22-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Remembering Egyptian actor Ashraf Abdel-Ghafour
Abdel-Ghafour, born 22 June 1942 in El-Mahalla El-Kubra (a Nile Delta city), graduated from the High Institute of Dramatic Arts (1963).
He started his career as a stage actor and appeared in titles such as Lady Gulfidan (1962), Soliman El-Halabi (1965), Three Nights (1965), The Dead Without Graves (1966), Guevara's Death (1968), My Homeland Acre (1968), and The Fire and the Olives (1969).
Abdel-Ghafour has become dear to the general public through his roles in television series, an art form that has undeniably represented most of his creative work. He has appeared in more than 250 series over six decades.
His debut TV series was Cairo and the People (1967), followed by series such as The Prayer of the Past and My Account with the Days. He made countless other titles, many of them historical and religious dramas (Imam Malik, The Judiciary in Islam, Farewell Cordoba, Omar Bin Abdul Aziz, Harun Al-Rashid, etc).
In his final years, he appeared in TV series such as El-Serr (2022), Rasheed (2023), Hai El-Sayeda Zainab (2021), and Bet El-Qabayil (2019).
Meanwhile, he has also made his mark in cinema, appearing in movies such as El-Ghadab (1972), Sun and Fog (1973), El-Resala (1976), She's Beautiful, and World of Love (1977), among other titles.
Abdel-Ghafour was awarded numerous awards for his roles and sat on the jury of Egyptian theatre festivals.
He was also the head of the Egyptian Actors' Syndicate from 2012 to 2015.
Abdel-Ghafour's life was tragically cut short in a car accident on the Cairo-Alexandria Desert Road on 3 December 2023. Although he was quickly transferred to a nearby hospital, he succumbed to his injuries shortly after arriving.
The actor left behind his wife (who was also his cousin), two children, son Tamer and daughter Reeham (born 1978), who is also an actress, and grandchildren, whom he referred to as his "most important accomplishment."
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