Emmy Winner Michael Constantine, Dad in ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’, Passes Away At 94

Best known for his work as the fruit and Windex-obsessed father Gus Portokalos in the film 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', the American actor had a long career before that breakout hit.

mmy Winner Michael Constantine, Dad in ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’, Passes Away At 94 (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

New Delhi: Emmy-winning veteran actor Michael Constantine has passed away at the age of 94 at his Reading, Massachusetts home. The late actor's agent, Julia Buchwald, confirmed to Deadline that he died on August 31 at his home from natural causes.

Best known for his work as the fruit and Windex-obsessed father Gus Portokalos in the film 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', the American actor had a long career before that breakout hit.

He portrayed the famous school principal on the popular TV series 'Room 222'. The role of Seymour Kaufman was a key to the show, which ran on ABC-TV from 1969 to 1974. He won an Emmy for the role in 1970.

Michael also appeared on TV shows 'The Untouchables', 'Kojak', 'Airwolf', NBC's 'Sirota's Court'. His credits also include guest roles on 'Naked City', 'Perry Mason', 'Ironside', 'Gunsmoke' and 'Hey, Landlord', among many others.

He also had key roles in the 1996 horror film 'Thinner', 'The Last Mile', 'The Hustler', 'Don't Drink the Water', 'Voyage of the Damned', and more.

Born Michael Constantine Ioannides in Reading, Pennsylvania, on May 22, 1927, Michael also had several Broadway credits before moving to television and film, as per Deadline.

Later, Michael reprised his 'Greek Wedding' character in a 2003 sitcom for CBS, and in the sequel to the hit film, 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2', in 2016. According to Deadline, the third version of the film was in the planning stages, this time set in Greece.

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