Couple and The Death of a Salesman.Alongside acting, he developed an extensive career as a theatre director. His directing credits include productions such as The Lonesome West, Chicory Upside Down, Hamlet II, The Odd Couple, Save It and Attention, the Friend Bites. His work has often combined his experience as a performer with his interest in directing and adapting theatrical material.He made his film debut in 1982 with Summer Lovers, the American production starring Daryl Hannah and Peter Gallagher. Over the following decades he appeared in numerous Greek films, including O Kloios, Safe Sex, The Crying Meadow? [sic], Loukoumades me Meli, Nisos and Nisos 2: The Hunt for the Lost Treasure.In 2006, Kyriakidis made his feature directorial debut with Straight Story, co-directed with his wife and fellow actress Efi Mouriki. He also co-wrote the screenplay. The film became an important entry in his career behind the camera, establishing him not only as an actor but also as a filmmaker.His television career began in the early 1990s, with appearances in popular series such as The Three Graces and Twice in Error. He subsequently took leading roles in productions including Dromoi tis Polis and Asynithistoi Ypoptoi, before appearing in a wide range of successful Greek television series. His television work also includes O Kakos Vezyris, Konstantinou kai Elenis and Lakis o Glykoullis.A particularly significant chapter of his television career came with Don't Start Murmuring (Min Arhizeis ti Mourmoura), the long-running comedy series in which he became one of the central cast members. The series further established him as one of the most recognizable faces of contemporary Greek television.In Rififi, directed by Sotiris Tsafoulias and produced by Tanweer and COSMOTE TV, Kyriakidis plays Antonis, one of the seven central figures involved in the elaborate heist. The six-episode series is inspired by the real-life 1992 Athens bank robbery and combines the heist story with a parallel narrative of human tragedy.Antonis is a large, gentle man with an almost childlike innocence. He works at a funeral home and, together with his closest friend Argyris, also works as a gravedigger. His daily proximity to death has made him resilient without taking away his humanity. As part of the heist, he uses his experience to help excavate the underground tunnel leading to the bank's vaults. His friendship with Argyris is one of the emotional relationships at the heart of the story.Kyriakidis' career is distinguished by its range: from classical theatre and demanding dramatic roles to popular television comedy, cinema and directing. With more than four decades of professional experience, he remains an active presence across all three major areas of Greek acting — theatre, television and film. His role as Antonis in Rififi adds another dramatic dimension to a career that has consistently moved between very different forms of storytelling.