The Greek Tycoon

The Greek Tycoon
Theatrical release poster by David Blossom
Directed byJ. Lee Thompson
Screenplay byMorton S. Fine
Story byNico Mastorakis
Win Wells
Morton S. Fine
Produced byAllen Klein
Ely Landau
StarringAnthony Quinn
Jacqueline Bisset
Raf Vallone
Edward Albert
Charles Durning
Luciana Paluzzi
Camilla Sparv
Marilu Tolo
James Franciscus
CinematographyTony Richmond
Edited byAlan Strachan
Music byStanley Myers
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • 12 May 1978 (1978-05-12)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$6.5 million
Box office$14 million

The Greek Tycoon is a 1978 American biographical romantic drama film, of the roman à clef type, directed by J. Lee Thompson. The screenplay by Morton S. Fine is based on a story by Fine, Nico Mastorakis, and Win Wells, who loosely based it on Aristotle Onassis and his relationship with Jacqueline Kennedy. Mastorakis denied this, instead stating "We're not doing a film about Aristotle Onassis. It's a personification of all Greek Tycoons." The film stars Anthony Quinn in the title role and Jacqueline Bisset as the character based on Kennedy. Quinn also appeared in Thompson's 1979 film The Passage. Various plot lines track the Kennedy assassination and Onassis relationships but the ordering of the timeline being vastly different. Onassis' son did die in a plane crash, one of his ex-wives committed suicide and the marriage was short lived due to a sudden illness. Names were similar but not identical.