{{Short description|American actor (1927–2010}} {{Infobox dancer | name = Athan Karras | birth_date = {{birth date|1927|09|27}} | birth_place = Thessaloniki, Greece | death_date = {{death date and age|2010|02|12|1927|09|27}} | death_place = Tarzana, California, United States | former_groups = Greek National Theater<br>Parthenon Dancers | dances = Greek }}

'''Athan Karras''' (September 27, 1927 &ndash; February 12, 2010) was a Greek-born American dancer, instructor and actor.<ref name=latimes>{{cite news |title=PASSINGS: Jim Bibby, 65; Athan Karras, 82|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date= February 18, 2010|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings18-2010feb18,0,305972.story|accessdate= February 19, 2010}}</ref>

==Early life== Karras was born in Thessaloniki, Greece.<ref name=imbd>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0440093/ IMDB Listing]</ref> He came to the United States when he was about 12. He served in the United States Coast Guard.<ref name=Kotsafis>"Maria Kotsafis, Interview with Athan Karras" published in ''[https://scholarship.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/bitstream/handle/10066/13918/Number43.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y The Charioteer: An Annual Review of Modern Greek Culture]'', Special Issue: The American Greek Experience, Pella Publishing Company, Inc., New York, New York, number 43, 2005, pages 29-39. {{ISSN|0577-5574}}</ref> After serving in the Coast Guard, he finished high school and studied theater and dance at New York University.<ref name=Kotsafis/> He eventually joined the National Theater of Greece<ref name=latimes /> and the Parthenon Dancers, one of the premier Greek Folk Dance troops.<ref name=imbd />

==Career== In the early 1960s, he founded the Intersection Folk Dance Center in Los Angeles.<ref name=greekreporter>{{cite web |url= http://usa.greekreporter.com/2010/02/15/athan-karras-passes-away/|title=Athan Karras Passes Away|author=Anastasios Papapostolou|date=February 15, 2010|publisher=Greek Reporter |accessdate=February 20, 2010| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20100221001615/http://usa.greekreporter.com/2010/02/15/athan-karras-passes-away/| archivedate= 21 February 2010 | url-status= live}}</ref>

For 25 years, Karras taught Greek culture and dance at Loyola Marymount University.<ref name=latimes /> He was the U.S. coordinator for Mazoxi, an annual Greek dance conference held on Crete.<ref name=greekreporter /> He also appeared in about 20 films and television projects, staged a number of Greek-language plays in Los Angeles and produced folklore programs and events throughout North America.

==Death== Karras died on February 12, 2010, at Providence Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, California, of complications from coronary artery bypass surgery.<ref name=latimes />

==See also== *International folk dance

==References== {{reflist}}

==Sources== *{{cite web|url=http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/teachers/karras_a.htm|title=Athan Karras|publisher=Phantom Ranch}} *{{cite web|url=http://www.helleniccomserve.com/athankarrasbio.html|title=Athan Karras|publisher=Hellenic Communication Service}} *{{cite web|url=http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_14407977|title=Dance pioneer was 'Zorba the Greek come to life'|work=Los Angeles Daily News}}

==External links== *{{IBDB name|102864}} *{{IMDb name|name=Athan Karras|id=0440093}} *[http://archives.nypl.org/the/21579 Athan Karras papers, 1955-1963], held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Karras, Athan}} Category:1927 births Category:2010 deaths Category:Folk dancers Category:Greek male dancers Category:Loyola Marymount University faculty Category:Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development alumni Category:Greek emigrants to the United States Category:United States Coast Guard enlisted