Akbar Abdi, the Face That Made Iran Laugh, Dies at 66

Four decades, more than 120 films, and two Crystal Simorghs — the comic actor who became one of Iranian cinema's most beloved figures has died after a cardiac arrest

Akbar Abdi, one of Iran’s most celebrated film and television actors, has died at the age of 66 after suffering a cardiac arrest.

Abdi had recently been hospitalised following a heart attack and died on Friday despite medical treatment, according to Mehr News Agency.

Born in Tehran in 1960, he began his screen career in the early 1980s in television before winning national affection through the popular children’s series I’m Late for School Again. He made his film debut in The Great Controversy and quickly established himself as one of the country’s foremost comic actors, in films including The Man Who Became a Mouse, The Tenants, and Grand Cinema.

Two Simorghs, two decades apart

His range extended well beyond comedy. Abdi won his first Crystal Simorgh, Iran’s highest film honour, for his portrayal of Gholamreza in Ali Hatami’s acclaimed drama Mother — a performance that remains among the most admired in Iranian cinema. More than twenty years later he took a second Crystal Simorgh, this time for Reza Attaran’s comedy I Feel Sleepy, a rare span for any actor.

Among his most enduring roles were those in The Snowman and Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s Once Upon a Time, Cinema.

Across a career of four decades, Abdi appeared in more than 120 films and television productions, becoming one of the most instantly recognisable figures in Iranian cinema — an actor whose face, for generations of viewers, was inseparable from the country’s screen comedy.

Reference: PressTv