According to People’s magazine the Greek American actress that had a leading role in the famous TV series “Friends” is speculated to be pregnant. In a past interview for that magazine she did say that she would like to have a child in her life. Her traditional Greek father of the actress was talking about in his Greek American surroundings, that he would love to have a grandchild. Her insisting father and the anonymous sources that People’s magazine claims to have probably confirm the rumor that is floating over Hollywood. Some people are even talking about the possibility that her pregnancy is related on getting together with singer
We just got a viral email from funnyman Angelo Tsarouchas which includes the latest Greek joke for the election. We do not endorse or take position on the statement but would like to share it with you in case you did not already get a viral email. So the title was: “Greek Orthodox position on American Election” and was followed by this picture…
I am an Independent TV Writer/Produder who recently wrote and produced a TV sitcom based on the “Muses” of Greek Mythology…one in particular, “Thalia” the Muse of Comedy. To be authentic, I of course starred a lovely and talented Greek Actress…Penelope Lagos…as the title character and it was screened at HBO in NY. Since then I have tried to market it to several networks including Disney and Nickelodeon. To give it more marketability, I am trying to get a famous Greek Actress to do a cameo in it. In the meantime, there is a trailer for it on YouTube MySpaceTV Videos: MUSE trailer by TOUCH (TV Pilot). If anyone is interested in seeing the completed version and learning more about it I could send the DVD, presskit, publicity stills, cast bios etc. Of course if anyone has any connections and would love to see something on TV that is both fun and celebrates Greek culture please contact me as well at rjc722@aol.com.
I may add the timing for a pilot like mine is right, since last weekend the CW aired a drama about Greek Gods titled “Valentine’. My show of course was produced before this but can still benefit from the publicity of it (even though they are slightly different in their themes and conception).
By the way, my pilot was based on my play “Muse” which was well received in NY, getting into the prestigious Strawberry Festival and winning the award for Best Play at the Manhattan Repertory Theater. So again, if anyone is interested in my idea I could setup an encore performance of the play where you can meet the Actress, myself and perhaps see and discuss the future of the pilot.
On a personal note, after working with Actress Penelope Lagos I certainly believe in Greek Mythology since she not only inspired the humor behind my pilot, but also motivated me to write a screenplay. I have since produced and starred her as the lead in a film trailer which is getting screened this Fall in Hollywood in hopes of attracting investors and industry that could help us turn the script into movie. It is based on Silent Screen Actress Mabel Normand and Penelope’s talent and inspiration proves she is indeed a true “Muse”. Those interested in that project can also see the trailer on YouTube YouTube – “Madcap Mabel” trailer and if it interests you I could send other information including the synopsis and screenplay.
A lawsuit alleging child sex abuse by Nicholas Katinas, former priest of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in North Dallas, is going toward settlement. A spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America confirmed the settlement agreement, which now must be approved by Dallas County District Judge Karen Johnson. Sources close to the Orthodox Archdiocese have estimated the cost of the settlement in million dollars although the cost has not been officially announced.
Former Greek Orthodox Priest Nicholas Katinas was “engaged in serious moral transgressions” during his time in Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in North Dallas. Mr. Katinas, 74, retired in 2006, and soon was suspended by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and later defrocked, meaning he can’t be buried as a priest.
The lawsuit was filed early last year by Ms. Merritt. It began with two plaintiffs and then, grew to five. In the suit are include descriptions of alleged abuse by Mr. Katinas in the early 1980s, and some of it occured at the church.
Nicholas Katinas did not appear in the recent preliminary hearing. He, now, lives in Greece with his family. One of his sons is a Greek Orthodox Priest there.
Milton Katselas, the charismatic acting teacher to the stars who founded The Beverly Hills Playhouse, and also directed for stage and screen, died of heart failure on Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 75 years old.
Milton Katselas was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S., to Greek immigrant parents, who had a tiny restaurant right outside the gates of a Westinghouse Electric. When he was 14 years old, his father went into the movie theater business and ran a local theater company of Greek actors, and Milton himself would sing. As Katselas began his directing career in the 1960s with the original off-Broadway production of Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story. From there he has gone on to direct over sixty plays and eight feature films. He was nominated for a Tony Award for Butterflies are Free. Under his direction, Blythe Danner won the Tony Award, Eileen Heckart the Academy Award, and Bette Davis her only Emmy Award. Katselas had directed such actors as Al Pacino, Gene Hackman, Goldie Hawn, Christopher Walken, Burt Reynolds, George C. Scott, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, to name just a few.
He studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actor’s Studio and was mentored by such great film and stage directors as Elia Kazan and Joshua Logan. It was through these influences and his extensive directing experience that Milton ultimately created the technique that is taught at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, one of the most famous and well respected acting schools in Los Angeles.
Katselas was also an award-winning painter and sculptor, and had solo exhibitions in Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Tokyo. He had also published two books: Acting Class, his renowned book on acting technique, and Dreams Into Action, a New York Times bestseller about getting the career you want. Milton was also an architectural designer, and his LA-based firm has both renovated and built from scratch several Los Angeles homes.
He is survived by two brothers and a sister.
Donations may be made to the nonprofit theater company he helped create, Camelot Artists Prods., 254 S. Robertson Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211.
In a country that people have not yet decide if it is a melting pot, a garden salad or a tapestry of different people and ethnic backgrounds eight individuals of Greek descent are running for Congress and are asking for your vote. The five incumbents of Greek heritage who are up for re-election in the U.S. House of Representatives are Shelley Berkley, Gus Bilirakis, John Sarbanes, Zack Space, and Niki Tsongas. The three Greek-Americans aspire to join them are Jane Mitakides and Jim Trakas (a member of AHEPA), both of Ohio; and Dina Titus of Nevada.
Rochelle “Shelley” Berkley has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing the First Congressional District of Nevada, which includes most of the city of Las Vegas as well as the Las Vegas Strip. Her grandmother was from Thessaloníki and part of the Greek Jewish community there. Berkley was born in New York City and then moved with her family to Nevada when she was a junior high school student. She attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and earned a degree in political science and served as the UNLV Student Body President. She then entered the University of San Diego, graduating with a degree in Law. She served in the Nevada Assembly from 1982 to 1984 and was involved in civic affairs locally. While in the state legislature, she advocated consumer safety laws, campaigned against drunken driving, and founded the Senior Law Project. Berkley was also appointed vice chair of the Nevada University System Board of Regents, serving at the position from 1990 to 1998. Elected to the House in 1998, she serves in the Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, and Ways and Means. As a representative, Berkley views her top priorities as to fight for affordable health care coverage for all Americans, veteran’s rights, and alternative energy. Berkley is known as one of the supporters of the drive to regulate online gambling. On October 10, 2002, Mrs. Berkley was among the 81 House Democrats who voted in favor of authorizing the invasion of Iraq.
Gus Bilirakis was born on February 8, 1963 in Gainesville, Florida. is a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Florida’s 9th congressional district. Bilirakis was elected as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives to replace his father, Mike Bilirakis, who did not run for reelection after 23 years in the United States Congress. Before being elected to Congress, Gus Bilirakis had been a member of the Florida House of Representatives since 1998. He grew up in Tarpon Springs, Florida, as the second-generation son of Greek immigrants. His grandfather opened a bakery in that town. At an early age, Bilirakis began working at his family’s bakery. He attended Tampa Bay area public schools and continued to work in his grandfather’s bakery while growing up. Bilirakis graduated from Tarpon Springs High School and St. Petersburg Junior College. He then attended the University of Florida, where he graduated in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He received his law degree from the Stetson University College of Law in 1989. Bilirakis has a Tampa Bay area law practice, the Bilirakis Law Group, specializing in probate and estate planning, which he took over from his father. He has helped run his father’s campaigns for the past 23 years. He is co-chair of the Hellenic Caucus.
John Peter Spyros Sarbanes has represented the third district of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives since 2007. The district includes the state capital of Annapolis, central portions of the city of Baltimore, and parts of Howard and Baltimore counties. Sarbanes was born in Baltimore on May 22, 1961 and is the eldest son of former U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes. He received a B.A. cum laude from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University in 1984 and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1988. Sarbanes lives in Towson, Maryland with his three children and wife Dina, who he met at Harvard and wed in 1988. Dina Sarbanes is an Assistant County Attorney with the Baltimore County Attorney’s office. Sarbanes sought the Democratic nomination for Maryland’s third congressional district after then-incumbent representative Ben Cardin chose not to seek re-election in order to run for the United States Senate seat of John Sarbanes’ father, Paul Sarbanes. In the last election he won with a solid 64 percent of the vote. However, he had a hard time campaigning to win the Democratic Primary.
Zack Space of Dover, Ohio, is an American politician of the Democratic Party and presently serves in the U.S. House of Representatives for Ohio’s 18th congressional district. Space won the seat in the November 7, 2006 election, defeating state Senator Joy Padgett. Space’s seat was formerly held by Republican Bob Ney, who pled guilty to conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Abramoff scandal. Republican Fred Dailey is currently running against Space in the 2008 election. Born in Dover, Ohio, in 1961, Space is the son of Socrates Space and Sandra Gallion. His grandparents immigrated to the United States from Greece in the early years of the 20th century. His grandfather and namesake, Zacharias Space, earned U.S. citizenship through service in World War I. Space attended Kenyon College in Knox County. While earning a degree in political science, he was awarded All-American honors in football and was named the 1982 Athlete of the Year at Kenyon. After his graduation from Kenyon, Space enrolled in the Ohio State University College of Law and earned his Juris Doctor in 1986. He is married to Mary Wade, the first woman judge in Tuscarawas County history. She was re-elected in 2005 with 64 percent of the vote.
Niki Tsongas is the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’s 5th congressional district and the widow of Greek-American U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas. She has three Greek-American daughters and she calls herself “Greek by Osmosis” She is the first woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts in 25 years and the first female Democrat elected to Congress from the state in 35 years. Niki was born to Marian Susan Wyman, an artist and copywriter, and Colonel Russell Elmer Sauvage, an engineer in the United States Air Force who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was a 1964 graduate from Narimasu American High School in Japan while her father was stationed at Fuchu Air Force Base and then spent one year at Michigan State before attending Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. After graduating from Smith College in 1968, she moved to New York City where she took a job as a social worker for the Department of Welfare. Niki has a law degree from Boston University and started Lowell’s first all-female law practice. In the last election she defeated her four opponents in the Democratic primary with a plurality of the vote, 36%. Her leading opponent in the general election, on October 16, 2007, was Republican Jim Ogonowski; in addition, there were two independent candidates and one from the Constitution Party. During her campaign she received endorsements from the three major newspapers in the area: The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, and The Lowell Sun.
The Three Greek-American new comers:
Jane Mitakides is the Democratic candidate in the 2008 congressional elections for the 3rd Congressional District (map) of Ohio. On March 4th, 2008 she won the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio). Mitakides is married to John Mitakides with whom she has two children. She is a strong supporter of Hellenic issues, such as FYROM, Cyprus and she is also an active member of the American Hellenic Institute.
Jim Trakas is a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives, and is the Republican nominee for the United States House of Representatives in Ohio’s 10th congressional district. He is a 1987 graduate of The Ohio State University where he earned a B.A. in Social and Behavioral Sciences. In 1996 Trakas was elected Chairman of The Republican Party of Cuyahoga County where he served until 2005. In 1998, Trakas was elected to the Ohio House of Representatives representing the 15th district, later renumbered the 17th district, where he served until 2007. Trakas won the Republican Primary by 79.31 percent of the vote and stands a very good chance to get elected. He is a member of the Order of AHEPA and the American Hellenic Institute.
Costandina “Dina” Titus is a Democratic member of the Nevada Senate, representing Clark County District 7 (map) since 1988. She has been the Minority Leader since 1993. She is also a political science professor at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She has taught American and Nevada government at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for 30 years. Before her recent congressional run, she was considered likely to seek a rematch with current Republican governor Jim Gibbons in 2010. Gibbons defeated her in the 2006 gubernatorial campaign. On May 1, 2008, Dina Titus announced that she will challenge Jon Porter for the Third Congressional Seat in Nevada. The announcement was made in the Henderson Events Plaza Amphitheater, just below the Henderson Veterans Memorial, where she reminded her supporters that it was the fifth anniversary of Bush’s pronouncement of “mission accomplished” in Iraq. Her Greek grandfather ran a restaurant in Tifton, Georgia where she was born.
With information from: The Hellenic journal, Wikipedia, United States House of Representatives
Last week, the Greek-Australian writer sent a letter to his family asking one more time for help, from his cell in Thailand.The writer who was arrested last August for defaming the Royal Family fears that the Australian government does not do its best for his freedom.
“Presently I feel as though my rights as an Australian are subordinate to the interests of the government to preserve cordial relations between Thailand and Australia,” wrote Nicolaides from inside his prison cell in Bangkok.
Harry has worked in Thailand as a university lecturer and freelance writer and was arrested at Bangkok airport on 31 August 2008. Now he is facing 15 years in jail for allegedly defaming Thailand’s crown prince.
AHEPA now has its own travel website at: www.ahepatravel.com. AHEPAtravel.com is powered by the same websites you normally use to book travel – Travelocity.com, Hotels.com and Cheaptickets.com – giving you the same great features and low prices! The site can take care of all your travel needs, including: plane tickets, cruises, hotels, rental cars and more.
Every time you use a travel website, the travel companies pay big commissions for your reservation. Now, when you book travel on the AHEPA website the organization will receive a portion of the travel commission.
If you don’t already know AHEPA stands for American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association. AHEPA is a service organization founded on 26 July 1922 in Atlanta, Georgia its goal is to support Greek-American charities, causes, and communities.It is probably the most well known American organization who promotes hellenism globally.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was trying to change the law that limits the terms a mayor can be in the office. This Thursday he won and the City Council vote, a move that clears the way for the billionaire independent to run again and dramatically changes the city’s political landscape.
By a 29-22 vote, the city council gave officeholders the option of three consecutive four-year terms. The existing law allows only two terms, and Bloomberg’s second finishes at the end of 2009.
The former CEO had said that he would like a third term because he strongly believed that his economic expertise could be very useful for the city in this era of economic hardship that we enter.
These may be good news for the Mayor but not for all those who were hoping to run for office in the next election. Greek-American billionaire John Catsimatidis was one of them who had a very good chance of becoming mayor of New York. Catsimatidis in an interview conducted at his 9th Avenue office for greekreporter.com had stated previously that he liked Mr. Bloomberg and thought that he is a very good mayor. This is what makes us think that he would not run against the current mayor. No comment have been made from Catsimatidis yet.
Greek author Alexis Stamatis, who, like the young Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville 180 years ago, visited, studied, and traveled in America, describes his experience and his fascination with the country in his new novel, American Fugue, which was translated and published in English by the Etruscan Press. This book won the 1st International Literary award by the US National Endowment of Arts. He is now touring the US to present the English translation of his book at many US universities such as Harvard, Columbia, and Cornell. In Los Angeles his presentation is sponsored by the Hellenic University Club and will take place on Sunday October 26, at Loyola Marymount University at University Hall, Room 1857. At 4p.m. starts the social hour and at 4.30 the presentation by the author.
Alexis Stamatis was born in Athens, Greece. He studied Architecture at the National Technical University of Athens and took postgraduate degrees in Architecture and Cinematography in London. He has published seven novels. His second novel, Βar Flaubert (Kedros 2000), a critically acclaimed best seller in Greece, has been published in France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Bangladesh and Serbia. Bar Flaubert has been adapted to a screenplay by the author and the director Vassilis Douvlis. Alexis Stamatis has also published six books of poetry. In 2004, he participated at the world famous International Writing Program of the University of Iowa through a Greek Fulbright Artists & Art-Scholars Award. In 2007, the US publishing house Etruscan press has won the 1st International Literary award by he US National Endowment of Arts to publish his novel American Fugue.
Milton Katselas, the charismatic acting teacher to the stars who founded The Beverly Hills Playhouse, and also directed for stage and screen, died of heart failure on Friday at 
Rochelle “Shelley” Berkley has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1999, representing the First Congressional District of Nevada, which includes most of the city of Las Vegas as well as the Las Vegas Strip. Her grandmother was from Thessaloníki and part of the Greek Jewish community there. Berkley was born in New York City and then moved with her family to Nevada when she was a junior high school student. She attended the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and earned a degree in political science and served as the UNLV Student Body President. She then entered the University of San Diego, graduating with a degree in Law. She served in the Nevada Assembly from 1982 to 1984 and was involved in civic affairs locally. While in the state legislature, she advocated consumer safety laws, campaigned against drunken driving, and founded the Senior Law Project. Berkley was also appointed vice chair of the Nevada University System Board of Regents, serving at the position from 1990 to 1998. Elected to the House in 1998, she serves in the Committees on 
John Peter Spyros Sarbanes has represented the third district of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives since 2007. The district includes the state capital of Annapolis, central portions of the city of 
Zack Space of Dover, Ohio, is an American politician of the Democratic Party and presently serves in the U.S. House of Representatives for Ohio’s 18th congressional district. Space won the seat in the November 7, 2006 election, defeating state Senator Joy Padgett. Space’s seat was formerly held by Republican Bob Ney, who pled guilty to conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the 
Niki Tsongas is the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’s 5th congressional district and the widow of Greek-American U.S. Senator Paul Tsongas. She has three Greek-American daughters and she calls herself “Greek by Osmosis” She is the first woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts in 25 years and the first female Democrat elected to Congress from the state in 35 years. Niki was born to Marian Susan Wyman, an artist and copywriter, and Colonel Russell Elmer Sauvage, an engineer in the United States Air Force who survived the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was a 1964 graduate from Narimasu American High School in Japan while her father was stationed at Fuchu Air Force Base and then spent one year at 
Jim Trakas is a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives, and is the Republican nominee for the United States House of Representatives in Ohio’s 10th congressional district. He is a 1987 graduate of 
Costandina “Dina” Titus is a Democratic member of the Nevada Senate, representing Clark County District 7 (
Last week, the Greek-Australian writer sent a letter to his family asking one more time for help, from his cell in Thailand.The writer who was arrested last August for defaming the Royal Family fears that the Australian government does not do its best for his freedom.
AHEPA now has its own travel website at: 
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was trying to change the law that limits the terms a mayor can be in the office. This Thursday he won and the City Council vote, a move that clears the way for the billionaire independent to run again and dramatically changes the city’s political landscape.