[Deathwatch] Ahmed Zaki, acclaimed Egyptian actor, 55

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Acclaimed Egypt acting star dies
Sunday, March 27, 2005 Posted: 11:00 AM EST (1600 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/27/egypt.actor.reut/index.htm
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CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) -- Ahmed Zaki, one of Egypt's most popular
cinema actors for the past 30 years, died on Sunday after a long battle
with cancer, state media reported.

Zaki, 55, who was admitted to a Cairo hospital in early March, fell
unconscious last Tuesday. Doctors treating him said he had lung cancer,
which later spread to his liver.

He is best known for his roles in dramatized documentaries, in which he
played former Egyptian presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat,
and the blind Egyptian writer Taha Hussein, but he also appeared in
comedies and drama.

During his illness, he continued to work on a film in which he
portrayed popular Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez and he had
completed much of the shooting.

His filmography includes more than 50 films, starting with Abna el-Samt
(the Children of Silence) in 1974.

Early successes included Shafika and Metwalli in 1978 and Iskandaria
Leh (Alexandria Why) in the same year, under the direction of Youssef
Chahine.

Zaki won universal praise from critics for his ability to assume the
identity of a wide range of characters.

"Ahmed Zaki was a very rare actor with a very rare talent that only
comes once every one hundred, two hundred or even three hundred years,"
critic Mahmoud Saad said.

Critic Tarek el-Shenawy said: "Ahmed Zaki is a very poetic actor who
goes beyond the limits of any script or scenario."

Mubarak presented Zaki a state award in 2001 for his well-received
portrayal of Sadat, who was assassinated by militant Islamists during
an army parade in 1981.

But Shenawy said the docudramas on Nasser and Sadat did not allow Zaki
to show his full ability. "I think that Zaki performs best when he has
the freedom to determine the physical identity of the character," he
said.

"In both movies, he was limited by the former presidents' appearance.
Nevertheless he did a fantastic job," he added.