Lakis Lazopoulos

Apostolos (Lakis) Lazopoulos (born 6 May 1956) is a Greek playwright, actor, comedian, script writer, producer, TV presenter, writer, columnist, songwriter and performer. He was ranked 83rd by the public in Skai TV's Great Greeks in 2009. In 2010, Forbes ranked Lazopoulos as the most powerful and influential celebrity in Greece. He was born in Larissa, Greece, entered the School of Law at the University of Thrace, and in 1984 received his Master's degree from the University of Thessaloniki, but decided not to practice law or pursue other vocations outside of art and entertainment.

In 1979, he wrote his first script for the revue Something's cooking in Gipsyland. He joined the Free Theatre of Athens, and between 1982 and 1986 he and Giannis Xanthoulis wrote revues of a politico-satirical nature. In 1987, he wrote Τι είδε ο Γιαπωνέζος (“What the Japanese Saw”), over which he was sued by the then-President of Greece, Christos Sartzetakis, but was acquitted of all charges. In 1992 he turned his attention to television, writing and interpreting fifteen character roles in the television series Δέκα Μικροί Μήτσοι (“Ten Little Mitsoi”).

He provided his own adaptation and dubbing for the Walt Disney animation film Hercules, voicing Philoctetes/Phil and Panic. In the summer of 1999 he played the lead role in the film Beware of Greeks Bearing Guns, which was a box office hit when released in Greece in January 2000. The premiere of Αλ Τσαντίρι Νιουζ (“Al Tsantiri News”) in November 2004 made Lazopoulos the first actor in Greek television history to host his own weekly show. In 2004 he became Programming Director for the entertainment sector of the privately owned television channel Alpha TV.