Michael Constantine

Acting

Michael Constantine

Born 1927-05-22 · Reading, Pennsylvania, USA

Michael Constantine (born Gus Efstratiou (Ευστρατίου); May 22, 1927 – August 31, 2021) was an American actor. He is most widely recognized for his portrayal of Kostas "Gus" Portokalos, the Windex bottle-toting Greek father of Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos), in the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002). Earlier, he earned acclaim for his television work, especially as the long-suffering high school principal, Seymour Kaufman, on ABC's comedy-drama, Room 222, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1970; he was again recognized by the Emmy Awards, as well as the Golden Globe Awards, the following year. After the conclusion of Room 222, Constantine portrayed night court magistrate Matthew J. Sirota on the 1976 sitcom Sirota's Court, receiving his second Golden Globe nomination. Constantine reprised his role as Gus Portokalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016).

Acting credits

My Big Fat Greek Wedding poster
6.5

A young Greek woman falls in love with a non-Greek and struggles to get her family to accept him while she comes to terms with her heritage and cultural identity.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

2002

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 poster
6.0

The continuing adventures of the Portokalos family. A follow-up to the 2002 comedy, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2

2016

The Juror poster
5.7

Struggling single mother Annie Laird impulsively agrees to serve on a jury, hoping for a little excitement in her humdrum life. But she gets far more than she bargained for when she's forced to sacrifice the truth to save her son from the mob's seductive, psychotic enforcer.

The Juror

1996

Thinner poster
5.9

An obese lawyer finds himself growing "Thinner" when an old Romani man places a hex on him. Now the lawyer must call upon his friends in organized crime to help him persuade the old man to lift the curse. Time is running out for the desperate lawyer as he draws closer to his own death, and grows ever thinner.

Thinner

1996

Voyage of the Damned poster
6.0

A luxury liner carries Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany in a desperate fight for survival.

Voyage of the Damned

1976

The Hustler poster
7.7

Fast Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary Minnesota Fats to a high-stakes match.

The Hustler

1961

In the Mood poster
5.5

When 15-year-old Sonny Wisecarver has an affair with his older neighbor Francine and then runs off to marry her, a stern judge has the union annulled. Then, when Sonny finds himself before the same judge after getting involved with another woman in her 20s, the publicity from this case makes him the object of affection for millions of young women

In the Mood

1987

My Life poster
6.7

It seems that Bob Jones has everything a man could want, namely a fulfilling job and a beautiful, pregnant wife, Gail. But Bob's life is turned upside-down when he is diagnosed with cancer and given four months to live -- not even enough time to see his first child's birth. To cleanse himself of demons in his remaining days, Bob makes a video diary, hoping to pass along some wisdom to his future child. Along the way, he discovers a lot about himself.

My Life

1993

The Reivers poster
6.4

In turn-of-the-century Mississippi, an 11-year-old boy comes of age as two mischievous adult friends talk him into sneaking the family car out for a trip to Memphis and a series of adventures.

The Reivers

1969

Question of Faith poster
9.0

A woman struck down by terminal cancer shuns conventional medical techniques at her husband's insistence and turns to alternative treatment to combat the disease.

Question of Faith

1988

Deadfall poster
4.1

After he accidentally kills his father Mike during a sting, Joe tries to carry out Mike's dying wish by recovering valuables that Mike's twin brother Lou stole from him years earlier. But Uncle Lou is also a confidence artist, and Joe is soon drawn into his increasingly dangerous schemes.

Deadfall

1993

The Love Tapes poster
6.5

At Frank Yost's Good Possibilities, a state-of-the-art videotaping dating service, various clients have misadventures while trying to find the right person to be with.

The Love Tapes

1980

Prancer poster
6.1

Jessica, the daughter of an impoverished apple farmer, still believes in Santa Claus. So when she comes across a reindeer with an injured leg, it makes perfect sense to her to assume that it is Prancer, who had fallen from a Christmas display in town. She hides the reindeer in her barn and feeds it cookies, until she can return it to Santa. Her father finds the reindeer and decides to sell it to the butcher, not for venison chops, but as an advertising display.

Prancer

1989

Hawaii poster
6.3

Abner Hale, a rigid and humorless New England missionary, marries the beautiful Jerusha Bromley and takes her to the exotic island kingdom of Hawaii, intent on converting the natives. But the clash between the two cultures is too great and instead of understanding there comes tragedy.

Hawaii

1966

Twin Detectives poster
8.0

Identical twin brothers who own a detective agency hatch a plan to expose a phony group of psychics, but soon find themselves involved in a murder.

Twin Detectives

1976

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium poster
5.9

A group of travelers from the United States race through seven European countries in 18 days.

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium

1969

Pray for Death poster
6.1

Akira Saito, a Japanese businessman lives in Tokyo with his Japanese-American wife Aiko and their children, Takeshi and Tomoya. When the family has a chance to move to the United States so that Aiko can teach the children about their American heritage, they pack up and head for Houston, Texas and run a restaurant. This is where the trouble begins....

Pray for Death

1985

Peeper poster
5.1

A detective is hired to locate a girl adopted 30 years earlier whose birth father wants to bequeath her his fortune.

Peeper

1975

Wanted: The Sundance Woman poster
6.7

Katharine Ross repeats her portrayal of Etta Place (from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid") in this adventure of the fugitive who, alone and desperate following the deaths of Butch and Sundance, seeks help from Pancho Villa in exchange for guns and ammunition.

Wanted: The Sundance Woman

1976

Skidoo poster
4.7

Ex-gangster Tony Banks is called out of retirement by mob kingpin God to carry out a hit on fellow mobster "Blue Chips" Packard. When Banks demurs, God kidnaps his daughter Darlene on his luxury yacht.

Skidoo

1968

Ghostbreakers poster
4.5

A professor and his beautiful assistant investigate a murder which occurs in a supposedly haunted house.

Ghostbreakers

1967

WW3 poster
5.4

Terrorists release a deadly biological-warfare virus in the United States.

WW3

2001

Beau Geste poster
5.6

Brothers Beau, John and Digby Geste join the Foreign Legion, where they fall under the rule of tyrannical Sergeant Markoff. Beau and John are assigned to Fort Zinderneuf, where Markoff tries to break their spirit, aware of a dark family secret concerning a fabulous jewel one of them carries. As tensions rise, Arabs attack the fort and rivalries must be thrown aside in a desperate battle for life.

Beau Geste

1966

Summer of My German Soldier poster
5.5

Patty Bergen is a teenager in a Jewish family living in the American South during World War II. Patty feels like an outcast even in her own family and is unable to understand why her father can't seem to love her. Her town eventually becomes host to a prisoner of war camp. A young German soldier escapes from this camp, and Patty finds him hiding in her secret place in the woods outside of town. After getting to know him, she ends up harboring him from his captors and, in the way of many adolescents, falls in love with him. Patty knows what she is risking by helping him, but in his company, she feels important, special, and respected as she has never been. In the end, his regard lifts her self-esteem and helps her to face the heartbreaking events to come.

Summer of My German Soldier

1978