Youssef Wahbi

Youssef Abdullah Wahby Qotb
Youssef Abdullah Wahby Qotb
	يوسف عبد الله هديب وهبي قطب
Born	Youssef Abdullah Wahby Qotb; July 14, 1898; Fayoum, Egypt
Died	October 17, 1982 (aged 84); Cairo, Egypt
Occupation	Actor ; Director ; Theater
Years active	1932–1978

Youssef Abdallah Wahbi Qotb (Arabic: يوسف عبد الله هديب وهبي قطب‎) (Fayoum, Egypt; July 14, 1898 – October 17, 1982) was an Egyptian stage and film actor and director, a leading star of the 1930s and 1940s and one of the most prominent Egyptian stage actors of any era, who also served on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival in 1946. He was born to a high state official in Egypt but renounced his family's wealth and traveled to Rome in the 1920s to study theatre. Besides his stage work, he acted in about 50 films, starting with Awlad al-Zawat (Sons of Aristocrats; 1932) to "Iskanderiya... lih?" (Alexandria... Why?, 1978). He died in 1982, sick with arthritis and with a fractured pelvis, survived by his wife.

Career

Youssef Wahbi was born into an Egyptian Fayoumi family. His late grand mother was said to be from Turkey.[1][2]

In 1926, Turkish filmmaker Vedat Örfi Bengü approached Wahbi to play the role of the Prophet Muhammed in a European film which would be financed by the Turkish government and a German producer.[3] Whilst the President of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, and the Istanbul council of ulamas gave their approval to the film, the Islamic Al-Azhar University in Cairo published a juridical decision stipulating that Islam forbids the representation of the prophet and his companions.[3] Thereafter, King Fouad warned Whabi that he would be exiled and stripped of his Egyptian citizenship if he took part in the film.[3] Consequently, the film was later abandoned.[4]

Wahbi started acting in the Golden Age of the Egyptian Cinema from 1932 till he died in Cairo, Egypt at the age of 84, in 1982. Even though he comes from a very rich family, throughout his career and life his entire focus was the Film Industry.

Mr. Youssef Wahby has also starred in several plays which he translated into many languages due to his fluency in English, French, and Italian, along with his native Arabic tongue. He played many roles that were different and unusual for both Egyptian film and plays. He once played the Devil and he later on wanted to play Muhammad but the media and Al-Azhar University, the authoritative institution on Sunni Islam, were opposed to the idea and he was forbidden from going through with it.[5]

He is one of the most respected and beloved artists of all time in the Cinema of Egypt and several French and English companies tried to save his movies by reissuing them again.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	International English Name(s)
1932	Awlad el zawat	Actor	a.k.a. the Spoiled Children or Sons of Aristocrats
1935	Al Defaa	Actor and director	a.k.a. The defense
1937	El Magid el khalid	Actor	a.k.a. Eternal Glory
1938	Saet el tanfiz	Actor	a.k.a. The Hour of Fate
1940	Leila momtera	Actor	a.k.a. Stormy night
1941	Leila, bint el rif	actor	a.k.a. Leila, the school girl
1941	Areess min Istambul	Actor	a.k.a. A Suitor from Istanbul
1945	Safeer Gohannam	Actor	a.k.a. The Ambassador of Hell
1949	Ghazal Al Banat	Actor (as himself)	a.k.a. The Flirtation of Girls
1955	Hayat ou maut	Actor	a.k.a. Life or Death
1979	Iskanderija... lih?	Actor	a.k.a. Alexandria... Why?

References

Landau, Jacob M. (2016), Studies in the Arab Theater and Cinema, Routledge, p. 81, ISBN 1317246276, More renowned in Egypt (and, particularly, in the other Arab lands) are Yusuf Wahbi and his confederates...He was born in a well-to-do Egyptian family of Turkish origin.
Sada El Balad : Nogoum FM commemorates 35 death anniversary of Youssef Wahbi, Sada Al-Balad, 2017, retrieved 30 November 2017, Youssef Wahbi was born into an Egyptian family of Turkish origin...
Shohat, Ella (2009), "Sacred Word, Profane Image: Theologies of Adaptation", in Bayrakdar, Deniz (ed.), Cinema and Politics: Turkish Cinema and The New Europe, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, p. 17, ISBN 1443804150
Armes, Roy (2008), "Orfi, Wedad", Dictionary of African Filmmakers, Indiana University Press, p. 105, ISBN 0253351162
Alessandra. Raengo & Robert Stam (2004). A Companion To Literature And Film. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 31. ISBN 0-631-23053-X.

External links

"Youssef Wahby Dead at 84; Dean of the Egyptian Stage", The New York Times, October 17, 1982.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[1] Landau, Jacob M. (2016), Studies in the Arab Theater and Cinema, Routledge, p. 81, ISBN 1317246276, More renowned in Egypt (and, particularly, in the other Arab lands) are Yusuf Wahbi and his confederates...He was born in a well-to-do Egyptian family of Turkish origin.

[2] Sada El Balad : Nogoum FM commemorates 35 death anniversary of Youssef Wahbi, Sada Al-Balad, 2017, retrieved 30 November 2017, Youssef Wahbi was born into an Egyptian family of Turkish origin...

[Shohat-3] Shohat, Ella (2009), "Sacred Word, Profane Image: Theologies of Adaptation", in Bayrakdar, Deniz (ed.), Cinema and Politics: Turkish Cinema and The New Europe, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, p. 17, ISBN 1443804150

[Armes-4] Armes, Roy (2008), "Orfi, Wedad", Dictionary of African Filmmakers, Indiana University Press, p. 105, ISBN 0253351162

[fatwa_important-5] Alessandra. Raengo & Robert Stam (2004). A Companion To Literature And Film. Blackwell Publishing. pp. 31. ISBN 0-631-23053-X.