Helena Kallianiotes


Helena Kallianiotes is a Greek-American film actress. In 1973, she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture for her role as Jackie Burdette in Kansas City Bomber.

Career overview

During the late 1960s Helena Kallianiotes was the resident belly dancer at The Intersection, a Greek restaurant in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. This engagement led to her first film appearance as an uncredited belly dancer in the 1968 film Head, directed by Bob Rafelson and starring The Monkees. Kallianiotes was later cast in another Rafelson film, Five Easy Pieces, starring Jack Nicholson and Karen Black, in which she played Palm Apodaca, a neurotic, foul-mouthed "butch" hitch-hiker, traveling with her companion played by Toni Basil. In 1972, Kallianiotes appeared in her most celebrated role as the ultra-aggressive roller derby skater Jackie Burdette in Kansas City Bomber, for which she received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the 1973 Golden Globe Awards. Her other film roles include Mata Hari in Shanks, Elaine Reavis in The Drowning Pool, Anita in Stay Hungry, the Visionary Woman in The Passover Plot, and a future-reading brothel madam in Nicolas Roeg's Eureka.
Kallianiotes is featured on the cover of Art Garfunkel's LP Breakaway.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1968HeadBelly DancerUncredited
1969Easy RiderWoman in CommuneUncredited
1970Five Easy PiecesPalm ApodacaWas featured in the famous "chicken salad sandwich" scene with Jack Nicholson, Karen Black and Toni Basil.
1970The Baby MakerWanda
1972Kansas City BomberJackie BurdetteNominated for 1973 Golden Globe Award for "Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role."
1974ShanksMata HariA moll in a biker gang who all use names of historical notables
1975The Drowning PoolElaine Reavis
1976Stay HungryAnita
1976The Passover PlotVisionary Woman
1983EurekaFrieda
1990CatchfireGrace Carelli