Maria Amalia "Melina" Mercouri was a Greek actress, singer, activist, and politician. She came from a prominent political family for multiple generations. She received an Academy Award nomination and won a French Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Award for her performance in the film Never on Sunday (1960) and an Italian David di Donatello for Topkapi (1964). Mercouri was also nominated for one Tony Award, three Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and one New York Film Critics Circle Award during the course of her acting career. In 1987, she was awarded a special accolade in the first edition of the Europe Theatre Prize.