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- Actor
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Born in a small village in Syria, Michael Ansara came to the United States with his American parents at the age of two, living in New England, until the family's relocation to California ten years later. He entered Los Angeles City College with the intention of becoming a doctor, but got sidetracked into the dramatics department. A stint at the Pasadena Playhouse (where fellow students included Charles Bronson, Carolyn Jones and Aaron Spelling) led to roles on stage and in films; the starring role (as Cochise) on the popular television series Broken Arrow (1956) elevated Ansara to stardom.
During the series' run, he met actress Barbara Eden on a date arranged by the 20th Century-Fox publicity department; the two later married. He played the Klingon commander Kang on three Star Trek television series: Star Trek (1966), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) and Star Trek: Voyager (1995). He also played Buck Rogers' evil adversary Kane on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979), and provided the voice of Mr. Freeze on Batman: The Animated Series (1992) and its spin-offs. Michael Ansara died at age 91 from complications of Alzheimer's disease in his home in Calabasas, California on July 31, 2013.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Delphine was born in Beirut on the 10th April 1932 into an intellectual Protestant family. Her Alsatian father, Henri Seyrig, was the director of the Archaeological Institute and later France's cultural attaché in New York during World War Two. Her Swiss mother, Hermine De Saussure, was an adept of Rousseau's theories, a female sailing pioneer and the niece of the universally acclaimed linguist and semiologist, Ferdinand De Saussure. Delphine also had a brother, Francis Seyrig, who would go on to become a successful composer. At the end of the war, the family relocated to Paris, although Delphine's adolescence was to be spent between her country, Greece and New York. Never a good student, she decided to quit school at age 17 to pursue a stage career. Her father gave her his approval on the condition that she would have done this with seriousness and dedication. Delphine took courses of Dramatic Arts with some illustrious teachers such as Roger Blin, Pierre Bertin and Tania Balachova. Some of her fellow students included Jean-Louis Trintignant, Michael Lonsdale, Laurent Terzieff, Bernard Fresson, Stéphane Audran, Daniel Emilfork and Antoine Vitez. Her stage debut came in 1952 in a production of Louis Ducreux's musical "L'Amour en Papier", followed by roles in "Le Jardin du Roi" (Pierre Devaux) and in Jean Giraudoux's "Tessa, la nymphe au Coeur fidèle". Stage legend Jean Dasté was the first director to offer her a couple of parts that would truly showcase her talents: Ariel in Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and Chérubin in Beaumarchais' "The Marriage of Figaro". He also had her take the title role in a production of Giraudoux's "Ondine" from Odile Versois, who had gone to England to shoot an Ealing movie. Delphine's performance was greeted with enormous critical approval. The young actress stayed in Europe for a couple years more, starring in a production of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband" in Paris, making two guest appearances in Sherlock Holmes (1954) (which was entirely shot in France) and trying to enter the TNP (People's National Theatre). She actually wasn't admitted because the poetic, melodious voice that would become her signature mark was deemed too strange. In 1956, Delphine decided to sail for America along with her husband Jack Youngerman (a painter she had married in Paris) and son Duncan.
Delphine tried to enter the Actor's studio, but, just like in the case of many of Hollywood's finest actors, she failed the admittance test. She would still spend three years as an observer (also attending Lee Strasberg's classes) and this minor mishap didn't prevent her from going on with her stage career anyway, as she did theatre work in Connecticut and appeared in an off-Broadway production of Pirandello's "Henry IV" opposite Burgess Meredith and Alida Valli. Legend wants that the show was such a flop that the producer burned down the set designs. One year later, a single meeting would change the young actress' life forever. Delphine was starring in a production of Henrik Ibsen's "An Enemy of the People" when one very day she was approached by a very enthusiast spectator. It was the great director Alain Resnais, fresh of the huge personal triumph he had scored with his masterwork, Hiroshima Mon Amour (1959). Resnais was now trying to do a movie about the pulp magazine character Harry Dickson (an American version of Sherlock Holmes) and thought that Delphine could have played the role of the detective's nemesis, Georgette Cuvelier/The Spider. The project would never see the light of the day, but this meeting would soon lead to the genesis of an immortal cinematic partnership. Delphine's first feature film was also done the same year: it was the manifesto of the Beat Generation, the innovative Pull My Daisy (1959). The 30 minutes film was written and narrated by Jack Kerouac and featured an almost entirely non-professional cast including poets Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso and Peter Orlovsky along with painter Larry Rivers. Delphine played Rivers' wife in this well-done and interesting curio, an appropriate starting point to a very intriguing and alternative career. In 1960 she landed the role of Cara Williams and Harry Morgan's French neighbour in a new sitcom, Pete and Gladys (1960). Although she left the show after only three episodes, it is interesting to see her interact with the likes of Williams, Morgan and Cesar Romero, since they seem to belong to such different worlds. This was going to be the end of Delphine's journey in the States, although she would keep very fond memories of this period, stating in 1969 that she didn't consider herself "particularly French, but American in equal measure". In 1961 she would take her native France by storm.
Resnais had now been approached by writer Alain Robbe-Grillet- one of the main creators of the "Nouveau Roman" genre- to direct a movie based upon his script "L'anneé dernière". Having been awed by the recent Vertigo (1958), Robbe-Grillet was nourishing the hope that Kim Novak could have possibly played the mysterious female protagonist of the upcoming adaptation of his novel. Luckily, Resnais had different plans. Delphine was back in France for a holiday when the director offered her the role of the enigmatic lady nicknamed A. in his latest movie, Last Year at Marienbad (1961). Delphine accepted and finally took her rightful place in film history. The plot of the movie is apparently simple: in a baroque-looking castle, X. (Giorgio Albertazzi) tries to convince the reclusive A. that they had an affair the previous year. The movie has been interpreted in many different ways: a ghost story, a sci-fi story, an example of meta-theatre, a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, a retelling of Pygmalion and the Statue and plenty more. Resnais proved to be very partial to Delphine and didn't want her to just stand there like a motionless mannequin like the entire supporting cast did. As X. begins to instill or awake some feelings and memories into A., Delphine subtly hints at a change happening inside the character, managing to alternatively project an image of innocence and desire in a brilliant way. With her stunning, sphinx-like beauty being particularly highlighted by raven-black hair (Resnais wanted her to look like Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box (1929)) and her warm, seductive voice completing the magical charm of the character, Delphine made A. her most iconic-looking creation and got immediately welcomed to the club of the greatest actresses of France. The movie itself received the Golden Lion at Venice Film Festival and remains Resnais' masterpiece, not to mention possibly the greatest son of the French New Wave. The gothic organ music provided by Delphine's brother Francis also played an important role in the success of "Marienbad".
Like he had done a couple years before with Emmanuelle Riva, Resnais had made another invaluable gift to French cinema and one would have expected to see Delphine immediately racking a dozen film projects after "Marienbad", but for the time being she preferred to return to her first love, the theatre. She always wished to avoid the perils of celebrity and started a very turbulent relationship with reporters. She made this statement on the subject: "There is nothing to say about an actor or an actress. You just need to go and see them, that's all". She also hated the fact that, after "Marienbad", many journalists had paraphrased many of her statements in order to get meatier articles or entirely made up stories about her. Her next film project came in 1963 when she was reunited with Resnais for the superb Muriel (1963). Wearing some makeup that made her look plainer and older, Delphine gave a first sample of her chameleon-like abilities and one of her most spectacular performances ever as Hélène Aughain, an apparently absent-minded, but actually very tragic antique shop dealer who tries to reshape her squalid present in order to get even with a past made of shame and humiliation. Providing her character with a clumsy walk and an odd behavior that looks amusing on the surface, she delegated her subtlest facial expressions to hint at Hélène's grief and sense of dissatisfaction, creating a very pathetic and moving figure in the process. This incredible achievement was awarded with a Volpi cup at Venice Film Festival. Delphine felt very proud for herself and for Resnais. "Muriel" turned out to be one of the director's most divisive works, with some people considering it his finest film and others dismissing it as a product below his standard. The movie's American reception was unfortunately disastrous: having been released in New York disguised as an "even more mysterious sequel" to Marienbad, it stayed in theaters for five days only. The same year, Delphine did a TV movie called Le troisième concerto (1963) which marked her first collaboration with Marcel Cravenne. Her performance as a pianist who's seemingly losing her mind scored big with both critics and audience and made her much more popular with the French public than two rather inaccessible movies such as "Marienbad" and "Muriel" could ever do. Delphine never considered herself a star though, stating that "a star is like a racing horse a producer can place money on" and that she wasn't anything like that. In the following years she kept doing remarkable stage work. 1964 saw her first collaboration with Samuel Beckett: she invited the great author at her place in Place Des Vosges where she rehearsed for the role of the Lover in the first French production of "Play" along with Michael Lonsdale as the Husband and Eléonore Hirt as the Wife. The three of them would then bring the show to the stage and star in a film version in 1966. Delphine would team up with Beckett on other occasions in the future and even more frequently with Lonsdale, her co-star in several films and stage productions. For two consecutive times she won the "Prix Du Syndicat de la Critique" (the most ancient and illustrious award given by French theatre critics) for Best Actress: in 1967 (1966/1967 season) for her performances in "Next Time I'll Sing to You" and "To Find Oneself" and in 1969 (1968/1969 season) for her work in L'Aide-mémoire. In 1966 she did a cameo in the surreal, Monty Pythonesque Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966), which was written and directed by William Klein (her friend of about 20 years) and starred Sami Frey, who would be her partner for her entire life after her separation from Youngerman. In 1967, she had a few exquisitely acted scenes (all shot in one day and a half) with Dirk Bogarde in Joseph Losey's excellent Accident (1967). Her appearance as Bogarde's old flame seemed to echo and pay homage to "Marienbad", from the almost illusory touch of the whole sequence to the suggestive use of music by the great John Dankworth. Delphine totally enjoyed to work with Losey, although their relationship would drastically change by the time of their next adventure together. The same year would also see the release of the spellbinding The Music (1967), her first filmed collaboration with Marguerite Duras. The author had always worshiped Delphine for her exceptional screen presence and for possessing the aura of a classic goddess of the Golden Age of Hollywood. She said about her: "When Delphine Seyrig moves into the camera's field, there's a flicker of Garbo and Clara Bow and we look to see if Cary Grant is at her side". She also loved her sexy voice, stating that she always sounded like "she had just sucked a sweet fruit and her mouth was still moist" and would go on to call her "the greatest actress in France and possibly in the entire world". "La Musica" isn't the most remembered Seyrig-Duras collaboration, but nevertheless occupies a special place in history as the beginning of a beautiful friendship between two artists that would become strictly associated with each other for eternity. Delphine's performance won her the "Étoile de Cristal" (the top film award given in France by the "Académie Française" between 1955 and 1975 and later replaced by the César). The actress later made a glorious Hedda Gabler for French television, although she never much enjoyed to do work for this kind of medium. She often complained about the poverty of means and little professionalism of French TV and declined on several occasions the possibility to play the role of Mme De Mortsauf in an adaptation of Balzac's "Le lys dans la vallée". In 1968 she found one of her most famous and celebrated roles in François Truffaut's latest installment of the Antoine Doinel saga, Stolen Kisses (1968), which overall qualifies as one of her most "traditional" career choices. Delphine's new divine creature was Fabienne Tabard, the breathtakingly beautiful wife of an obnoxious shoe store owner (Michael Lonsdale) and the latest object of Antoine's attention. It is very interesting that, in the movie, Antoine reads a copy of "Le lys dans la vallée" and compares Fabienne to the novel's heroine. At one point, Delphine had almost agreed to appear in the TV production on the condition that Jean-Pierre Léaud would have played the leading male role. She later inquired with Truffaut if he knew about this by the time he had written the script, but he swore that it was just a coincidence. In 1969 she declined the leading female role in The Swimming Pool (1969) because she didn't see anything interesting about it; this despite strong soliciting from her close friend Jean Rochefort (whom she nicknamed "Mon petit Jeannot"). At the time, it was considered almost inconceivable to decline the chance of appearing in an Alain Delon movie, but Delphine really valued the power of saying "no" and the part went to Romy Schneider instead. It consequently came of great surprise when, the same year, she accepted the role of Marie-Madeleine in William Klein's rather dated, but somewhat charming Mr. Freedom (1968), where she played most of her scenes semi-naked. But Delphine, as usual, had her valid reasons to appear in this strong satire of American Imperialism. Klein's comic strip adaptation isn't without its enjoyable moments (like a scene where the Americans use a map to indicate the Latin dictatorships as the civilized, democratic world), but goes on for too long and suffers every time Delphine disappears from the screen. Still, it remains a must for Seyrig fans, as you'd never expect to see the most intellectual of actresses having a martial arts fight with the gigantic John Abbey and giving a performance of pure comic genius in the tradition of Kay Kendall. The same year she also had a cameo as the Prostitute in Luis Buñuel's masterful The Milky Way (1969). Delphine read the entire script, but eventually regretted that she hadn't watched Alain Cuny playing his scene, because, in that case, she would have played her own very differently and brought the movie to full circle, something she thought she hadn't done. She promised Buñuel to do better on the next occasion they would have worked together.
In 1970, Delphine eventually agreed to appear in Le lys dans la vallée (1970) under the direction of Marcel Cravenne, although the male protagonist wasn't played by Léaud, but by Richard Leduc. It turned out to be one of the best ever adaptations of a French classic and her performance was titanic. She then played the Lilac Fairy in Jacques Demy's lovely musical Donkey Skin (1970), which starred a young Catherine Deneuve in the title role, but boosted a superlative supporting cast including Jacques Perrin, Micheline Presle, Sacha Pitoëff and Jean Marais (who sort of provided a link with Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast (1946)). Despite all this profusion of talent, Delphine effortlessly stole the movie with her sassy smile, impeccable comedic timing and multi-colored wardrobe. Although she would go on to sing on future occasions, Demy preferred to have her musical number dubbed by Christiane Legrand. The following year, she won a new multitude of male admirers when she arguably played the sexiest and most memorable female vampire in film history in the underrated psychological horror Daughters of Darkness (1971). The choice of a niche actress like Delphine to play the lesbian, Dietrichesque Countess Bathory is considered one of the main factors that sets Harry Kümel's movie apart from the coeval products made by the likes of Jesús Franco or Jean Rollin. To see another horror movie highlighted by the presence of an unforgettable female vampire in Seyrig style, one will have to wait for the similar casting of the splendid Nina Hoss in the auteur effort We Are the Night (2010). Cravenne's Tartuffe (1971) was a delicious "Jeu à Deux" between Delphine and the immense Michel Bouquet. In 1972, Delphine would add another immortal title to her filmography, as she was cast in Luis Buñuel's surrealist masterpiece, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972). As the adulterous Simone Thévenot, always wearing a sanctimoniously polite smile, she managed to give the star turn in a flawless cast: Fernando Rey made his Rafael Acosta deliciously nasty behind his cover of unflappability, Paul Frankeur was hilariously obtuse as M.Thévenot, Jean-Pierre Cassel suitably ambiguous as M.Sénéchal, Julien Bertheau looked charmingly sinister as Mons.Dufour, Bulle Ogier got to show her formidable gifts for physical comedy as Florence and the role of Alice Sénéchal, a woman who gets annoyed at not getting coffee while a man has just confessed to have murdered his father, proved for once the perfect fit for the coldest and least emotional of actresses, Stéphane Audran. The movie won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. The next year, Delphine appeared in a couple of star-studded productions: she gave a brief, but memorably moving performance in Fred Zinnemann's The Day of the Jackal (1973) as a French woman who makes the fatal mistake of falling for Edward Fox's ruthless killer. People's memories of the movie are often associated with her scenes. She also appeared in Losey's disappointing A Doll's House (1973) opposite a badly miscast Jane Fonda as Nora. The two actresses didn't get along with the director as they both thought his vision of the story to be deeply misogynist. Many key dialogues were unskillfully butchered for the adaptation, diminishing the depth of the characters and the end result was consequently cold, although the movie has its redeeming features. The brilliant David Warner arguably remains the definitive screen Torvald and Delphine is typically impeccable in the fine role of Kristine, although one can't help but think that an accomplished Ibsenian actress like her should have played Nora in the first place. Although Losey wasn't in speaking terms with her any longer by the time the shooting ended, Delphine befriended Jane as they shared a lot of ideals and causes. Delphine Seyrig was of course a vocal feminist, although she didn't consider herself a militant: she actually believed that women should have already known their rights by then and that she didn't have to cause any consciousness raising in them. She would go on to work with more and more female directors shortly after, considering also that she had now begun to love cinema as much as theatre. In 1974 she appeared in a stage production of "La Cheuvachée sur le lac de Constance" because she dearly desired to act opposite the wonderful Jeanne Moreau, but from that moment on, most of her energies were saved for film work. She also grew more and more radical in picking up her projects: Le journal d'un suicidé (1972), Dites-le avec des fleurs (1974) and Der letzte Schrei (1975) certainly qualify as some of her oddest features, not to mention the most difficult to watch. Le cri du coeur (1974), although flawed by an inept performance by Stéphane Audran, was slightly more interesting: the director capitalized on Delphine's Marienbad image once again, casting her as a mysterious woman the crippled young protagonist gets sexually obsessed with. She made another relatively "ordinary" pick by playing villainous in Don Siegel's remarkable spy thriller The Black Windmill (1974) alongside stellar performers like Michael Caine, Donald Pleasence, John Vernon and Janet Suzman.
The following year, Delphine had two first rate roles in Le jardin qui bascule (1975) and in Liliane de Kermadec's Aloïse (1975) (where her younger self was played, quite fittingly, by an already prodigious Isabelle Huppert). But 1975 wasn't over for Delphine as the thespian would round off the year with two of her most amazing achievements. The Seyrig/Duras team did finally spring into action again with the memorable India Song (1975), another movie which lived and died entirely on Delphine's intense face. Laure Adler wrote these pertinent words in her biography of Duras: "In India Song we see nothing of Calcutta, all we see is a woman dancing in the drawing room of the French embassy and that is enough, for Delphine fills the screen". Coming next was what many people consider the actress' most monumental personal achievement: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975). It has become a common saying that, when you have a great interest in an actor, you could watch him/her reading the phone book. Seyrig fans can experiment it almost literally in Chantal Akerman's three hour minimalist masterpiece, which meticulously follows the daily routine of widowed housewife Jeanne. Akerman chose Delphine "because she brought with her all the roles of mythical woman that she played until now. The woman in Marienbad, The woman in India Song". The movie can be considered a filmed example of "Nouveau Roman": every moment of Jeanne's day is presented almost real-time -from the act of peeling potatoes or washing dishes- and every gesture has a precise meaning, like Jeanne's incapacity of putting her life together being expressed by her inability of making a decent coffee or put buttons back on a shirt. The movie is also of course a feminist declaration: Jeanne regularly resorts to prostitution to make a living, which (according to Akerman) symbolizes that, even after the death of her husband, she's still dependant of him and always needs to have a male figure enter her life in his place. Her declaration of independence is expressed at the end of the movie through the murder of one of her clients. Delphine's approach to the role was as natural as possible and she completely disappeared into it, giving a hypnotic performance that keeps the viewer glued to his chair and prevents him to feel the sense of boredom every actress short of extraordinary would have induced. It's considered one of the greatest examples of acting ever recorded by a camera and possibly the definitive testament to Delphine's abilities. By now she was being referred as France's greatest actress with the same frequency Michel Piccoli was called the greatest actor. 1976 saw the the Césars replacing the "Étoiles de Cristal" and Delphine was nominated for "India Song", but she lost to Romy Schneider for her work in That Most Important Thing: Love (1975) by Andrzej Zulawski. The same year also saw her getting behind the camera as she directed Scum Manifesto (1976), a short where she read the Valerie Solanas text by the same name. She also starred in Duras' new version of "India Song", Her Venetian Name in Deserted Calcutta (1976) (where the setting was changed to the desert) and headlined the cast of Mario Monicelli's Caro Michele (1976). In 1977 she traveled to the UK to shoot an episode of BBC Play of the Month (1965). She stated her great admiration for British TV as opposed to French TV, congratulating BBC for its higher production values and for its major respect for the material it used to produce. Thinking retrospectively about the whole thing, these sentiments seem rather misplaced, since BBC erased tons of programs from existence in order to make room in the storage and for other reasons, but fortunately "The Ambassadors" wasn't part of the slaughter. Like Henry James's story, the cast featured some veritable cultural ambassadors as three different nations offered one of their most talented thespians ever: Paul Scofield represented England, Lee Remick represented United States and Delphine represented France as Madame De Vionnet. Baxter, Vera Baxter (1977) marked her final and most forgettable film collaboration with Duras. In Faces of Love (1977), she played the drug-addicted ex-wife of a director (a typically outstanding Jean-Louis Trintignant) who summons her along with two other actresses to shoot a film version of "The Three Sisters". She was again nominated for a César, but the sentimentality factor played in favor of Simone Signoret's performance in Moshé Mizrahi's award-friendly Madame Rosa (1977), which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film two months later. Mizrahi later cast both actresses in his subsequent feature, I Sent a Letter to My Love (1980), also starring Jean Rochefort. This bittersweet feature proved much better than the director's previous work: Signoret and Rochefort gave great performances, but, once again, Delphine was best in show as a naive, hare-brained woman so much different from her usual characters and gave another confirmation of her phenomenal range. She was nominated for another César in the supporting actress category, but lost to Nathalie Baye for Every Man for Himself (1980). It's ironic that, despite being considered the nation's top actress by so many people, Delphine never won a César. One theory is that she had alienated many voters (particularly the older ones) by often dismissing 50's French cinema and regularly comparing French actors unfavorably to American ones, just like many New Wave authors (Jean-Luc Godard, Claude Chabrol, Éric Rohmer, Jacques Rivette) had done back in the days when they worked as critics for the "Cahiérs Du Cinema" and none of them ever won a César either (or at least not a competitive one). This along with having made many enemies because of her vocally feminist attitude of course. She once stated herself that many people in France probably disliked her because she was always saying what she thought.
In the 80's, Delphine appeared in three stage plays that were later filmed: La Bête dans la Jungle (a Duras adaptation of the Henry James novel), "Letters Home" (about the poet Sylvia Plath) and "Sarah et le cri de la langouste" (where she played the legendary Sarah Bernhardt). She scored a particular success with the latter and won the "Prix Du Syndicat de la Critique" for a record third time, more than any other actress (Michel Bouquet is her male counterpart with three Best Actor wins). In 1981, she directed a feminist documentary, Sois belle et tais-toi! (1981), where she interviewed many actresses, including her friend Jane Fonda, about their role (sometimes purely decorative) in the male-dominated film industry. In 1982 she co-founded the Simone De Beauvoir audiovisual centre along with Carole Roussopoulos and Ioana Wieder. A final collaboration with Chantal Akerman, the innovative musical Golden Eighties (1986), allowed her to do what she couldn't do in "Peau d'âne" and give a very moving rendition of a beautiful song. Avant-garde German director Ulrike Ottinger provided Delphine with some unforgettable and appropriately weird roles in three of her features: multiple characters in Freak Orlando (1981), the only female incarnation of Dr.Mabuse in Dorian Gray in the Mirror of the Yellow Press (1984) (opposite Veruschka von Lehndorff, playing the title role 'en travesti') and Lady Windermere in Joan of Arc of Mongolia (1989). She gave a final, stunning TV performance in Une saison de feuilles (1989) as an actress suffering from Alzheimer's disease and won a 7 d'or (a French Emmy) for it. Her mature turn as a woman who's reaching the end of the line looks particularly poignant now, as it has the bitter taste of a tear-eyed farewell. A woman of extraordinary courage, Delphine had been secretly battling lung cancer (she had always been a chain smoker) for a few years, but, because of her supreme professionalism, she had never neglected a work commitment because of that. Only her closest friends knew. It became evident that there was no hope left when, in September 1990, she had do withdraw her participation from a production of Peter Shaffer's "Lettice and Lovage" with Jean-Louis Barrault and Madeleine Renaud's theatre company. One month later she tragically lost her battle with cancer and died in hospital, leaving an unbridgeable void in the acting world and in the lives of many. Tributes flew in torrents, with Jean-Claude Brialy hosting a particularly touching memorial where Jeanne Moreau read some very heartfelt phrases come from the pen of Marguerite Duras to honour the memory of her muse. In the decade following Delphine's death, many of her features unfortunately didn't prove to have much staying power -being so unique and destined to a very selected and elitist audience- and plenty of people began to forget about the actress. Delphine's good friend, director Jacqueline Veuve, thought this unacceptable and she saw to do something about it, shooting a documentary called Delphine Seyrig, portrait d'une comète (2000), which premiered at Locarno film festival. This partially helped to renew the actress' cult and to expand it to several other followers. Similar retrospectives at the Modern Art Museum in New York and at the La Rochelle Film Festival hopefully served the same purpose as well. One can also hope that the French Academy (Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma) would start to make amends for past sins by awarding Delphine a posthumous César: since the immortal Jean Gabin received one in 1987, who could possibly make a likelier pair with him?- Ghassan Massoud (born September 20, 1958 in Damascus) is a Syrian actor and film-maker. He is best-known in the West for playing the role of the Muslim military general Saladin in Ridley Scott's 2005 film Kingdom of Heaven. He has also played the "Sheikh" in famous Turkish film "Kurtlar Vadisi: Irak" (Valley of the Wolves Iraq). Massoud is best known in Syria for his appearance in many Syrian-made films, and writing and directing the theatre play Diplomasiyyoun, and was part of the Syrian Ministry of Culture's National Theater's 2002 season. Married with both a son and daughter, Massoud teaches Drama at both the Damascus Music and Drama School and High Institution of Theatrical Arts. He has appeared in the Syrian films The Chant of Rain, and in Haytham Hakky's well known work Memories of the Forthcoming Age, and on the Syrian stage was an actor in August Strindberg's Miss Julie.
- Producer
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Syrian-American Moustapha Akkad produced a series of "Halloween" movies but it was The Lion of the Desert (1980) and The Message (1976), on the history of Islam, into which he poured his heart. It was reportedly difficult for him to make it in Hollywood but no one could deny his talent as a director and producer. He was killed along with his daughter, Rima Al Akkad Monla, in a bombing in 2005 in Amman, Jordan.- Zain Al Rafeea is an actor, known for Capharnaüm (2018). Zain was a Syrian refugee when he was discovered in the streets of Beirut by director Nadine Labaki. At the time, his life shared similarities with that of his character of the same name. He and his family have since been resettled in Norway.
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Samer Ismail was born on 8 July 1985 in Homs, Syria. He is an actor and producer, known for The Worthy (2016), Born from the Flank: Wilada Min Alkhasira (2011) and The Cello (2023).- Actress
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Antonella Lualdi was born on 6 July 1931 in Beirut, French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon [now Lebanon]. She was an actress, known for Andrea Chenier (1955), The Red and the Black (1954) and Cordier and Son: Judge and Cop (1992). She was married to Franco Interlenghi. She died on 10 August 2023 in Rome, Lazio, Italy.- Producer
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Born in Syria, before entering the world of cinema, he owned a chain of pizzerias in Las Vegas; began his career as director and producer in 1986 when he founded the film production company City Lights together with producer Ronald L. Gilchrist; in 1989, however, he decided to start his own business and founded PM Entertainment Group together with the Canadian director and producer Richard Pepin. Merhi specialized in the genre of action films and directed and produced at the turn of the 80/90s many low-cost action and martial arts films that very often were mainly broadcast on television or distributed for the circuit. direct-to-video; As producer he has produced over 100 films and TV series, and in 2000 PM Entertainment was first absorbed by The Harvey Entertainment Group and then purchased by the film company Echo Bridge Home Entertainment. The Syrian director and producer in his career has worked both as a producer and director with actors such as Michael Madsen, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Tom Arnold, Heather Locklear, Lorenzo Lamas, Jeff Fahey, Frank Zagarino, Gary Busey, William Forsythe, Jo Champa, Jill Hennessy, Robert Patrick, and many others; moreover, he often collaborated with numerous martial artists such as Jeff Wincott and Gary Daniels in shooting action films. Today, Merhi actively invests in real estate projects in addition to a wide variety of businesses. His portfolio consists of luxurious single family homes, apartment complexes, hotels, comedy clubs, restaurants, production studios, and retail. Merhi resides in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.- Producer
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Ziad's body of work as a director, producer and writer has earned over fifty awards and honors. Presently, Ziad is in pre-production for the feature film Hello Beautiful based on Christine Handy's book Walk Beside Me. Earlier this year, Ziad produced two films: Upstanding in Rwanda and the Tunisian film Take My Breath premiering Oct 10th, 2023 at the Warsaw International Film Festival. Most recently, Ziad produced the film The Island Of Forgiveness starring Claudia Cardinale and served as an Executive producer on the Iranian film Forbidden Womanhood. Both films are slotted for release in late 2022. Prior work include producing The Flower of Aleppo starring Hend Sabry and executive produced Dreams I Never Had starring Malcolm McDowell and Robin Givens. The Flower Of Aleppo was honored as Tunisia's entry into both the 2017 Academy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards. The Flower was chosen to be the opening night event at the prestigious Carthage Film Festival. Irrefutable Proof, a dramatic thriller Ziad directed and produced, swept the Beverly Hills Film Festival earning three of the fest's highest awards: the Golden Palm, Best Actress, and Best Cinematography. He received the Abu Dhabi Film Festival's Black Pearl Award for Best Producer for the film Always Brando, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Always Brando also received the Best Picture Award from the Alexandria Film Festival and the Jury Prize from the Algerian Film Festival. Ziad's documentary The Letter: An American Town and the Somali Invasion premiered at AFI film festival and was chosen as the opening film Amnesty International film festival. The Letter won numerous awards and accolades and was heralded as Critics Pick by New York Magazine. Woman, a documentary he shot on location in Syria, once again earned Ziad the Beverly Hills Film Festival's highest honor, the Golden Palm Award. ¡Henry O! garnered Best Documentary honors at the BHFF as well as the Best of Fest Award from the Breckenridge Film Festival and the Accolades Award for Excellence in Film. His critically acclaimed feature film Shadow Glories has been heralded as "Powerful and distinctive. A mature, accomplished work...strong, stylish and uncompromising" by Kevin Thomas, film critic for The Los Angeles Times. In July, 2019, Ziad had the release of his film Hail Mary, an animated and live-action football comedy. In Hollywood, Ziad created two extraordinary theaters: The Open Fist Theatre Company and The Egyptian Arena. As Artistic Director of the award-winning Open Fist Theatre, Ziad brought to the LA theatre community prestigious international playwrights such as Arrabel, Artue, Beckett, Brecht, Churchill, Gretzky, and Lorca. He directed and produced over sixty major stage productions, among them Roxy Ventola's After The Bomb, Brecht's Baal, Sam Shephard's True West, Arrabel's Car Cemetery, Shakespeare's Hamlet, Fassbinder's The Bitter Tears Of Petra Von Kant, Tennessee Williams' Vieux Carre, Nicholas Kazan's Blood Moon, Poor Murderer, The Architect And Empress Of Assyria, Cinders, Low Level Panic, and Dusa, Fish, Stas, And Vi. Professor Ziad teaches advanced and graduate classes in filmmaking and photography at Lesley University. He earned an MFA in directing from California State University, Fullerton, an MA in writing and criticism from California State University,Los Angeles, and a BA in theatre from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. Ziad is a member of the Producer's Guild of America serving on the diversity committee- Actor
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Yahya Mahayni was born in Syria. He is known for The Man Who Sold His Skin (2020), Fearless Girl (2019) and The Strangers' Case (2024).- One of the Top New Stars in Syria and the Middle East After finishing Law school in Damascus, handsome Moatasem can't hide his passion towards performing arts . He later joined the Higher institute of Dramatic arts in Damascus. Since then he started performing in famous Tv shows in Syria and Middle East like Age of Fear (zaman alkhouf , 2007 ) , Khaled ibn Alwaleed (2008) . Until 2011 , when he played the leading role in the famous Tv show , School Days (ayam al derassa ) which gained a lot of success and popularity especially among teenagers. Moatasem's role in School Days not only gained and nominated a lot of awards in Syria and the Arab world but it revealed true talent and relentless dedication. Moatasem has landed various leading and supporting roles in a number of famous Tv shows like the well acclaimed Bab Al Hara (season 6 ,7 &8 ) , Lipstick ( kalam homra 2014) , Donia 2015 . Until he was chosen to play the major role in khatoon (2016) , Alzibak , the role that showed not only truly promising actor but a potential charming star in the Middle East.
- John George was born on 20 January 1898 in Aleppo, Syria. He was an actor, known for The Unknown (1927), Scaramouche (1923) and The Night of Love (1927). He died on 25 August 1968 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
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Kosai Khauli is an award winning critically acclaimed popular Syrian actor born on April 1, 1976 in Tartus, Syria. Kosai studied Law for two years but decided to pursue acting studies at the prestigious Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts from which he graduated in 1999. His debut role was a leading role in the television film (Difficult Memory) in 1998. Soon he landed various leading and supporting roles in a number of feature films and popular television series.
He recently portrayed the king of Egypt Ismail Pasha in the popular 2014 historic TV drama (Saraya Abdeen) which was aired on MBC in 2014. Kosai is considered a very versatile actor with a broad range of acting skills by many of his peers, directors, producers and film critics.- Bashar al-Assad has been the Syrian Dictator since 2000, he was born on September 11, 1965 in Damascus, Syria. He has been married to Asma Al Akhras since December 2000. They have three children. He is the son of Hafez al-Assad who ran as dictator. He went to school to be a medical doctor. His brother Bassel died in a car crash in 1994. So after he was called back to the Syrian army and was prepared to be a dictator for the country Syria, in 2000 he became Dictator of Syria after his father passed away. He had made a reform on the Damascus Spring which led to the shutdown of Mezzeh prison and releasing the Muslim prisoners. During the War on Terror he allied with the West and interrogated people believed to be al-Qaeda suspects. In 2005 Rafic Hariri was assassinated in the car bombing at the hotel in Lebanon. Soon afterwards he was blamed for the terrorist attack. In 2007 he was reelected to run for dictatorship. On January 26, 2011 Mass protests in Syria began and riots occurred and the Syrian Army responded with violence against the protesters which led to the 9 year Syrian war. Many of the refugees escaped Syria due to the violence occurring in the cities. Assad sent his army to retake the cities held by rebels. He is accused of the war crimes including torturing people in prisons and killing people who opposed him, He is also known for human rights violation against his people and is accused of using chemical attacks in Syria. Assad fought to retake the cities of Syria including Appello. He received military support from Russia to stop the uprisings of the Syrian rebels. He is still trying to retake Syria affected by the Syrian War.
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Ali Asad was born on 11 October 1961 in Salamiah, Syria. He is a cinematographer, known for Doctor Who (2005), Mad to Be Normal (2017) and A Lonely Place to Die (2011).- Frank Lackteen was born on 29 August 1897 in Kab Elias, Syria (now Lebanon). He was an actor, known for The Green Archer (1925), The Desert Hawk (1944) and The Sea Wolf (1941). He was married to Muriel Elizabeth Dove and Sarah. He died on 8 July 1968 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA.
- Abed Fahed was born on 11 February 1964 in Latakia, Syria. He is an actor, known for Al Hajjaj (2003), Loabat Al Moot (Game of Death) (2013) and Al-Zahir Bibars (2005).
- One of the most significant actors in the arabic world, the talented and charismatic Syrian actor Bassem Yakhour was born in the Syrian city Lattakia in August 16, 1971. He started then his journey in acting after graduating from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts of the Capital Damascus. And in 1993 he acted in "The Storm" to work then in many projects from comic to historic and dramatic such as "Six Stars Family", "Al Thuraia", "The Handcuff", "Brothers of Dust", "Hero of This Time", "Khalid Ibn Al-Walid", "Jamil Wa Hanaa", and "Khalf El-Qudban". In the year 2000 he directed and acted in "The Explosive Man" to work then as an actor and co-writer in the comic critical series "Spot Light" in which he is best known for alongside the popular comic show "Dayaa Dayaa" that revealed an astonishing performance. Bassem was also featured in the Egyptian cinema in works such as "Khalij Nema" and "Zel Al-Muhareb.
- A Syrian professional actress, she was born in Damascus in (16 February 1976) to a Kurdish father and a Syrian mother. She started her artistic career by entering the popular arts, Zenobia Band, for three years. She entered art in 1992. Her first dramatic work was the series "Al-Ababid" in 1996 and the series "The Family of 6 Stars" in 1996. She is considered one of the well-known and famous first grade actresses in the Arab world, and she is always distinguished by her appropriate choice of roles, so every time her role is crowned with great success. She achieved great success in most of her roles, most notably: (Salhiya Nights - Family Memoirs - The Bird - People of the Banner - Narcissus Flower - Our Sweet Days - Curse of Mud - Red Pen - Tomorrow we meet). She is married to Shady Jawad and has a son named (Amjad).
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Abdellatif Abdelhamid was born on 5 January 1954 in Homs, Syria. He was a director and writer, known for Layali ibn awa (1989), Kharej altaghtya (2007) and Oral Messages (1991). He died on 15 May 2024 in Syria.- Actor
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Sam Kalidi is a multilingual actor based in Los Angeles.
Sam holds a Masters in Clinical Psychology from Boston University and a Bachelors in Communication Arts from the American University of Paris and has trained at New York's HB Studio.
He guest starred on CBS' The Unit and Hulu's East Los High.
He was featured in several Jimmy Kimmel Live sketches and MTV's Acting Out.
He worked on Iron Man, X-Men, 300, and the upcoming Mummy remake starring Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe.
Kalidi played the lead in the award winning Rajam, Broadway Bound and Peace After Marriage which were screened at various international film festivals.
Sam's extensive Voice Over work includes hundreds of video games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto.- Director
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Waad Al-Kateab was born on 24 January 1991 in Syria. She is a director and producer, known for For Sama (2019), We Dare to Dream (2023) and The White Helmets.- Aliye Rona was born on 20 November 1921 in Der'a, Syria. She was an actress, known for Kader böyle istedi (1968), Kuyu (1968) and Son gece (1967). She was married to Zihni Rona. She died on 27 August 1996 in Istanbul, Turkey.
- Fares Al-Helou was born on 15 August 1961 in Tartous, Syria. He is an actor and writer, known for Al Hasan and Al Husein (2011), The Curse of Mud (2010) and A Comedian in a Syrian Tragedy (2019).
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Talal Derki is a director, producer and screenwriter. Talal Derki studied film directing in Athens at Stavrako High Institute of Cinematographic Art and Television, graduation in 2003. He worked as an assistant director for feature film productions and was a director for different Arab TV programs & TV films between 2009 and 2012. He worked as a freelance cameraman for CNN and Thomson Reuters. Talal Derki's short films and documentaries received awards at a variety of festivals. His feature documentary Return to Homs has won the Sundance Film Festival's World Cinema Grand Jury Prize. In 2014 he was a member of the international Jury at IDFA. Talal Derki lives now in Berlin, Germany.- Actor
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Duraid Lahham was born and raised in Damascus in 1934. He grew up in relative poverty, and studied chemistry at Damascus University, which qualified him for a well-paying job as an instructor at the Chemistry Department. Lahham was always enchanted by the theatre, participating in several plays during high school and college, while playing the clarinet in the high school band.
While teaching at university, he started to give dance lessons and befriended the artistic community in Syria. When Syrian Television was inaugurated in 1960, its director Sabah Qabbani hired Lahham to star in a mini-series called Sahret Dimashq (Damascus Evening) with the already established stage actor Nihad Qali. The two men created a duo called "Duraid & Nihad" and achieved dramatic success in the Arab World from 1960 until Qali retired from acting due to illness in 1976.
From then on, Lahham acted, directed, and wrote the screenplay for all of his works, and continues to do so until the present. His theatre was always greatly and visibly influenced by the musicals of the Lebanese artist 'Asi al-Rahbani and his wife, the diva Fayruz. Political events influenced him greatly as well, transforming his career from that of a comedian, into a political satirist. He was shocked by the collective Arab defeat of 1967, and greatly disturbed by separate peace of Egypt with Israel in 1978. In the early 1960s, Lahham abandoned university teaching to devote his time fully to acting, although this was viewed, by the conservative society in Damascus, as un-wise, since teaching was a respectable and stable job, while actors were not highly respected, under-paid, and had an uncertain future. He later claimed that devoting his life to art was one of the wisest decisions he ever made, since he achieved more success as an actor than any other profession, including university instruction, would have provided. In 1976, President Hafez al-Asad decorated Lahham with the Medal of the Syrian Republic, Excellence Class. He was also given medals of recognition for his work by Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba, who gave him the same medal in 1979, and Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qaddafi in 1991. Nine years later, Lebanese President Emille Lahhoud awarded Lahham the Order of Merit of the Lebanese Republic in a ceremony held at the American University of Beirut (AUB), granted through the Syrian Culture Club at AUB. In 1997, in recognition of his two children's productions, the movie Kafroun in 1990 and the play Al-Usfura al-Sa'ida (The Happy Bird) in 1992, he became the UNICEF representative in Syria for children's affairs. He performed several television series aimed at increasing awareness of the problems of children. Then in 1999, he became UNICEF Ambassador for Childhood in the Middle East and North Africa. In 2004, he left his job at UNICEF after paying a visit to South Lebanon, to the districts liberated from Israeli occupation in 2000. At the Lebanese-Israeli border, he gave a press conference, criticizing George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon, comparing both men to Hitler. The statement was published in Lebanon and re-published in Israel, causing Tel Aviv to protest to the UNICEF that its goodwill ambassador was using un-diplomatic language. The UNICEF asked him whether the statement was correct, and when he confirmed that it was, they sent him a letter, thanking him for his services since 1997. He considered this an indirect message, relieving him of his duties at UNICEF. Currently, Duraid Lahham still lives in Damascus, and is devoted to his family, spending a lot of his time with his children and grandchildren. His first wife May al-Husayni bore him two children, Tha'er and Abeer, while his second and current wife Hala al-Bitar bore him his youngest daughter Dina.- Director
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Feras Fayyad was born on September 20th in a small village 60 km from Aleppo. This village was part of the Kingdom of Ebla, where cuneiform was discovered. The village had a unique language for the inhabitants of that region, in addition to a theater and musical pieces dating back to the third millennium BC. Fayyad grew up between his small village, surrounded by this life full of history and fantasy, and Aleppo and Damascus. Fayyad was raised by the women of his extended family.
Feras Fayyad is the first Syrian director to be nominated for the Academy Award and by the Directors Guild of America. Fayyad is a two-time Oscar nominee and Emmy award-winning filmmaker. Fayyad is best known for his film, LAST MEN IN ALEPPO, which made him the first Syrian director to be nominated for an Academy award, and THE CAVE, which earned him his second nomination for the 2020 academy award. He is also a two-time winner of the Danish Academy Award (the Danish Oscar) and the first non-Danish director to receive the prestigious Director talented award for his work in THE CAVE. Fayyad was named one of GOOD Magazine's 100 creative global change-makers of 2014. G. Allen Johnson of San Francisco Chronicle wrote that "Fayyad is a humanitarian, and his approach in "The Cave" demonstrates that."
His last documentary film, THE CAVE, described by Variety as MIRACULOUS, follows managing physician Dr. Amani Ballour and her colleagues as they contend with daily bombardments, chronic supply shortages and the ever-present threat of chemical attacks. The Cave paints a stirring portrait of courage, resilience and female solidarity. Premiering at the 2019 TIFF, The Cave won People's Choice Award, best writing from the International Documentary Association, and Producing Award from Cinema Eyes Honer, alongside 16 other awards around the world. THE CAVE was also nominated for 5 Critics Choice Awards, Directors Guild of America, Producer Guild of America, and nominated for 2020 Academy Award. THE CAVE was distributed worldwide by National Geographic.
LAST MEN IN ALEPPO, described by THE GUARDIAN as a masterpiece, follows members of the volunteer group, White Helmets, who offers aid to the wounded during the Syrian Civil War. LAST MEN IN ALEPPO was nominated for the 2018 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and won an Emmy Award, making Fayyad the first Syrian director to be nominated for an Academy Award. The film premiered in the World Documentary Competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, where Fayyad won The Grand Jury prize. LAST MEN IN ALEPPO was also awarded the Courage Under Fire Award from International Documentary Association and the Peabody Award. The film was released theatrically nationwide by The Grasshopper and had its broadcast premiere on POV/PBS in January 2017.
Previously, Fayyad produced, co-wrote and edited the award-winning short ONE DAY IN ALEPPO with paint a several human story in 24 min about the orderly people of Aleppo who try to live their ordinary life. Fayyad directed a feature-length documentary MY ESCAPE - the film focuses on the largest refugee crisis since World War II, through the eyes of two boys out of the many thousands of children who are fleeing alone. The film had its broadcast premiere on BBC in 2015- Actress
Faryal was born on 3 November 1945 in Syria. She is an actress, known for Dharmatma (1975), Apradh (1972) and Fareb (1968).- Actor
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Farid Al Atrache was born in Jebel Ed-Druz, Southern Syria in 1915. His parents were Prince Fahad Al Atrache and Princess Alia. In 1923, Prince Fahad and the Al Atrache clan were fighting against the French occupation of their land and as a result, Princess Alia had to flee to Egypt with her three young children Fouad, Farid and Amal. Their journey was diffcult where they travelled from Beirut through Palestine and finally Egypt without any personal documents. The Egyptian government granted them permission to stay, and the family settled at one of Cairo's popular districts where they lived in a one room flat after being accustomed to living in luxurious palaces. The mother had to work as a singer at private parties,and weddings in order to support her children who also took jobs while they went to school. Farid and his young sister Amal were interested in their mother's love of music, so she encouraged them to sing and taught her son how to play the oud. In their early youths, Farid and Amal (who later became Asmahane), began to draw the attention of composers and song writers who were amazed by their musical talents and beautiful voices, and eventually the duo were singing at radio stations and in front of wide audiences. The cinema was also the gateway to success and glory for Farid and Asmahane as they starred in two films. Once again tragedy struck Farid, his sister Asmahane was killed in a car accident and there were rumors that she was involved with the British intelligence.
Farid continued to sing and compose until one day he met Samia Gamal, a lovely belly dancer who captured his heart, and together they created a duo starring in several musical films from the late 1940s and the early 1950s. However, their relationship didn't last because Samia married an American man who embraced Islam and they both travelled to the U.S, and again Farid was lonely and sad but he still loved Samia. His next films and songs contained feelings of love and anguish in addition to patriotism. He spent his last years in Lebanon while he made frequent visits to Egypt, Arab countries and Europe. He died in Beirut on December 26, 1974 and that was before attending the premiere of his last film with actress Mervat Amin "Nagahm fi Hayati".- Abdullah Abbas was born on 15 November 1906 in Ayoon, Syria. He was an actor, known for Big City (1937). He died on 3 November 1986 in Glendale, California, USA.
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A very talented singer with a beautiful voice. She starred in two films, the first, Intisar al-chabab (1941), was with her older brother 'Farid Al Atrach' and the second Gharam wa intiqam (1944). Asmahane died in a car accident while filming 'Gharam wa intiqam', it is rumoured, through the war between the secret services in Cairo during World War II.- Hafez al-Assad (6 October 1930 - 10 June 2000) was a Syrian statesman and military officer who served as President of Syria from 1971 to 2000. He was also Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 1971, as well as regional secretary of the regional command of the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party and secretary general of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party from 1970 to 2000. Assad participated in the 1963 Syrian coup d'état which brought the Syrian regional branch of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party to power, and the new leadership appointed him commander of the Syrian Air Force. In February 1966, Assad participated in a second coup, which toppled the traditional leaders of the Ba'ath Party. Assad was appointed defence minister by the new government. Four years later, Assad initiated a third coup which ousted the de facto leader Salah Jadid and appointed himself as leader of Syria.
- Charla Faddoul was born on 23 July 1976 in Aleppo, Syria. She is an actress, known for Sweet (2006), The Comeback (2005) and Celebrity Poker Showdown (2003). She is married to David Faddoul.
- Mirna Hindoyan was born in Aleppo, Syria.
- Born to a multicultural family, his father is Syrian musician and film maker, his mother is Czech/Syrian singer and interior designer, Nizar grew up in Damascus and now living in Prague, This rich environment sprouted his love for the arts, music and cinema. From a young age he developed a deep appreciation and affection for film and storytelling, creating his own comic characters and stories, he also excelled in music and became an exquisite pianist performing in public venues as young as 10 years old.
- Kinda Hanna was born in Syria. She is known for Zaman Al'ar (2009), Born from the Flank: Wilada Min Alkhasira (2011) and Kingdoms of Fire (2019). She has been married to Naji Toumy since 29 December 1973. They have four children.
- Haya Maraachli is an Lebanese-Syrian actress, she was born in 20 June 1997 Beirut. In 2003, she made her first television role as a child in the series "Abu El Mafhoumiyya". She became more famous after her participation in the series "Women's Sessions." This participation opened with a number of great actors. (2012), the year in which she played more than one character, and won the title of the best actress rising according to a poll of the site (Star Times) for 2012. Her parents, Randa and Tariq Maraashly, were actors, as were her grandparents, Nahed Halabi and Ibrahim Maraachli. Television star who has become known for her roles in Syrian shows like School of Love and Collar Girls. She began her acting career appearing in her grandparents' films as a child.
- Maxim Khalil is a professional award-winning Syrian actor who has achieved considerable stardom in Syria and the rest of the Arab World. At a very young age, he was one of the first male ballet dancers in Syria. In his early 20's, he started his acting career, and within a few years, he was chosen by prominent directors in leading roles. Alongside his work in film and theatre, Maxim Khalil acted in more than 70 TV series, including the Emmy Award winning Al-Ijtiyah (The Invasion), and appearing in 1,000+ episodes. After he was compelled to leave his home in Damascus in 2011, he started performing leading roles in pan-Arab TV series, expanding his stardom to Egypt, Lebanon, and the UAE, among others.
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- Script and Continuity Department
- Additional Crew
Jalal Altawil was born on 31 July 1981 in Jubb'adin, Maaloula, Syria. He is an actor, known for Green Border (2023), Langue Étrangère (2024) and Eden (2019).- Mona Wassef was born on 1 February 1942 in Damascus, Syria. She is an actress, known for The Message (1976), Al Tareq (2004) and The World in the Year 2000 (1972).
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Abdullah Alassil is a Los Angeles-based Syrian filmmaker, known for his compelling storytelling and diverse art techniques. Originating from Damascus, Alassil's early works like "The Confession" gained recognition at the Damascus International Film Festival. His venture into experimental cinema, as seen in his stop-motion televised thesis "#The_Suit," further showcased his narrative ingenuity.
Granted political asylum in the US due to persecution in Syria for his activism related to freedom of expression and human rights, Alassil's relocation to Los Angeles marked a continuation of his exploration into complex themes. His recent works, such as "A Conflict" and "Vital Shot," illustrate this ongoing journey. A multifaceted artist, he is also a skilled multi-instrumentalist musician.
Alassil's involvement in the film community extends as a member of the Arab Film and Media Institute in California, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, and the Film Independent Organization.- 'King Kong' Kashey was born on 28 November 1903 in Homs, Syria. He was an actor, known for Don't Go Near the Water (1957). He died on 24 September 1965 in Lynwood, California, USA.
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Anwar Kawadri was born on 17 January 1953 in Damascus, Syria. He is a director and producer, known for The Serpent of Death (1989), Sex with the Stars (1981) and Gamal Abd El Naser (1998).- Actor
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Husam Chadat was born on 15 May 1966 in Damascus, Syria. He is an actor and director, known for Resident Evil (2002), 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) and Die Hochzeit (1997).- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
Nadim Suleiman was born on 20 September 1995 in Damascus, Syria. He is an actor and assistant director, known for The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023), Nieprzemakalny (2018) and The Way Home (2017).- Khaled Taja was born on 6 November 1939 in Damascus, Syria. He was an actor, known for Al-Taghriba Al-Filistinia (2004), Omar Al-Khayyam (2002) and The Long Night (2009). He died on 4 April 2012 in Damascus, Syria.
- Nidal Sigri was born on 28 May 1965 in Lattakia, Syria. He was an actor, known for Al Fawaris (1999), Ahl Al-Gharam (2006) and Koam Al-Hajar (2007). He died on 11 July 2013 in Damascus, Syria.
- Wael Sharaf's real name is Wael Subhi Mohammad Sharaf Al-Rifai, and he is the son of the Syrian actor Subhi Al-Rifai. Wael was able to occupy a special place among a large segment of the Syrian population ;where his performances attracted the attention of everyone by the way he masters his roles. Wael graduated from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus in 2001 and he participated in number of TV shows from the production of private companies and the Arab Syrian TV, and he made his debut in Al-Mutanabbi in 2001. He traveled to Ukraine to study medicine, but he found that the field of medicine does not suit him then he tried again to search for his talent in the field of acting, which he succeeded and proved his existence. Wael Sharaf, also called "the Arabic Johnny Depp" has got af a large audience after the performance of "Moataz" character in the successful Bab Al-Hara series, not only in Syria but in all part of Arab world.
- Nadine Khoury was born on 26 May 1959 in Damascus, Syria. She is an actress, known for Solitaire (2016), Brukar (2020) and Born from the Flank: Wilada Min Alkhasira (2011).
- Kousi Orfahli is an Syrian musical artist and actor from Damascus city
Kousi had studied both acting and dentistry and he is known for acting in Ajay Jadu (2024), 27-37 (2023), Kushi (2023), and his main role in the Chasing the Dazzling Light (2023) and more upcoming movies and multiple series .