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Despina Mirou is a very well known Greek actress, writer and comedian. She began her dynamic career as a child actor and received two writing awards as a writer. She appeared in numerous TV series in both Europe and USA, appearing on networks like HBO, LIFETIME, MTV, etc. Despina has worked in drama, comedy and action films. She started her international career with Peter Bogdanovich's film "The cats meow". She worked with directors like Paul Haggis, Gabriel Bologna, Nikos Koundouros, and several others. She is known for her performances across genres. She has a classic theater repertoire including "The Odd couple" by Neil Simon,"Uncle Vanya" by Anton Chekhov. She established a Stand-up career at various Comedy clubs in LA and NY, like The Comedy Store, The Laugh Factory, New York Comedy club, and many more.

Early Years
Mirou born in the city of Alexandroupolis, and grew up in Soufli. She has a twin sister and a younger sister. She wanted to be a surgeon and she watched many surgeries performed by her cousin who is a surgeon in Greece. At the age of 13 she received her 1st Prize writing award by the Literary Association of Thessaloniki, for her narrative "The broken TV". At age 14 she received her 2nd Prize poetry Diploma, by the" Rodinius Poetry contest" for her poem "Like a Thursday". Against the advice of her father not to be a writer, she asked her literary professor in middle school to accompany her to receive her award. She took the night train and went to Thessaloniki, to receive her award without her family's permission. Next day she announced to her parents "I want to be a surgeon and on my days off I'll be a writer". In her childhood years she mimicked and did impersonations of her family members, other students, her professors and neighbors. In middle school and in high school she received every year "excellent distinction 'for her high grades. She graduated from the high school with 19.9 ,9/12 and they gave her the "Aristeion award". Later at the age of 18 she studied for three years at the "Iasmos" drama school and graduated with excellent grades. She did a writing seminar with Vasilis Alexis and an acting seminar with Nikaiti kontouri working on the play "The Shoemaker's wife"by Federico Garcia Lorca.

Career
She started her career in her childhood years. While she was doing an improv stand up, she was discovered by the famous comic creator and writer Rena Rigga of the TV series "Akros Oikogeneiakon" for Antenna TV. She invited her for an audition where she was hired immediately to play the part of Aristea. The show was a commercial success and went on for 3 years.The TV sitcom "Akros oikogeneiakon" which became a huge success, made Despina very popular to the Greek audience and catapulted her career. She became a teen idol. While playing the nerdy and goofy "Aristea" she was cast at another Drama series "Ta paidia tis Niovis" by the legendary director K. Koutsomitis, where she played the naive and sensitive girl "Sofi", simultaneously for National TV. That year Peter Bogdanovich cast her for his movie 'The cats meow' which played in Greece and started Despina's international career. The great theatrical director Spyros Evaggelatos invited her to be part of Nikos Kazantzakis play "Konstantinos Palaiologos" at the Herodium with the National Opera Of Greece. She was the only actress to play two characters; one of the Madonna and a Byzantine Princess. The following years she participated in many T.V series, films and theater. In 2003 she took part in the comedy series "Horevontas Me Tous Zaralikous" for Alter TV. In 2003 she played the character of Litsa in the drama TV series "Akrovatontas" directed by S.Markidis for Alpha TV. In 2004 she performed as Tanzout playing a Turkish girl for the drama TV series "Archipelagos" for Alpha TV. She studied Turkish for the portrait of this sultry character and overnight she became a "sex symbol " She took part in the drama TV series "Singles" in 2004 as Katerina for Mega Channel. Despina appeared in 2005 in the Greek adaptation of the comedy "The Nanny" for Mega Channel and played the role of Sissi Filipatou, a nutty student. In 2005 she performed as the president's wife 'Dina" in the comedy TV series "Erotas me epidotisi O.G.A" the successful TV series went for 3 years on Alpha TV until 2008. In 2007 she also participated in a comedy TV series "To Kokkino domatio" directed by A.Riga and she played Patricia a high class model agent from Mykonos. In 2006 she took part as Jessica a hot hairdresser in the comedy TV series "Efta Thanasimes Petheres" for Mega TV. In 2009 she played the casino poker maniac " Valia" in the comedy TV series "Ergazomeni gynaika" for Antenna TV. 2010 she played the crazy hairdresser character Nitsa in the comedy TV series "Efta Thanasimes Petheres" directed by Gg.Petriniotis for Mega TV. 2011 she played a lifeguard Julia in the comedy "Life is a bicycle" for Sigma TV in Cyprus. In 2012  she played Eleni for the drama TV series "True Love Stories" for Alpha TV. She participated in the comedy TV series "Deikse mou to filo sou" as Tonia a hot waitress for Antenna TV. In 2013 she took a part in the British comedy show "Bunny Poo salad" directed by D.Skinner.

Films
After her first film with Peter Bogdanovich "The cats meow" She played a 60's pin-up star in the comedy film "Urania", directed by K.Kapakas. In 2006 Despina played in the drama film "Beware the bear" ,directed by V. Vellopoulou. She played in the film "Salome" by D.Meletis, for which she studied Ballet. Another drama film she participated in is "The cleaning days" by Aris Retsos she played the drug addict. In 2008 she played the Blue girl in the comedy film "Emma Blue "directed by Robert McLean. In 2009 she played a religious nun in the drama film "The Will of Father Jean Meslier" directed by Dimitri Kolatos. In 2011 she played a tragic mother who loses her child after an earthquake in the drama film "The flight of the Swan" with Colm Meaney and James D'Arcy directed by Nikos Tzimas. In 2012 she played in Niko Koundouros film "A Ship to Palestine" the character of a Russian immigrant girl Svetlana Moyseyevnfa, in which she performed with a Russian accent. She also participated in the film "Ellen Altamira" playing a policewoman Tania, with Maya Morgenstern, directed by S.Zauzesko. She guest starred in G. Smaragdi's film "God's Love Caviar" with Sebastian Koch, Catherine Deneuve, John Cleese.

Theater
Despina debuted in the comedy play "Von Dimitrakis" by Dimitris Psathas when she was 15 years old. After finishing with Bogdanovich's movie, a great theatrical director Spyros Evaggelatos invited her to be part of Nikos Kazantzakis play "Konstantinos Palaiologos" at the Herodium, with the National Opera Of Greece. She was the only actress to play two characters in the play: the Madonna and a Byzantine Princess. Her next theatrical play was with the great Marietta Rialdi in her drama play "I Ellada metakomizei" in which Despina played five different characters. She played Stella in the drama "The Little man" by Dimitri Horne in "Theater Vretania" directed by V,Malouho. Then she went on to play Solange in the drama "The Maids" by Jean Genet directed by F.Kafousia in the "Thyra Texnis Theater". She performed as Luccy in Gregoris Ksenopoulos comedy play "The pretty mother" and she toured with A.Kanaki. In the Anton Chekhov comedy "The Bear-The Proposal " she played the role of Natalya Stepanovna, directed by F.Kafousias in the "Dora Stratou Theater". Despina played three roles (monologues) in the comedy "National News" by Marios Pontikas and directed by Fanis Kafousias at the "Thyra Texnis Theater". She played the character of Sassily in the comedy play "The Odd Couple" by Neil Simon, directed by Th.Theologis at the "Minoa Theater" working with the great Sotiri Moustaka. She then played Sonya in the drama play "Uncle Vanya" by Anton Chekhov, directed by F.Kafousia at the "Thyra Texnis Theater".

Other Activities
She hosted the 1st Cyprus International Film Festival. Despina hosted the play ”What about a Spliff?” in the Benaki Museum. She also presented the 1st Youth Festival at the Dora Stratou Theater. She presented and coordinated the forum “Censorship in Art”. Despina presented poetry of M.Vaskandiras book ”The thoughts of my Youth”. In 2011 she presented an award honoring the President of the Ministry of Health.

International Career
Despina started her international career with Peter Bogdanovich's film "The cats meow" when he cast her for a small part. It was her first work in cinema. In 2012 she received an award from the U.S Congress' "Excellence in Innovations" for her speech about "The Historically Importance of Women in Ancient Times and Modern Women of Our Times" at the White House in Washington D.C. After receiving her Celebrity Green Card, she decided finally to leave her ongoing career in Europe and moved to the US in 2014. She participated in a a seminar with Al Pacino and took acting classes with John Strasberg in New York. In 2014 in New York she did stand-up at the New York Comedy club, where she impersonated Lucille Ball and the show featured on HBO. She played the character of Cassandra in the play "Oresteia" by Aeschylus at the "Kirk Theater" Off Broadway, directed by Leonidas Loizidis. Same time in 2014-15 she took part in the HBO TV series "Show me a Hero" directed by Paul Haggis. Because of her international background and her ability to play drama and comedy, Despina caught the attention of casting directors and she was cast in many films. In 2014-15 she played the character of Georgia alive in "Vox Influx" a TV drama film by Adrian Fulle. In 2016 she played in the drama film "Vamp Bikers Dos" the character of Queen Fellini, directed by Eric Spade Rivas.In 2016 she did a video "Californication" with Farah Mokrani for MTV. End of 2017 Despina finished a TV family drama movie for Lifetime channel "A Mother's Sacrifice" directed by Trey Haley. She played Liz, the best friend of Kathrin as they go on an adventure to find her kidnapped daughter. In 2017 she played the nurse Amber in the comedy film "Nurses do it better" directed by Stephan Pacheco. The film is a comedy about the American health system. In 2017 she finished another drama action film "The American connection" starring Faye Dunaway, Michael Madsen, Darryl Hannah, David Roy. The film was directed by Jeff Espanol and Despina played a Nun-Spy. Recently in 2018 she finished the comedy film 'Tango Shalom" written by Joseph Bologna and directed by Gabriel Bologna. The cast includes Renee Taylor, Joseph Bologna, Lainie Kazan, Karina Smirnoff from Dancing with the Stars and produced by Joel Zwick, director of my "Big Fat Greek Wedding". Despina played Susan Schulman a Hasidic Jewish woman. In 2018 she finished the comedy film "The proposal"  she played Athena's character. In 2018-19 she is cast to start shooting for the film "Gleichschaltung" in which she will play the Jewish girl Judith.The film is about the social and emotional issues in a factional present had Germany won the war, directed by Patric Kilpatrick. In 2018 she played in the comedy film "The Light Touch" directed by Robert McLean. In this film Despina plays the character of the crazy policewoman Gina, similar to a female Clouseau in "The Pink Panther". In 2017 she presented the winning film at the Greek Los Angeles Film Festival. Since she moved to Los Angeles Despina performs is a regular at comedy clubs like The New York Comedy Club, The comedy Store, The laugh Factory, The Flappers club, The Ice house, The Ha Ha Comedy club, Dime club,The Comedy Union and making a name as a stand-up comedian in the comedy scene. Her talent in impersonating and transforming herself to different personalities has made her stand out in the comedy world. She appeared as Lucille Ball at the New York Comedy club, with her monologue "Lucy at Halloween" which aired on HBO. She impersonated Joan Crawford at The Laugh Factory and at The Ha Ha comedy club, with her monologue "Kisses From Joan". Her new faces include Marilyn Monroe, Liz Taylor, Jessica Rabbit, Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga and many more. Since 2016 she is a student at Santa Monica College and has studied comedy directors Charlie Chaplin, Woody Allen and she received her diploma in Astronomy. Mirou has modeled for "Optical corner" from Channel, Valentino and Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses, appeared in an "ELLITE Crackers" commercial, she modeled for Designer" Michalis Aslanis" Haute Couture, for "Vasileios Kostetsos" Haute Couture, for "MED" swimwear, for "Latsaro" clothes, for the "Apple" clothes, for Dimitra Praskeva wedding dresses and many more.

Awards
At the age of 13, she received her "1st Prize Writing Award", by the Literary Association of Thessaloniki, for her narrative "The broken TV" At the age of 14 she received her "2nd Prize Poetry Diploma" from the Rodinius Poetry contest, for her poem "Like a Thursday". 2012 she received an award at the White House in Washington D.C from the U.S Congress "Excellence in Innovations " for her speech about  "The Historically Importance of Women in Ancient Times and Modern Women of Our Times " that had contributed to humanity in different fields such as science (Hypatia, Maria Montessori) literature (Sapho, Anne Frank) activism (Rosa Parks) politics and many more.

Philanthropy
Throughout her career, Mirou has been an active member of "PATH" people who assist the homeless, an organization that helps homeless to find shelter, food, health care, e.t.c. She is a member of "Amnesty international" that supports human rights around the world. She supports "Children with Autism". Despina spent many weeks to help children with Autism, she has visited a number of hospitals throughout the years. Several times she has donated her income from her theatrical plays to the Autistic Children. Despina's younger sister is autistic. Mirou is actively involved in various humanitarian organizations like "The Children's Hospital Los Angeles" and she is a member of "Hand of Africa" that supports the ending of blood diamonds.