Biography
Ahmed Abdulrahman Zaki was born November 18, 1949, in the Nile delta village of Zaqazeeq, in the governorate of al-Sharqiyyah, fifty miles north of Cairo. He graduated from the Zaqazeeq School for Crafts with a diploma in mechanical engineering in 1967 and moved to Cairo to enroll in the High Institute for Drama, graduating in 1974.
His first foray onto the stage came in 1969, while he was still a student. Cast in a minor part as a room service waiter in the play Hello Shalabi, Zaki’s performance was impressive and memorable for his impersonation of celebrated film actor and canonical vilain, Mahmoud el-Meligi.
The part quickly earned him the role of Ahmad el-Sha‘er, in one of Egypt's most popular stage comedies, Madraset el-Mushaghibeen (The School of Troublemakers) alongside renowned star, ‘Adel Imam. Widely seen and adored, the play earned him the nickname, Ahmad el-Sha‘er (translation?).
He became a star in his own right with the leading role in the stage comedy, el-‘Eyal Kebret (Children Have Grown, 1978) and with his portrayal of Taha Hussein, the doyen of modern Arabic literature, in the television series adapted from the author's autobiography, al-Ayyam (The Days).
Appearing in more than sixty films, several stage plays and television serials, Zaki never allowed himself to be typecast. Displaying remarkable range and versatility, he portrayed villains and heroes, farmers, workers, delinquents, soldiers, civil servants, businessmen, ministers, and two of contemporary Egypt's most important political figures, Gamal Abdel-Nasser and Anwar Sadat.
His talent defied prevailing prejudices that assigned leading romantic roles to light-skinned and colored-eyed stars, and earned him two other nicknames, “the Black Tiger” and “the Bronze Star.” He was often paired with Egypt's leading female superstar, the “princess of Egyptian cinema,” Souad Hosni, who died tragically a few years before him under mysterious circumstances in London. Their onscreen chemistry mesmerized audiences across the Middle East.
In January 2004, after he had committed himself to play ‘Abdel-Halim Hafez, the most famous love balladeer of Egypt and the Arab world, in the film Halim, Zaki was diagnosed with lung cancer. He felt a particular affinity to the crooner, who hailed from a nearby village and had also had a difficult childhood in the dire poverty. «Halim and I were orphans who grew up in the same town, suffering immense hardships,» Zaki is reported to have confessed to writer Adel Darwish.
He filmed much of the movie while fighting the fatal disease, «He would leave his hospital bed to shoot as many scenes as possible,» Halim's producer, Emad el-Din el-Adeeb recalls. Zaki lapsed into a coma after completing seventy percent of the film.
His only son, Haytham, is said to have replaced his father for the remainder of the shooting. A week before his death and shortly before slipping into his final coma, he is reported to have instructed Imad el-Din el-Adeeb to shoot his funeral «to edit it into the film.
Filmography: | |
| 1974 | Abna’ el-Samt (Children of Silence, director: Mohamed Radi) |
| | Bidour (She’s Lovely as the Moon), director: Nader Galal) |
| 1977 | Sane‘eh el-Nujum (Star Maker, director: Mohammed Radi) |
| 1978 | el-‘Omr Lahtha (Life Is an Instant, director: Mohammed Radi) |
| | Wara’ el-Shams (Beyond the Sun, director: Mohammed Radi) |
| | Iskanderiyya Leyh? (Alexandria, Why?, director: Youssef Chahine) |
| 1979 | Shefiqa wa Metwalli (Shafiqa and Metwalli, director: Ali Badrakhan) |
| 1980 | Al-Batniyyah (director: Hossameddin Mustafa) |
| | Ana La Akthib Wa Lakenni Atagammal (I Don't Lie but I Embellish, director: N? Anglo) |
| 1981 | Uyun la Tanam (Eyes that Never Sleep, director: Rafaat el-Mihi) |
| | Maw‘ed ‘Ala al-‘Ashaa’ (A Dinner Date, director: Mohammad Khan) |
| | Ta’er ‘Ala el-Tareeq (Bird on the Road, director: Mohammad Khan) |
| 1982 | al-‘Awwama Sabe‘en (Houseboat 70, director: Khayri Beshara) |
| | al-Aqdar al-Damiya (Bloody Fates, director: Khayri Beshara) |
| 1983 | al-Ihtiyat Wageb (Playing it safe) director: Ahmad Fouad) |
| | Darb el-Hawa (The Alley of Desire, director: Hossameddin Mustafa) |
| | al-Mudmen (The Addict, director: Youssef Francis) |
| 1984 | al-Leyla al-Maw‘udah (The Promised Night, director: Yehya el-‘Alami) |
| | al-Raqisah Wa al-Tabbal (The Bellydancer and the Drummer, director: Ashraf Fahmi) |
| | al-Hobb Fawq Hadabet el-Haram (Love on the Pyramids' Plateau, director: Atef el-Tayyeb) |
| | al-Takhsheeba (The Detention Room, director: Atef el-Tayyeb) |
| | al-Nimr al-Aswad (The Black Tiger, director: Atef Salem) |
| | al-Brins (The Prince, director: Fadel Saleh) |
| 1985 | Sa‘ad el-Yateem (Sa‘ad the Orphan, director: Ashraf Fahmi) |
| 1986 | Shader al-Samak (Fish Market, director: Ali ‘Abdel-Khaleq) |
| | al-Baree’ (The Innocent, director: Atef el-Tayyeb) |
| | al-Bedayah (The Beginning, director: Salah Abu Seyf) |
| 1987 | Arba‘a fi Muhemma Rasmiyya (Four in an Official Mission, director: Ali ‘Abdel-Khaleq) |
| | Zawgat Ragol Muhemm (The Wife of an Important Man, director: Mohammad Khan) |
| | al-Beyh al-Bawwab (His Excellency the Porter, director: Hassan Ibrahim) |
| 1989 | Ahlam Hind wa Camilia (Dreams of Hind and Camilia, director: Mohammad Khan) |
| | al-Daraga al-Thalitha (Third Class, director: Sherif Arafa) |
| | Welad el-Eyh (Songs of Guns, director: Sherif Yehya) |
| 1990 | Imra’a Waheda la Takfi (One Woman is not Enough, director: Ines el-Deghidi) |
| | Kaboria (Crab, director: Khayri Beshara) |
| | al-Beyda wa al-Hagar (Charlatan, director: Ali ‘Abdel-Khaleq) |
| | al-Imbarator (The Emperor, director: Tareq el-‘Eriyan) |
| 1991 | al-Makhtoufa (The Kidnapped, director: Sherif Yehya) |
| | al-Huroob (The Escape, director: Atef el-Tayyeb) |
| | al-Ra‘ee wa al-Nisa’ (The Shepherd and the Women, director: Ali Badrakhan) |
| 1992 | Dedd el-Hukooma (Against the Government, director: Atef el-Tayyeb) |
| 1993 | Mister Karateh (director: Mohammad Khan) |
| | al-Basha (The Pasha, director: Tareq el-‘Eriyan) |
| | Sawwaq el-Hanem (The Lady's Driver, director: Hassan Ibrahim) |
| 1995 | al-Ragol al-Thaleth (The Third Man, director: Ali Badrakhan) |
| 1996 | Istakoza (Lobsters, director: Ines el-Deghidi) |
| | Hysteria (director: Adel Adeeb) |
| | Nasser 56 (director: Mohammed Fadel) |
| | Nazwa (Slip, director: Ali Badrakhan) |
| 1997 | Hassan el-Lol (director: Nader Galal) |
| | al-Batal (The Hero, director: Magdy Ahmed Ali) |
| 1998 | Edhak el-Soura Tetla‘ Helwa (Smile, the Photo Will be Nice, director: Sherif Arafa) |
| 1999 | Ard el-Khowf (Land of Fear, director: Dauod ‘Abdel-Sayyed) |
| 2001 | Ayyam al-Sadat (Days of Sadat, director: Mohammad Khan) |
| 2003 | Ma‘ali el-Wazeer (His Excellency the Minister, director: Samir Saif), Producer |
| 2001 | Ayyam al-Sadat (Days of Sadat, director: Mohammad Khan) |
Egypt State Information Service
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