Kaiti Grey

Kaiti Grey
Καίτη Γκρέυ
Birth nameAthanasia Gizili
Born (1924-05-14) 14 May 1924 (age 100)
Samos, Greece
GenresPop
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actress
InstrumentVoice
Years active1952–1996
LabelsMinos EMI
Spouses
  • Nikos Iliadis
  • Michalis Papanastasopoulos

Athanasia Gizili (Greek: Αθανασία Γκιζίλη; born 14 May 1924), better known professionally as Kaiti Grey, is a Greek singer and actress.

Life and career

Grey was born in the village of Mytilinioi in Samos and has three siblings. She was adopted by the Kalaitzis family and grew up in Piraeus. Initially, she became an actress in Rita Tsakona's bands and later sang songs with Yiannis Vellas as well as other artists of the genre. Her role model was Tzimis Makoulis. Her first song, To Marazi, was recorded in 1952 and was the creation of Giorgos Mitsakis. After the success she achieved, she managed to become the first name in the biggest centers of the time and also to sing with all the great composers of her time.[1]

Grey performed the first performances of songs by composers such as: Markos Vamvakaris, Vassilis Tsitsanis, Yiannis Papaioannou, George Mitsakis, Christos Kolokotronis, Eftychia Papagiannopoulou, Kostas Virvos, Thodoros Derveniotis, Babis Bakalis, George Zambetas and Panos Tzavellas.[2] She collaborated with well-known artists such as: Roza Eskenazi, Stratos Payoumtzis, Stelios Kazantzidis, Grigoris Bithikotsis, Poly Panou, Mary Linda, Iota Lydia, Antonis Repanis, Stratos Dionysiou, Rita Sakellariou, Spyros Zagoraios, Paulinos Gavalas, George Datalalis, Eleni Galaras, Haroula Alexiou, Alkistis Protopsalti, Dimitra Galani, Antonis Vardis, Stefanos Korkolis, Christos Dantis.[3][4]

In the 60s she was the highest paid singer with a daily salary that even exceeded 8,000 drachmas.[5] This was also recognized by the Greek Courts in a legal battle that existed with a nightclub owner at the time. She recorded more than 1,500 songs, until 1996, when she retired from recording and nightclubs. In 1995, Kostas Ferris signed a contract with ANT1 to bring her legendary life to the small screen. However, this was not to be fully achieved as the budget cost did not reach the 26 episodes the contract had been signed for. Filming took place in Greece, Turkey and Egypt, while the title song I defeated life performed by Yiannis Parios was never released on the discography.[6] In 2006, her autobiography was published, As I experienced them. She acted in 19 films as an actress and singer.[7][8]

Personal life

Grey was engaged for five years to Stelios Kazantzidis, and then to Andreas Barkoulis. She was married twice, first to Nikos Iliadis with whom she had two sons, one of them who died in 2021, and to Michalis Papanastasopoulos.[9] She is the grandmother of Greek singer Aggeliki Iliadi. She lives permanently in Nea Smyrni and in recent years she has been suffering from serious health problems.[10]

She was hospitalized in February 2024 in critical condition, with atrial fibrillation and a respiratory tract infection, but she returned home in March, where she celebrated her 100th birthday on 14 May 2024.[11][12]

Discography

  • The malaise
  • The mountain
  • I got the army and I'm coming
  • In life the paths
  • Open Open
  • Good mom i can't
  • I'm going to cry today
  • Magic your two eyes
  • Angel Loved
  • Never make mother bitter
  • I want it to be Sunday
  • Foreign Hands
  • You said it and you did it
  • Lit the cigarette
  • Only a woman knows
  • Deep into the sea I will fall

References

  1. ^ Γιαννακοπούλου, Ντόρα (2015-07-06). Μια ζωή σαν πρόβα (in Greek). Εκδόσεις Καστανιώτη. ISBN 978-960-03-5929-9.
  2. ^ Διαβαζω (in Greek). 2007.
  3. ^ Δούκα, Μάρω (2016-04-01). Έλα να πούμε ψέματα (in Greek). Patakis. ISBN 978-960-16-5559-8.
  4. ^ Politopoulou, Marlena. Η Πηνελόπη των τρένων (in Greek). Metaichmio Publications. ISBN 978-618-03-0326-1.
  5. ^ Κουναδης, Παναγιωτης (2000). Εις αναμνησιν στιγμων ελκυστικων: κειμενα γυρο απο το ρεμπετικο (in Greek). Καταρτι. ISBN 978-960-86427-6-8.
  6. ^ "Καίτη Γκρέυ: Η σπάνια εμφάνιση μετά από καιρό – Η επίσκεψη του πνευματικού της". TLIFE (in Greek). 2023-04-08. Archived from the original on 2023-04-22. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  7. ^ Geraanis, Panos (2007). Η ζωή μου ένα τραγούδι (in Greek). Kastaniotis. ISBN 978-960-03-4375-5.
  8. ^ Rouvas, Angelos; Stathakopoulos, Christos (2005). Ελληνικός κινηματογράφος: 1905-1970 (in Greek). Ελληνικα Γραμματα. ISBN 978-960-406-777-0.
  9. ^ "Άρθρα για Καίτη Γκρέυ | LiFO". www.lifo.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 2023-04-22. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  10. ^ "Η Καίτη Γκρέυ μας ανοίγει το σπίτι της – Δείτε πώς είναι μετά από καιρό" (in Greek). 2023-01-22. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  11. ^ "Καίτη Γκρέυ: Πήρε εξιτήριο από το νοσοκομείο μετά τη ΜΕΘ". iefimerida.gr (in Greek). 2024-03-19. Retrieved 2024-06-12.
  12. ^ "Η Καίτη Γκρέυ έγινε 100 ετών: Η φωτογραφία από τα γενέθλιά της". in.gr (in Greek). 2024-05-15. Retrieved 2024-06-12.