Andreas Voutsinas

Andréas Voutsinas (Greek: Ανδρέας Βουτσινάς; 22 August 1930 – 8 June 2010) was a Greek actor and theater director. In the English-speaking world, he was best known for his roles in three Mel Brooks films, The Producers (1968), The Twelve Chairs (1970) and History of the World, Part I (1981).

Life and career

Voutsinas was born in Khartoum, Sudan on 22 August 1930 to parents from Farsa and Faraklata in Kefalonia, Greece. Voutsinas studied acting and costume design at the Old Vic School and drama and song at the Webber Douglas Academy in New York, and, in 1957, joined The Actors Studio.

Voutsinas directed more than 130 performances of classical and contemporary repertoire in London, Paris, New York, Canada and Greece. He worked as an actor and director on Broadway and acted in films by Jules Dassin and Luc Besson.

Voutsinas, a life member of The Actor's Studio since 1957, spent many years working in summer stock theater and as an assistant to Studio co-founder Elia Kazan, before he met Jane Fonda, with whom he got involved and whom he cast in the leading part in Fun Couple, his Broadway directorial debut in 1960.