Chantal Contouri a good Greek girl who goes on a wild ride from 1960s Adelaide to successes in television and film roles
Among her many television roles, Chantal Contouri won a 1978 Logie as Melina Tsangarakis, Tom Sullivan’s first wife, on the Australian family drama series The Sullivans.
Greek-born Chantal Contouri, who emerged as a strong independent teenager in 1960s Adelaide, went on to become a television and film actress, best known for her urse Tracy Wilson role in the 1970s soap opera Number 96 and a Logie as Melina Tsangarakis, in The Sullivans.
Born in Agios Georgios, Greece, in 1950, to Fotini and Konstantinos Contouri, who emigrated to Australia in 1954 with their young family and settled in Adelaide. Chantal Contouri was a determined student at Adelaide High School and often helped other Greek migrants with paperwork. But she lost her good-Greek-girl status during the Beatles’ visit to Adelaide in 1964 when she eluded an Adelaide High lockdown and was pictured dancing at the group’s concert.
Her rebelliousness was only enhanced by seeing Zorba the Greek (1964) that “made my 15-year-old heart sink for all women around the world”. After a failed proxy marriage, Contouri ran away from home and her mother’s rage. She started working as a dancer and and became the resident go-go girl at Big Daddy’s nightclub in Gawler Place, Adelaide city.
At 16, Contouri left Adelaide for Melbourne, after being bullied and abused by a Greek woman on the street. In Melbourne, she appeared on the set of the pop music television show Kommotion, that featured live dancers, and danced her way through most of The Supremes songs. Still wanting to pursue her long-held dream to be an actress, Controuri moved to London where she met Olivia Newton-John, later one of her closest friends.
Her breakthrough was the Australian hit television show Number 96, with raunchy plot lines. It had Contouri playing nurse Tracy Wilson, later revealed as the “pantyhose strangler” serial killer. The exotic Contouri featured in films including comedies Alvin Rides Again (1974) as Boobs La Touche, Bazza Holds His Own (1974) with Barry Humphries and Barry McKenzie, Snapshot (1979) and the cult horror movie Thirst (1979).
Her most significant role, playing Melina Tsangarakis, Tom Sullivan’s first wife, on the Australian family drama series, The Sullivans, won a Logie award in 1978 for best supporting actress. The Logie brought some recognition from her parents and of the Greek community. Contouri continued to work in Sydney and moved to Los Angeles after attending Olivia Newton-John’s marriage to Matt Lattanzi where she remained to work on the daytime megasoap General Hospital.
After spending time in Greece, Contouri accepted a few more television roles including appearances on Neighbours, Offspring and E Street before deciding to semi retire from acting in 1998 following her mother’s failing health.
The next era of her life was at the Barbecue Inn, a Mediterranean grill restaurant that her parents had bought and turned into a focal point for Hindley Street’s nightlife in Adelaide city by the late 1990s. Her sisters Voula, Gill and Elizabeth had worked with the parents for years “so I told them it was my turn, after roaming the world and doing what I wanted, to repay my moral debt to our parents.” The Barbecue Inn boomed again before finally closing in 2014.
In 2018, Contouri featured in the film Hotel Mumbai directed by Adelaide-born Greek Australian Anthony Maras and she was in the film remake of Storm Boy with Geoffrey Rush. She also appeared in the South Australian location television series Aftertaste in 2021 and was in the short film Unfinished Thoughts, receiving a SASA (South Australia Screen Awards) for best performance.