Helena Kallianiotes
Helena Kallianiotes | |
|---|---|
 Helena Kallianiotes in the trailer for Kansas City Bomber (1972) | |
| Born | March 24, 1938 |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1968–2017 |
| Known for | |
| Spouses | |
Helena Kallianiotes (born March 24, 1938) is a Greek-born American film actress. In 1973, she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for her role as Jackie Burdette in Kansas City Bomber.
Career overview
[edit]"Helena’s dancing so overwhelmed me with awe and happiness that when I heard later that she was at a place on Hollywood Boulevard called the Greek Village, I dragged every date there and made him pay clip-joint prices so I could see the girl move." - Eve Babitz[1]
During the late 1960s, Helena Kallianiotes was the resident belly dancer at The Intersection,[2] a Middle Eastern Greek and Balkan members-only international folk dance club[3][4][5][6] at 2735 West Temple Street and North Lafayette Park Place in Los Angeles, California. This engagement led to her first film appearance as an uncredited belly dancer in the 1968 film Head, directed by Bob Rafelson and starring The Monkees. Two years later, Kallianiotes was cast in another Rafelson film, Five Easy Pieces, starring Jack Nicholson and Karen Black. She played Palm Apodaca, a neurotic, cleanliness-obsessed lesbian hitch-hiker, traveling with her companion (played by Toni Basil).
In 1972, Kallianiotes appeared in her most celebrated role[7][8] as the ultra-aggressive roller derby skater Jackie Burdette in Kansas City Bomber, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the 1973 Golden Globe Awards. Her other film roles include Mata Hari in Shanks (1974), Elaine Reavis in The Drowning Pool (1975), Anita in Stay Hungry, the Visionary Woman in The Passover Plot (both 1976), and a future-reading brothel madam in Nicolas Roeg's Eureka (1983).
Life outside of film
[edit]In 1975, Kallianiotes appeared on the cover of Art Garfunkel's album, Breakaway.
In 1978, for about four years, Kallianiotes hosted a Monday[9] roller-skating club night, in Sherman Square Roller Rink, Skataway, after holding a birthday party, at the corner of Reseda Boulevard and Sherman Way, with jackets by Richard Tyler for Cher, Ed Begley Jr., Allegra Huston, Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson, and others.[10][11][12][13][14]
From 1985 to 1991, she operated Helena's, a private members-only[15] club at 2735 West Temple Street and North Lafayette Park Place in Los Angeles,[16] across from LAPD Rampart Division station. From 1967 to 1984, the location was formerly The Intersection, a folk dance coffeehouse,[3][2][4][5][6] similar to Intersection for the Arts.
Filmography
[edit]Film
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Head | Belly Dancer | Uncredited |
| 1969 | Easy Rider | Woman in Commune | Uncredited |
| 1970 | Five Easy Pieces | Palm Apodaca | Was featured in the famous "chicken salad sandwich" scene with Jack Nicholson, Karen Black and Toni Basil. |
| The Baby Maker | Wanda | ||
| 1972 | Kansas City Bomber | Jackie Burdette | Nominated for 1973 Golden Globe Award for "Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role." |
| 1974 | Shanks | Mata Hari | A moll in a biker gang, all of whom use names of historical persons (Einstein, Napoleon, Goliath) |
| 1975 | The Drowning Pool | Elaine Reavis | |
| 1976 | Stay Hungry | Anita | |
| The Passover Plot | Visionary Woman | ||
| 1978 | Renaldo and Clara | herself | |
| 1983 | Eureka | Frieda | |
| 1990 | Catchfire | Grace Carelli |
Television
[edit]| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | CHiPs | Lita | Episode: "Roller Disco: Part 1" Episode: "Roller Disco: Part 2" |
| 1984 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Gina (as Helena Kallioniotes) | Episode: "Pinocchio" |
| 1985 | Alfred Hitchock Presents | Maria Kyprianov (segment "An Unlocked Window") | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2017 | Star | Maggie | Episode: "The Devil You Know" Episode: "Alibi" |
Awards and nominations
[edit]| Year | Award | Category | Production | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 30th Golden Globe Awards | Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture | Kansas City Bomber | Nominated[17] |
References
[edit]- ^ Babitz, Eve (July–August 1989). "Attitude Dancing". Smart Magazine. Los Angeles. Retrieved May 3, 2026 – via The Stacks Reader.
The first time I saw Helena I was just sixteen. My mother and some of her friends dragged me to this peculiar event in Laurel Canyon—an event that entailed paying $2 to go to a party...
- ^ a b "The Intersection: Beginnings". socalfolkdance.org. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ^ a b "The Intersection Folk Arts Center". socalfolkdance.org - Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ^ a b "Coffee Houses 1970". socalfolkdance.org. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ^ a b "The Intersection - Welcome Letter". socalfolkdance.org - Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ^ a b Life Balkan Dancers (February 3, 2025). "The Intersection: A Reflection 2025 (premiered at Stockton Winter Weekend 2/2/2025)". Retrieved May 3, 2026 – via YouTube.
- ^ Greenspun, Roger (August 3, 1972). "Instant Morality:'Kansas City Bomber' Stars Raquel Welch". The New York Times.
- ^ "Kansas City Bomber". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on October 14, 2017.
- ^ Anderson, Susan Heller (September 9, 1979). "A Skating Club That's This Year's Hit of Hollywood". The New York Times. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ^ Huston, Allegra (November 27, 2023). "My roller disco years". Imaginative Storm on Substack. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ^ "This Unassuming 70's Skating Rink Became SoCal's Hottest Celebrity Hangout". Golden State. Archived from the original on March 2, 2024. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ^ "ROLLING 'ROUND AGAIN : Skating enjoys freewheeling days after boogieing off the scene with disco". Los Angeles Times. March 19, 1993. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ^ Fuentes, Gabe (January 23, 1990). "Gangs Force Reseda Roller Rink to Halt Thursday Tradition". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ^ Fisher, Paul (November 14, 2023). "On the East Coast They Had Studio 54, but on the West Coast It Was All about Skataway". Ventura Blvd. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ^ Dullea, Georgia (July 4, 1986). "Two Los Angeles Clubs For The 'New Elite'". The New York Times. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
- ^
- Pyum, Jeanie (December 10, 2018). ""Everybody Was Getting Laid": Hollywood's Queen of 1980s Nightlife (Finally) Tells All". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
- The Hollywood Reporter (December 12, 2018). "Helena Kallianiotes: Hollywood's Queen of 1980s Nightlife Tells All" – via YouTube.
- ^ "Helena Kallianiotes". Golden Globes. Retrieved May 3, 2026.
External links
[edit]- Babitz, Eve (July–August 1989). "Attitude Dancing". Smart Magazine. Los Angeles. Retrieved May 3, 2026 – via The Stacks Reader.
The first time I saw Helena I was just sixteen. My mother and some of her friends dragged me to this peculiar event in Laurel Canyon—an event that entailed paying $2 to go to a party...
- Helena Kallianiotes - Film Comment
- Helena Kallianiotes - Getty Images
- Helena Kallianiotes - alamy
- Helena Kallianiotes at IMDb
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