Michael Cacoyannis, Director, "Zorba The Greek". 1922-2011

Michael Cacoyannis, 89, the Cyprus-born filmmaker and screenwriter who directed the 1964 film classic "Zorba the Greek," starring Anthony Quinn, died Monday at an Athens hospital of complications from a heart attack and chronic respiratory problems.

Cacoyannis won multiple awards and received praise for the film versions of the Greek tragedies "Electra" (1962), "The Trojan Women" (1971) and "Iphigenia" (1977). His final film was "The Cherry Orchard" (1999).

He introduced Melina Mercouri in "Stella" (1955) and worked with such other well-known actors as Candice Bergen, Katharine Hepburn, Irene Papas and Vanessa Redgrave.

But he was best known internationally for the Academy Award-winning "Zorba the Greek" — the 1964 adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' novel — joining up with composer Mikis Theodorakis, whose score for the movie remains an enduring Greek anthem.

In the film, a scholarly Englishman played by Alan Bates travels to the Greek island of Crete to visit a coal mine he inherited. Alexis Zorbas, played by Anthony Quinn, is his grizzled and larger-than-life cook and fixer.

The movie won two technical awards at the 1965 Oscars while Lila Kedrova won for best supporting actress. But Cacoyannis and Quinn both lost out to "My Fair Lady," which was voted best picture that year.

Cacoyannis was born in 1922 in the Cypriot port of Limassol, when the Mediterranean island was still a British colony.

He studied law in London, but soon followed his interest in the arts, working for the BBC's Greek service, studying drama, and eventually getting acting parts in the theater.

After moving to Athens, Cacoyannis made his debut as a director with "Windfall in Athens" in 1954.