It is unlikely that many Liverpudlians know the name of actor Andreas Malandrinos but in his long career he appeared in films alongside such diverse stars as Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Morecambe and Wise and Tommy Steele. His film credits included an uncredited appearance as a waiter in the Beatles film Help! And roles in such classic films as the Lavender Hill Mob, The Way Ahead, The Cockleshell Heroes and Ill Met By Moonlight.
He was born in Liverpool on 22nd November 1888, the son of Greek-born Basil Malandrinos, a prosperous corn broker who also served for many years as Greek Consul in the city. (Some sources put his place of birth as Athens but this seems to be a later thespian affectation as successive census records show he and his siblings as being born in Liverpool). At the time of his birth the family lived at 52 Fern Grove L8 (now demolished) later moving to 30 Brompton Avenue L17 where they lived for many years.
His first occupation was in cotton broking as a clerk but he also served as the Greek Vice Consul, a position which brought him into considerable difficulty in 1927. He had issued a passport to a Mrs Calypso Sakellarios to allow her to travel to Alexandria in order to leave her husband Constantine, a cotton salesman who lived in Mossley Hill. The husband claimed damages against both his wife’s parents and Malandrinos alleging that they had conspired to entice his wife to leave him. It is a reflection of the mores of the time that the court found in his favour and he was awarded £6750 by the court, of which sum Malandrinos was to pay one-third which in 2024 terms was about £180,000.
It seems that he did manage to pay off the sum although details of how are unknown, but the event marked the beginning of his efforts to carve a career in acting. He left the city and in 1931 made his first stage appearance in The Improper Duchess at the Globe Theatre London.
Over the next forty years he would feature in over 100 films and continue his stage career. His countless TV roles included appearances in many of the most popular shows of the day including Softly, Softly, the Saint, Danger Man, Z Cars, Redcap, Crane, the Avengers and No Hiding Place. By all accounts he was an admired and accomplished actor but seems to have chosen to restrict his career to small parts many of which were not even credited. When on stage he would often be billed as Malandrinos, whereas on film he was often listed simply as Andreas.
He married Mary Kathleen House at St Nicholas’ Greek Orthodox Church in Liverpool on 12th February 1918. They had one son, Basil Andrea. He died at his home in Effingham, Surrey on 11th July 1970 aged 81.
The Malandrinos' home c.1900-1920
One of the earliest records of Andreas Malandrinos' theatrical career from Liverpool Echo February 1st 1916.
I first came across Andreas Malandrinos in S.B.Williams' well-researched work The Greek Community of Liverpool: A History 1822-2022 [World of Creative Dreams 2023]. There is an excellent, very extensive article on him on the website of the Effingham Local History Group. The Wikipedia entry is minimal but the IMDB entry does list his TV and film roles in detail. A search will bring up a number of his film appearances on YouTube.
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