Naguib el-Rihani


Naguib el-Rihani was an Egyptian film and stage actor.

Biography

Born in Bab El Shereya, Cairo to a middle class family. His father, an Assyrian Christian who worked as a horse expert and a trader, his mother was a Coptic Egyptian woman from Cairo. He was one of three sons that his parents would have together. He was educated in the French Catholic school "Les Frères" in Cairo.
El-Rihani had a turbulent marriage with Badia Masabni, an actress and businesswoman who settled in Cairo after living within the United States for years, and established her famous cabaret, "Casino Badia." They separated before his death. He died at the age of 60 years in Cairo of typhus, while filming his last film, "Ghazal Al Banat".
He established his own theatrical group in the late 1910s, in Cairo, and partnered with his lifelong friend, Badeih Khairy, in adapting several French theatre hits to the Egyptian stage, and later to the cinema.
A great comedian both on stage and in films, he is considered "The Father of Comedy" in Egypt. Fuad Al Mohandes, the great Egyptian comedian of modern times, acknowledged Naguib Al Rihani's effect on him and his style in acting.
On 21 January 2016, Google Doodle commemorated his 127th birthday.

List of plays

  • Taaleeli Ya Bata
  • El Rial 1917.
  • Kesh Kesh Bey Fee Paris.
  • Hamar We Halawa.
  • Ala Keifak
  • El Ashra El Tayeba 1920, music by Sayed Darwish.
  • Ayam El Ezz.
  • Lawe Kont Malik.
  • Mamlaket El Hob.
  • El Guineh El Masry 1931, adapted from Topaze by Marcel Pagnol
  • El Donia Lama Tedhak 1934.
  • Hokm Karakosh 1936.
  • Kismiti 1936.
  • Lawe Kont Heleiwa 1938.
  • El Dalouah 1939.
  • 30 Yom Fee El Segn
  • El Setat Ma Yearfoush Yekdebo
  • Ela Khamsa إلا خمسة 1943.
  • Hassan, Morcos & Cohen 1945.

    Filmography

  • Saheb Al Saada KeshKesh Beh.
  • Yacout, adapted from "El Guineh El Masry".
  • Besalamtoh Ayez Yetgawwez.
  • Salamah Fe Kheer.
  • Abou Halmoos.
  • Leabet Al Set.
  • Si Omar, adapted from "Lawe Kont Heleiwa".
  • Ahmar Shafayef.
  • Ghazal Al Banat.