Today, June 7 marks legendary actor Mahmoud Morsi's 100th birthday anniversary. He was born in Alexandria in 1923 and reportedly came to Egypt's cinema in 1962 with a dream of becoming an actor. Eventually, the iconic actor, Radio anchor, and director became renowned for some of the most memorable performances throughout the years.
Fondly known as "Atriss", Morsi has given a number of remarkable films like "The Beggar" (1973, directed by Hossam Eddine Mostafa), "The Quail and Autumn" (1967, directed by Hossam Eddine Mostafa), "The Open Door" (directed by Barakat), "The Last Night" (1963, directed by Kamal El-Sheikh), "A Touch of Fear" (1969, directed by Hussein Kamal) that garnered attention from people across the Arab world.
These films have made the world of drama and cinema laugh, cry and feel for years and continue to leave their charm.
He is known for playing antagonist roles and is fondly remembered for his performance as "Mahmoud Ab ElGwad" in the TV Series "Bin ElQaserin".
Moreover, Morsi had an eye for talent and helped several up-and-coming artists get a break like Hala Fakher, Nour Elsherif, Abeir Sabry, Mahmoud El-Gendy, and Bossi.
Apart from acting, he directed some programs about Egypt’s great artists such as Mahmoud Mokhtar, in addition to some international plays written by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, and Ibsen.
Morsi received his degree from the Department of Philosophy at the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alexandria.
Following his passion, he traveled to France to study film directing and spent five years there, then moved to Britain to work in The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) until the tripartite aggression against Egypt in the 1950s.
At that time, Morsi decided to quit and resign from his job and returned to Egypt to work on Egyptian radio and then on Egyptian television.
He made his showbiz debut in I am the Fugitive (1962, Niazi Mostafa) and ended his run with The Sword’s Blade (1986, Atef Salem). Actually, he was endowed with a special style of performing these roles that distinguished him from others.
His breakthrough came with (A Song on the Corridor 1972) as Ali Abdel-Khalelk, who was an Egyptian soldier defending his position until his last breath during the 1967 war.
The late actor is well-known also for a variety of unforgettable villain roles. That includes playing police chief in "Prince of Cunningness" (1964, Barakat), the British commander in "The Price of Freedom" (1964, Nour El-Demerdash), the pagan tribe chieftain in "Dawn of Islam" (1971, Salah Abu-Seif), and the most notorious prison warden in "Night and Rods" (1973, Ashraf Fahmi).
However, his magnificent performance in the 'Sheia Mn Khof ‘ film, which earned him much praise from Arab fans and critics alike.
Throughout the 1960s and beyond, Morsi continued to play the villain in his own style. At that time, he managed to embody the character of curl person in (Prince of Cunningness, 1964, directed by Henri Barakat, (The Price of Freedom, 1964, Nour El-Demerdash), (Dawn of Islam, 1971, by Salah Abu-Seif), and (Night and Rods, 1973, Ashraf Fahmi).
Then he shifted from evil to good roles as he presented the idealistic character in the 80s films like "The Sad Night-Bird" to name a few, according to Maspero Zaman.
In his final years, the late actor tried to break the villain or strongman mold by playing human and benevolent roles, perhaps the most prominent of which in "Abu-Ela Al-Bishry" (1985, Mohammed Fadel) and "The Family" (1994, Ismail Abdel-Hafez).
Morsi had been married to his wife, Samiha Ayoub, the so-called "The Lady of Arab Theater", for over 40 years.
In 2004, he took his last breath in his hometown of Alexandria on April 24 at the age of 81.
Follow the latest news on Google News
