‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ Star Michael Constantine is dead

Michael Constantine, the Emmy-winning star of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and the classic TV sitcom “Room 222,” died age 94 on Wednesday at his home in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Although Constantine had been ill for several years, his agent, Julia Buchwald confirmed the veteran actor’s death from natural causes.

Born Constantine Ioannides — he also went by Gus Efstration for a time — in Reading on May 22, 1927, he was perhaps best known for his patriarch role as Greek American Kostas “Gus” Portokalos, the Windex-obsessed papa in 2002’s breakout indie hit “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” opposite Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Andrea Martin and Lainie Kazan.

The original film in a franchise that spawned a sequel and short-lived TV series — on which he reprised his role in 2003 — racked up more than $360 million at the global box office, ranking as one of the highest-grossing romantic comedies of all time, Deadline reported.

Classic TV fans will remember Constantine from his 1970 Emmy-winning role as Walt Whitman High School principal Seymour Kaufman in the ABC series “Room 222,” which ran from 1969 to 1974. He was nominated for an Emmy a second time in 1971.

His career began on the Broadway stage in 1955 as an understudy to the legendary Paul Muni, who starred as the character based on lawyer Clarence Darrow in “Inherit the Wind.” Later Broadway stage roles included 1957’s “Compulsion” and “The Miracle Worker” with Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke from 1959 to 1961.

Other notable film appearances include 1961’s “The Hustler” with Paul Newman, a scene-stealing turn as the Gypsy in Stephen King’s “Thinner” from 1996, and the all-star “Voyage of the Damned” in 1976.

Constantine is survived by two children, Thea Eileen and Brendan Neil, and two sisters, Patricia Gordon and Chris Dobbs. No memorial plans have been announced.

S.S/New York Post