He was born in Chania, Crete Island on 8 August 1898. In 1921, he began his career as an amateur actor in Athens collaborating with the Veakis and Nezer theater companies. His first success was the play The War of Mikhail Artsybashev (1925, Marika Kotopouli Company). He first came to the fore with his performances with the theater group Eleftheri Skini (Free Stage) (1930). He was considered the most eminent leading actor of the Greek National Theater. During the Theater’s British tour (1939), he was judged by the English critics as the best “Hamlet” of the last 50 years worldwide. During his great international career, Minotis appeared in all kinds of theater role types. In 1946, he performed on Broadway (in Elektra, opposite to Marika Kotopouli) and appeared in films such as the Boy on a dolphin (with Sophia Loren), Alfred Hitchcock’s Notorious, etc. Along with Katina Paxinou – whom he married in 1940 – they created the National Royal Theater where they co-starred. In 1952, he made some special appearances at the National Theater in ancient Greek plays and Ibsen’s Gegangere. He also collaborated with the National Theater in performances given in New York, where he directed and starred in the tragedies Antigone and Oedipus at Colonus. There, he also directed Oedipus Rex, Hecuba and Medea. In 1958, he directed Maria Callas in a production of Medea presented at the Dallas Opera (USA) and the Royal Opera House, London (Covent Garden). He served as artistic director (1964-67) and general director (1974-1980) of the National Theater. He wrote the essay Empiriki theatriki paideia (Empirical theater education) and was honored repeatedly. With the GNO, he directed the operas Norma (1960) and Medea (1961) at the Ancient Theatre of Epidaurus. He died in Athens on 11 November 1990. // Last update of the biography: March 2020 - The list of the productions below is complete.