A. Hamid Arief


Abdul Hamid Arief was an Indonesian actor who appeared in more than 120 films. Born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies, he started his acting career in theatre before migrating to film with 1948's Anggrek Bulan. His first starring role, and the one from which he first gained recognition, was as the title character in Pangeran Hamid. Over subsequent decades he was a productive film actor, often appearing in four or five films a year. He also acted in various television series.

Biography

Arief was born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies, on 25 November 1924. He completed his education up to junior high school level. He began his acting career with Djamaluddin Malik's travelling troupe at Pantjawarna, later migrating to Bintang Surabaja which was a travelling theatre troupe headed by Fred Young. By 1948 he had reached Batavia, which was renamed Jakarta during the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies, and had been cast in the South Pacific Film Corporation's Anggrek Bulan. In this film, directed by Andjar Asmara, Arief played a young man who must be protected from the predations of the "moon orchid", a beautiful yet dangerous young woman.
In 1949, Arief acted in four more films for the South Pacific Film Corporation, including Usmar Ismail's debut film Tjitra. Soon afterwards he migrated to Fred Young's film company, also named Bintang Surabaja. Arief appeared in numerous films for the company, including Bintang Surabaja 1951 and Selamat Berdjuang, Masku!. He also acted in films by the National Film Company and Djamaluddin Malik's Persari. His star-making role, however, came with Pangeran Hamid, produced by Chok Chin Hsien's Golden Arrow Productions. In this film, he played a young prince named Hamid who retakes the throne after being driven out by a usurper.
After his contract with Golden Arrow ended in 1955, Arief became a free agent. He remained highly productive and acted for numerous companies, despite the slump the filmmaking industry underwent in the early 1969s. Beginning with 1965's Matjan Kemajoran, Arief took on a number of roles as characters of European descent. Later roles of this type included the Englishman Edward William in Samiun dan Dasima and the villainous Dutch colonial policeman Heyne Scott in the Si Pitung series, consisting of Si Pitung, Banteng Betawi, Pembalasan si Pitung, and Si Pitung Beraksi Kembali.
Overall, Arief appeared in more than sixty films in the 1970s. During this period he also became active on television, acting in the skit show Komedia Jakarta. Misbach Yusa Biran, in his 1979 directory of Indonesian film actors, quotes Arief as saying "I actually do not have any talent for comedy. I am more interested in dramatic stories".
Arief continued acting in the first years of the 1980s, making his final feature film, Pengorbanan in 1982. However, he did not quit acting, appearing in the TVRI television series Rumah Masa Depan. In 1988 he received a Surjosoemanto Award from the National Film Council for his dedication to the art. Arief died in Jakarta on 20 December 1992.

Filmography

During his 34-year career, Arief appeared in more than 120 films. He also produced a single film, Kembalilah Mama.
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