Mahmoud el-Meliguy
Encyclopedia
Mahmoud el-Meliguy was an Egyptian
screenwriter
and an actor
of film
, theatre
, and television
. He started his career playing minor roles, but achieved stardom in the late 1930s. A popular and award-winning actor, he has acted in hundreds of films and was famous for his evil, villain
roles. Because of his resemblance to Marlon Brando
, he is nicknamed “Marlon Brando of the East”.
family in the Megharbleen district in Cairo
from a family of Kurdish origins. His father, Hussein el-Meliguy, was a well-known trader in the area. He traded in cars and race horses. He had a great desire to become a singer and was taking lessons from a professional trainer, but his father opposed him and convinced him to quit and focus on his studies. He turned to boxing
, a sport he always loved, but eventually quit after being injured. In his school, el-Meliguy was the leader of the acting group. In one of the school group's performances, he was noticed by Fatma Roushdi, the founder of the Fatma Roushdi acting group, who convinced him to join her group.
Mahmoud started his acting career in the early 1930s as a member of Fatma Roushdi's group. His first role was in the play 667 Zeitoun (667 Olive). He played minor roles, like the role of a butler or a servant, and was paid a small fee of four Egyptian pound
s. Roushdi, who had noticed his acting skills and potentials, offered him his first major role, a leading role in the 1933
comedy film
directed by the Italian
film director
Mario Folby, El-Zawaj (The Marriage). The film was a failure, which made el-Meliguy leave Roushdi's group. In 1936, he joined the famous Ramses group, which was founded and headed by Youssef Wahbi
, and again played minor roles. He received a stipend of nine Egyptian pounds for his work with the group. He left the group and moved to several other groups before being chosen for his first villain role.
described him as “the wickedness of cinema”.
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and an actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
of film
Cinema of Egypt
The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing Egyptian Arabic-language film industry based in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Since 1976, Cairo has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations. There is also...
, theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, and television
Egyptian television
The Egyptian Television Network is a television service run by the Egyptian Radio and Television Union. It commenced programming in 1960. Today it has more than three national channels, and several broadcast channels on satellite.- History :...
. He started his career playing minor roles, but achieved stardom in the late 1930s. A popular and award-winning actor, he has acted in hundreds of films and was famous for his evil, villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
roles. Because of his resemblance to Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
, he is nicknamed “Marlon Brando of the East”.
Early life and career
Mahmoud el-Meliguy was born to a MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
family in the Megharbleen district in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
from a family of Kurdish origins. His father, Hussein el-Meliguy, was a well-known trader in the area. He traded in cars and race horses. He had a great desire to become a singer and was taking lessons from a professional trainer, but his father opposed him and convinced him to quit and focus on his studies. He turned to boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, a sport he always loved, but eventually quit after being injured. In his school, el-Meliguy was the leader of the acting group. In one of the school group's performances, he was noticed by Fatma Roushdi, the founder of the Fatma Roushdi acting group, who convinced him to join her group.
Mahmoud started his acting career in the early 1930s as a member of Fatma Roushdi's group. His first role was in the play 667 Zeitoun (667 Olive). He played minor roles, like the role of a butler or a servant, and was paid a small fee of four Egyptian pound
Egyptian pound
The Egyptian Pound is the currency of Egypt. It is divided into 100 Qirsh , or 1,000 Milliemes ....
s. Roushdi, who had noticed his acting skills and potentials, offered him his first major role, a leading role in the 1933
1933 in film
-Events:* March 2 - King Kong premieres in New York City.* June 6 - The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey.* British Film Institute founded....
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Mario Folby, El-Zawaj (The Marriage). The film was a failure, which made el-Meliguy leave Roushdi's group. In 1936, he joined the famous Ramses group, which was founded and headed by Youssef Wahbi
Youssef Wahbi
Youssef Wahbi was an Egyptian stage and film actor and director, a leading star of the 1930s and '40s and one of the most prominent Arab stage actors of any era. 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...
, and again played minor roles. He received a stipend of nine Egyptian pounds for his work with the group. He left the group and moved to several other groups before being chosen for his first villain role.
Career
El-Meliguy's breakthrough role came when Mohamed Abdel Wahab chose him to star in the film Lastu Malakan (I'm Not an Angel). He was paid 900 Egyptian pounds and quickly achieved stardom. People praised him for the villain role he played in that film, and film criticsFilm criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
described him as “the wickedness of cinema”.