Today, May 24 marks the anniversary of the death of renowned Egyptian actor Ismail Yassin.
Yassin died on the 24th of May, 1972 at the age of 60 and left millions of fans mourning after a lustrous career spanning over four decades in the Egyptian film industry.
He was also renowned for his comic monologues and songs, which he performed and recorded throughout most of his 40-year career.
Born in Suez, Yassin pursued a career as a valet boy (car parking boy) in his teen years.
Later, he moved to Cairo at a young age and earned his livelihood by singing funny songs and performing some monologues, according to ELCinema.com.
Yassin’s love affair with the silver screen goes back to those auditions days.
ELCinema.com reported that the ambitious young star started his career as a monologue singer and headed for Cairo after Abo El Seoud El Ebiary, the remarkable comic screenwriter and his best friend and life partner had discovered him and had helped him to join Badi’a Masabny’s troupe.
Later on, he joined Ali El-Kassar‘s troupe and started to gain widespread recognition ultimately becoming one of the most popular stars in the Arab world.
His first advanced breakthrough came with his role in the popular movie “Khalf El-Habayeb” in 1939.
And from that moment on, he never looked back and soon emerged as one of the Egyptian cinema’s most sought-after comedians.
The legendary actor worked in over 400 films throughout his career and is regarded as the king of comedy in Egypt. Yassine worked within showbiz for around four decades and was considered to be one of the top comedians in all of the Arab world.
Moreover, for his services to the film industry, received several awards including the President’s Pride of Performance in 1972 for excellence in the field of cinema.
Yassine is well-known for some of his seminal works, such as ‘Essabet el Nissae'( 1973), Easabat Al’nisa (1963), ‘Malek el petrol’ (1962), ‘Hamati malak’ (1960), ‘Shar assal basal’ (1960 ), ‘Fanous el Sehry’ (1960), ‘El ataba el khadra’ (1959), ‘Ismail fil Yassine bolis harbi’ (1959) and ‘Ismail Yassine fil tayyaran'(1959).
Moreover, he is known for joint collaborations and associations with legendary Egyptian actresses like Hend Rustom and Shadya.
The renowned monologue singer used to integrate patriotism with humor on stage and scorned the Israeli invasion, ongoing at the time. Yassine used the stage to spread awareness to audiences about the demeaning living conditions of Egypt at the time.
Yassien was married thrice and had only one child, the late renowned director Yassine Ismaeil Yassine.
