Christened Maria Anna Sofia Cecilia Kalogeropoulou, Callas was born December 2, 1923, in New York, New York. Her parents were Greek émigrés George Kalogeropoulos and Evangelia Dimitriadou. Callas’ father shortened the family name to Kalos and later Callas in an attempt at Americanization.
The marriage of George and Evangelia was shaky from its onset. He was a relaxed man with little social ambitions, while his wife was gregarious and fostered dreams of working in the arts. His infidelity and the death of their son Vassilis to meningitis further shook the already failing marriage. When Evangelia discovered she was pregnant again, George decided to relocate the family to America, which was met with heated opposition by his wife.
Evangelia was displeased but took solace in the belief her pregnancy would produce a healthy son. When Callas was born and Evangelia learned she had yet another daughter, she refused to look at her newborn for four days. However, by the time Callas was three, she already demonstrated a unique vocal talent. Evangelia immediately began pressuring her young daughter to practice and perform, which Callas both hated and resented. George was displeased with his wife’s overbearing attitude, and their relationship continued to suffer. They reached a breaking point in 1937 when Evangelia took her two daughters and moved back to Athens.
It turned out not even relocation could heal the bad feelings between Callas and her mother. Evangelia favored her eldest daughter and was not afraid of showing it in front of Callus, making Callus feel like the overweight, ugly duckling whose only job was to sing and make money. Callas even accused her mother, who never held a job herself, of urging her to "date" Italian and German soldiers during World War II for money. Callas could not forgive her mother for suggesting what she construed as a form of prostitution. Later in her life, Callas attempted to reconcile with Evangelia, but it only rehashed her painful past. After the 1950s, Callas never spoke to her mother again.
After her formal training, Callas moved back to the States to reconnect with her father. Despite warnings of leaving Europe, her unique talent flourished in the United States. She was met with professional success as well as personal success, marrying Giovanni Battista Meneghini in 1949.
Trouble began, however, in 1954 when she dropped eighty pounds from her approximately 200 pound frame. The drastic and sudden weight loss spurred numerous rumors, including one where Callas consumed a tapeworm to drop the pounds. In addition to public speculation, Callas also suffered professionally. The change in body type altered her voice and range, and in conjunction with intense strain from an early age, her vocal abilities began to deteriorate at a rapid pace.
More rumors dominated her life as an alleged rivalry between herself and another opera singer, Renata Tebaldi, dominated the music scene. But the largest scandal was saved for the end of her career when she began a very public affair with shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. This affair led to the eventual dissolution of her marriage to Meneghini in 1959. Callas and Onassis reportedly had one child together, who died very shortly after birth. Onassis eventually married Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, but it is believed not even his new marriage ended the affair with Callas.
During her career, Callas appeared in one feature film, director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s Medea in 1969. She also had a small segment in the 1991 documentary Wisecracks, which also featured Whoopi Goldberg and Ellen DeGeneres.
Callas died September 16, 1977, due to heart failure in Paris, France. She is still considered one of the most influential and talented opera singers to ever live.
YUDDY
