Duraid Lahham

Duraid Lahham
دريد لحام
Born (1934-01-27) January 27, 1934

Duraid Lahham (Arabic: دريد لحام‎‎) is a leading Syrian comedian and director born 1934 in Damascus, Syria. He is famous for acting the role of "Ghawwar" in a number of movies and series. His co-star throughout his career was Nihad Kalai who played the role of "Husni".

Life

Lahham was born in the Shi'ite Hay al-Amin neighborhood of Damascus in 1934. He grew up in poverty and had to work at several odd jobs to earn a living. He later would recall these difficult days, saying that he used to buy used clothes, reserved for the poor in Syria, and barely made enough money to feed himself. He enrolled at the University of Damascus and studied chemistry. During his college years, he was active in a form of folklore Arabic dance called "dabke" and became obsessed with acting. When he completed his education, Lahham became an instructor at the Chemistry Department at the University.

During the 1970s Lahham acted in several political plays which gained large popularity throughout the Arab World for its criticism of the situations taking place in the Arab world at that time.


UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador

Lahham was appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to the Middle East and North Africa region in 1999. In 2004, he visited districts of Southern Lebanon which had been liberated from Israeli occupation, and gave a speech at a press conference criticizing George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon, comparing them to Hitler. This caused Tel Aviv to protest Lahham's "undiplomatic language" to the UNICEF, which resulted in the UNICEF relieving him of his duties.[1]

Recognition

Lahham received several medals in recognition of his contributions:

Filmography

Cinema

Television

References

  1. ↑ Archived September 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑
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