Served as Greece's Minister of Culture from 1981 to 1990.
She was the step-mother of the famous French singer Joseph Dassin.
The studio wanted the team of 'R Dassin'-Mercouri to create a sequel to Never on Sunday (1960) named "Illya goes to New York", but both the actress and the director refused and made Phaedra (1962), a commercial flop.
Was nominated for Broadway's 1968 Tony Award as Best Actress (Musical) for "Illya, Darling," a musicalization of the film Never on Sunday (1960) in which she played the same role.
When she was asked who she would like to be if she was not Melina Mercouri, she answered that she wanted to be either Greta Garbo or Dolores Ibárruri.