Greek actor Spiros Focas, who appeared in several Hollywood and Italian motion pictures, such as “Jewel of the Nile” and “Rambo 3,” passed away on Friday at the age of 86, according to his family.
Focas’s widow said on Facebook that he passed away in a rehabilitation facility outside of Athens. Paying homage, Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni described Focas as one of the “best known and most loved” actors in the nation.
Focas, whose real name is Spyros Androutsopoulos, was born in the port city of Patras in 1937. He moved to Italy in 1959 to pursue a four-decade career in film and television. Focas, a famous director who collaborated with Luchino Visconti and Vincente Minnelli, was a striking resemblance of the Egyptian star Omar Sharif. Focas starred in Visconti’s 1960 masterpiece “Rocco and his Brothers”.
His most famous roles were in the 1980s, when he starred alongside Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, and Danny DeVito as the villain Omar in “Jewel of the Nile” and as an Afghan Mujahideen warrior in “Rambo 3”.
He battled poor health and financial difficulties while residing in the city of Corinth in recent years. In July, he had to evacuate his home due to flames nearby, and he was admitted to the hospital. He said to Star TV three years ago, “I did not get to roll double sixes, but in the end, fate was good to me.”