Monica Vassiliou was born in Greece, on the island of Mytilene (Lesvos). She studied drama at the Ostrovski Institute in the former Soviet Union and later specialized in children's theatre at the Centre d'education populaire in Paris, France. Her stage career includes performances in Moscow, London, Athens and Nicosia, Cyprus. In London, she appeared in a BBC production of Nico Kazantzakis's controversial novel Christ Recrucified as the widow, a role previously played by Melina Mercouri in the Jules Dassin 1957 movie version of this novel. After a long battle with cancer of the vocal chords that kept her off stage, Monica began acting again in theatre and television while ocassionally directing as well. Show less «