Onassis on AllMovie

Onassis: The Richest Man in the World was a four-hour, two part TV movie inspired by Peter Evans' bestseller. The film needed every second of its 240 minutes to unfold the tempestuous life and career of the colorful Greek shipping magnate. In Part One alone, we see Onassis (Raul Julia) entering into a homosexual relationship with a Turkish army officer, romancing tyro Opera star Maria Callas (Jane Seymour) in Buenos Aires, and putting the make on the 17-year-old daughter of a business rival. And we haven't even gotten to Jackie O yet (see entry 127932 for details of Part Two). Though Raul Julia is woefully miscast as Aristotle Onassis, Jane Seymour deservedly won an Emmy for her take-no-prisoners portrayal of Callas. Anthony Quinn, who'd played an "a clef" Onassis in the 1978 theatrical film The Greek Tycoon, shows up in the early scenes as Onassis' father Socrates.