Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Lesser-known Facts about Ahmed Ratib on His Birth Anniv.


Sun 23 Jan 2022 | 11:07 AM
Ahmed Emam

Today marks the birth anniversary of late actor Ahmed Ratib, fondly known as "Esawy".

Born on the 23rd of Jan, 1949, in the Sayeda Zaynab neighborhood of Cairo to a middle-class family, he earned his degree from the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University (1964).

According to his daughter Lamia, throughout his entire career, Ratib did his own movements, which resulted in dozens of broken bones and near-death experiences.

Lamia revealed that his father co-star Moustafa Metwaly broke Ratib's nose while filming Bekhit and Adila.

"He was in chronic pain and yet couldn’t feel the pain in his nose," Lamia said.

During his university period, Ratib enrolled in the university’s theatre in 1968, where he acted in dozens of dramatic, classical, and romantic plays on stage.

Later, he left the college without completing his architecture degree and started studying acting at the Art and Theater High Institute.

It has been stated that Ratib’s father wanted his son to study engineering and become a well-known engineer. But he chose acting since it was not easy to become an engineer in those days.

Ratib rose to fame when he initially acted in television dramas before he shifted to the silver screen.

His breakthrough came in 1980 with the “Sok Ala Banatk “(Lock Up Your Daughters) play, starring legendary comedian Fouad El-Mohandis, remarkable actress Shwikar, and Sherihan.

Thereafter, Ratib went on to act in more than 1500 artistic works, 200 films, 1,000 stage performances and, several television shows and series until he died in 2016.

He is well known for some of his tremendous works, such as ‘El-Zaeem’ (The Leader), ‘Bekhit w Adila’ ‘Mafish Fayda‘, Nemspond, At First in Love, The Storm, and Intelligence Game.

Moreover, the remarkable star is known for joint collaborations and associations with legendary Egyptian stars like Adel Emam, Yousra, and Farid Shawky.

He died in 2016, leaving fans heartbroken. His death was a big loss for the entertainment industry.