Ahmed
Zaki
was born on November 18, 1949 in Zaqazeeq, Egypt as
Ahmed Abdullrahman Zaki. He originally
studied mechanical engineering before becoming an actor. He was aslo a producer,
he is known for Iskanderia... lih? (1979), Ard al-Khof (1999) and Ma'ali al
wazir (2002). He was married to Hala Fouad (she died of cancer in 1991)
and has a son Haitham Ahmed Zaki.
Ahmed
Zaki was known for portraying prominent characters in
Egyptian history like Taha Hussien, Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat. He broke
the color barrier in Egyptian films by being
the first Black actor to play leading roles usually reserved for light-skinned
actors.
Egyptian President Mubarak granted
Ahmed Zaki the Merit of Arts award for his work in over 50 movies in 2001.
On February
2004, he was diagnosed with lung cancer after undergoing tests in France.
French doctors have concluded that his condition is not terminal, and can be
easily treated. Zaki's request, his funeral
was filmed, the footage to be used in his final movie, a biography of famous
Egyptian singer Abdul Halim Hafez, who died in 1977. The ailing actor
insisted on leaving his hospital bed to shoot more scenes. His 21-year-old son
Haitham plans to film the remaining scenes, playing Hafez in his youth.
Ahmed Zaki
died on March 27, 2005 in Cairo, Egypt.
Reference:
No comments:
Post a Comment