February
Bekheit Bayoumi (1942)
Bekheit Bayoumi was a popular Egyptian lyric poet who made an indelible mark on the soundscape. Born on 18 June 1942, in the village of Kafr Al-Hataba in Daqahliya, he graduated from Al-Azhar School in 1960 in Mansoura and later also earned a diploma in calligraphy.
He started his life as a teacher at a private school before turning to writing songs.
He was famous for co-writing songs for the popular Fawazir Ramadan (Ramadan riddles), starring Nelly for 17 consecutive years, and he was a pioneer who introduced the culture of riddles to the Egyptian art.
He wrote the songs of the famous television weekly show Serr Al-Ard that was screened on Egyptian television in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture to give agricultural advice.
He wrote many songs for radio series like Khamis wi Gomaa (Thursday and Friday), Al-Ustaz Afifi (Mr. Afifi) and Ahlam Al-Asafier (Bird Dreams).
Bayoumi also wrote the songs of films like Deil Al-Samaka (The Fish Tail, 2003), directed by Samir Seif and starring Hanan Turk and Amr Waked, Al-Sajenatan (The Two Prisoners, 1988), directed by Ahmed Al-Nahas and starring Elham Shahine, Samah Anwar, and Youssef Shaaban as well as the film Assad Allah Massaak (Have a Good Evening, 1987), starring Fouad Al-Mohandes, Laila Taher, and Somaya Al-Alfi and directed by Ibrahim Al-Sahn.
March
Helmy Bakr (1937)
Veteran composer Helmy Bakr passed away at the age of 87 following a struggle with illness. He was born in 1937 and graduated from the High Institute of Arab Music and worked as a music teacher before serving his military term.
During his time in the army, the Armed Forces organised a concert by the Algerian singer Warda who listened to some of his melodies and was impressed enough to introduce him to the director of the Egyptian radio at the time, Mohamed Hassan Al-Shajai.
Helmy Bakr then composed the song Kol Aam Wa Antom Bikhair (Wishing You the Best Every Year) for the radio, and it was performed by Abdel-Latif Al-Talbani, becoming a great success.
Bakr composed more than 1,500 pieces of music for famous singers like Laila Murad, Warda, Nagat Al-Saghira, Mohamed Al-Hilw, Ali Al-Haggar, and Medhat Saleh. He composed the music for nearly 48 plays including the famous Sayedaty Al-Gamila (My Fair Lady, 1969), Hawadit (Stories, 1967), and Mosiqa fil Hai Al-Sharqi (Music at the Eastern District, 1971).
He also composed music for many Fawazir Ramadan (Ramadan riddle programmes) like Fatouta, Oum Al-Oref and Eima wi Sima, and he composed the music for many films like Adawya (1968), Shei Min Al-Azab (A Bit of Torment, 1969), Hob wi Kebryaa (Love and Pride, 1972), Viva Zalatta (1976), Leman Toshreq Al-Shams (For Whom the Sun Shines, 1976), and also many TV series like Abrag Al-Akaber (High-Class Towers, 1987) and Sabah Al-Ward (Morning Full of Roses, 1995). He also was the composer of the famous national song Al-Hilm Al-Arabi (The Arab Dream).
At various times Bakr was married to actress Soheir Ramzi, Tunisian singer Aliya, and Shahinaz, the sister of the late veteran actress Shiwikar. He received several awards and honours, including the Excellence Award from the former minister of information.
April
Salah Al-Saadani (1943)
He had been absent from the public eye for many years. Yet the renowned actor was so widely and deeply loved his death sent shockwaves across society. Al-Saadani is remembered for numerous film and especially television roles, the most iconic of which may be as the rich Omda — or village mayor — Soliman Ghanem, an upstart in Cairo high society, in the phenomenal television hit Layali Al-Hilmeya (Hilmeya Nights, 1987), a character he played so convincingly many Egyptians think of him now as a distant relative. Al-Saadani also played Al-Usta Hassan Al-Noaman, a role for which he is lovingly remembered, in Arabesque (1994), another hit TV show.
Al-Saadani was born on 23 October 1943 in Giza, and he graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture. During his university years he joined a number of theatre troupes where he often performed with the aspiring talents and comedians, including subsequent comedy superstar Adel Imam, a lifelong friend, on campus stages. His career took off when he began to collaborate with director Nour Al-Demerdash on series like Al-Daheiya (The Victim, 1964), La Tutfei Al-Shams (The Sun Will Never Set, 1965), and Al-Raheel (Departure, 1967). It was in the 1960s that he began to appear in films too, performing in Niazi Mustafa’s Shayateen Al-Leil (Devils of the Night, 1966) alongside the already established film actors Farid Shawki, Hind Rostom, and Amina Rizk.
Another landmark that demonstrated his outstanding talent was Al-Ard (The Land, 1970) by Youssef Chahine, with whom he also collaborated on Al-Youm Al-Sades (The Sixth Day, 1986), starring Dalida and Mohsen Mohieddin. In the 1970s and 1980s he began to play lead roles, starring in Ali Abdel-Khalek’s Oghnia Ala Al-Mamar (A Song on the Passage, 1972), together with Mahmoud Morsi, Salah Qabil, Mahmoud Yassin, and Madiha Kamel, and the iconic October War film Al-Rosasa La Tazal Fi Gaibi (The Bullet Is Still in My Pocket, 1974), directed by Hossameddin Mustafa and co-written by Ihsan Abdel-Qoddus and Ramses Naguib, also starring Mahmoud Yassin, Hussein Fahmy, Nagwa Ibrahim, and Said Saleh. Al-Saadani’s credits from that time also include Mohamed Salman’s Kalam fil Hob: Shellet Al-Moshaghbeen (Talking About Love: The Troublemakers, 1973) and Mohamed Fadel’s Shaqqa fi Wasat Al-Balad (An Apartment in Downtown, 1975).
With Adel Imam as well as Farid Shawki, Nelly, and Hatem Zulfikar, he starred in Samir Seif’s Al-Ghoul (The Beast, 1983), written by Wahid Hamed, about a journalist who accidentally witnesses a crime. In 1985 he starred in Qadiyet Am Ahmed (Am Ahmed’s Case), a social drama directed by Ali Reda, and featuring Farid Shawki, Farouk Al-Fishawi, and Maali Zayed. Two years later he starred alongside Nour Al-Sherif, Poussy, and Mushira Ismail in Mohamed Al-Naggar’s Zaman Hatem Zahran (The Time of Hatem Zahran). But later in life he focused on TV. His recent credits include Ahmed Saqr’s TV adaptation of Alaa Al-Aswani’s The Yacoubian Building (2007), Mohamed Al-Noqali’s Al-Batniya (2009), and finally Magdi Abu Emeira’s Al-Qaserat (The Minors, 2013).
All through this, while dabbling in the radio from time to time, Al-Saadani never stopped doing theatre. He was part of the stage productions Al-Dokhan (The Smoke), directed by Mourad Mounir and featuring Karima Mukhtar, Somaya Al-Alfi, Faiza Kamal, and Sami Maghawri, Maarouf Al-Eskafi (Maarouf the Cobbler, 1966), directed by Farouk Al-Demerdash and featuring Abdel-Moneim Ibrahim, Soheir Al-Morshedi, Kawthar Al-Assal, and Naima Wasfi, and — remarkably, with the legendary comedian Fouad Al-Mohandes and the equally legendary Abdel-Moneim Madbouli directing — Al-Sekerter Al-Fanni (The Executive Secretary, 1968). Al-Saadani also starred in the play Negmet Nos Al-Leil (Midnight Star, 1972), directed by Kamal Hussein and featuring Sanaa Mazhar, Kawthar Al-Assal, and Mahmoud Abu Zeid, as well as two versions of the great Syrian dramatist Saadallah Wannous’ Al-Malik Howa Al-Malik (The King is the King), the last directed by Mourad Mounir in 2006.
He is the brother of the renowned late satirist and humourist Mahmoud Al-Saadani (1927-2010) and the father of the talented actor Ahmed Al-Saadani.
Sherine Seif Al-Nasr (1967)
Sherine Seif Al-Nasr made an immediate impact when she appeared on the scene in the early 1990s. She had not been heard of for some years, but news of her death at the age of 57 shocked her audience.
Seif Al-Nasr was born in 1967 in Jordan to an Egyptian father, the journalist Elhami Seif Al-Nasr, and a Palestinian mother. She studied law at Ain Shams University, graduating in 1991, and moved to France to work at the Egyptian Embassy before meeting director Youssef Francis, who launched her acting career back in Egypt.
Among her earliest roles was Wagih Al-Shenawi’s television series Ghadboun wa Ghadebaat (Angry Men and Women, 1993), in which she starred alongside Salah Zulfakar, Aida Abdel-Aziz, and Sherif Mounir. She also appeared in the second season of Magdi Abu Emeira’s great Al-Mal Wal Banoun (The Fortune and the Progeny, 1995), alongside Hussein Fahmy, Ahmed Abdel-Aziz, Sherif Mounir, and Aida Riad, and with Ahmed Abdel-Aziz and Gihan Nasr in Man Aladhi La Yoheb Fatma (Who Doesn’t Love Fatma?) in Ahmed Sakr’s 1996 Man Aladhi La Yoheb Fatma (Who Doesn’t Love Fatma?)
On the silver screen she starred alongside the late legend Ahmed Zaki, Sanaa Gamil, and Adel Adham in Sawaa Al-Hanem (The Lady’s Driver, 1994), directed by Hassan Ibrahim. She also appeared with comedy superstar Adel Imam in Al-Noum fil Assal (Sweet Oblivion, 1996), directed by Sherif Arafa, and Amir Al-Zalam (Prince of Darkness, 2002), directed by Imam’s son Rami Imam, as well as in the stage play Bodyguard (1999), also directed by Rami.
Seif Al-Nasr disappeared from the public eye from 1996 to 2001, a period that coincided with her marriage and ended with divorce. She had two other husbands. Her last appearance was in Amr Abdeen’s 2007 television series Asaab Qarar (The Hardest Decision).
September
Atef Beshay (1951)
Beshay was born in Cairo and he studied at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Helwan University, and the Higher Cinema Institute, graduating in 1976. He started his career with Shafik Shamma’s TV series Al-Walima (The Banquet, 1979), starring Taheya Karioka, Nabila Ebeid, Emad Hamdi, and Karima Mukhtar.
Beshay wrote the screenplays of two comedy films, Ela Man Yahumuhu Al-Amr (To Whom It May Concern, 1985), directed by Abdel-Hadi Taha, featuring Samir Ghanem, Noura and Abu Bakr Ezzat, and Fawzia Al-Borgwaziya (Bourgeois Fawziya, also 1985), directed by Ibrahim Al-Shaqanqiri, which focuses on the relationships between residents of the same neighbourhood with different political views, underscoring some significant issues like poverty and corruption.
His silver screen credits also include Al-Wazir Gai (The Minister is Coming, 1986), starring Wahid Seif and Sayed Zayan, directed by Ibrahim Al-Shaqanqiri, and Al-Hilm Al-Qatel (The Deadly Dream, also 1986), starring Elham Shahine and Youssef Shaaban, directed by Adel Al-Aasar.
In 1987 alone he wrote Inaam Mohamed Ali’s Yawmeyat Emraa Moasra (The Diary of a Modern Woman), starring Laila Taher, Salah Qabil, Ragaa Al-Geddawi, and Inaam Salousa, Al-Shaqanqiri’s Mohakmet Ali Baba (Ali Baba’s Trial), starring Yehia Al-Fakharani, and Esaad Younis, Yehia Al-Alami’s Qabl An Yantahi Al-Omr (Before We’re Gone), an adaptation of Ihsan Abdel-Quddous’ novel, starring Farid Shawki and Karima Mukhtar, and Saad Arafa’s Al-Malaeka La Taskoun Al-Ard (Angels Don’t Live on Earth), starring Mamdouh Abdel-Alim, Poussy, and Said Saleh.
He also wrote Wa Nasayt Anni Emraa (I Forgot I was a Woman, 1994), another Ihsan Abdel-Quddous adaptation, directed by Atef Salem, and collaborated with director Karim Diaaeldin on Al-Ukhtabout (The Octopus, 2000). Many of his television credits date from this time: Alia Yassin’s Al-Leqaa Al-Thani (The Second Meeting, 1988), starring Mahmoud Yassin and Poussy, with each episode telling a different story; Nass wi Nass (People and People, 1989), based on the work of humourist Ahmed Ragab and cartoonist Mustafa Hussein; Yehia Al-Alami’s hit Demou Sahebat Al-Galala (Her Majesty’s Tears, 1993); Samir Seif’s Cinderella (2006), starring Mona Zaki, about the life of the legendary actress Soad Hosni; and Ahmed Sakr’s Emaret Yaacoubian (The Yacoubian Building, 2007), based on Alaa Al-Aswani’s novel.
His last work for the television was Tager Al-Saada (Merchant of Happiness, 2009), directed by Sherine Adel.
Elias Khoury (1948)
The death of Elias Khoury in his hometown of Beirut at the age of 76 marks the end of one of the Arab world’s most distinguished literary careers, marked by devotion to the Palestinian cause and dialogue with Western literature. One of a tiny handful of Arab writers to be interviewed in The Paris Review, Khoury is perhaps best known for his 1998 epic of the flight and plight of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Bab Al-Shams (Gate of the Sun), made into an eponymous two-part film by his friend the Egyptian director Youssri Nasrallah in 2005.
Khoury was born into a Greek Orthodox family in the Christian Beirut district of Achrafieh, and graduated from the Lebanese University, where he studied history, in 1971. He had lived in Jordan, where he enlisted with Fatah, the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, after the 1967 defeat to Israel, leaving in the course of the Palestinian exodus following Black September of 1970. He had evidently been completing the necessary course work remotely, since he also earned his PhD in social history from the University of Paris only a year after his graduation, in 1972. When the Lebanese Civil War broke out in 1975, the year he published his first novel, On the Relations of the Circle, Khoury fought with the pro-Palestinian Lebanese National Movement.
As well as two short story collections, plays, screenplays, and criticism, Khoury wrote 12 novels including White Masks (1982) and Yalu (2002), several of which earned him a very prominent place in the annals of Arabic literature in English translation. They were translated into many languages, Hebrew included. Khoury was a visiting professor at numerous universities in the US, where he spent half a year. He edited the Lebanese newspaper Al-Nahar’s seminal and prestigious cultural supplement, Al-Mulhaq (The Supplement), from 1993 to 2009. His awards include the 2000 Prize of Palestine for Gate of the Sun, the 2007 Al-Owais Award, the 2008 Prix du roman arabe for As Though She Were Sleeping, and the 2016 Mahmoud Darwish Award.
Helmy Al-Touni (1934)
One of the most prominent figures in Egyptian art and a pioneer in the arts of the book, Helmy Al-Touni, who passed away at the age of 90, is celebrated as much for his book covers and illustrations as his distinctive oil paintings. He worked with every major Arab publishing house, and his work can be seen in magazines including Al-Hilal, Al-Kawakeb, and the Kuwaiti glossy Al-Arabi. He was a cartoonist as well as a painter and illustrator. But he will probably be best remembered for his role in children’s books since the 1960s.
Born in 1934 in Beni Sweif, he graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts’ Department of Stage Sets in 1958. His first solo exhibition took place in 1975 in Beirut, where it was followed by another 10 years later. Many of his later exhibitions were held at the Picasso Gallery in Zamalek. His awards include the 1979 UNICEF International Child Day Award and the 2002 Bologna Children’s Book Fair prize. He worked with such towering figures as Al-Ahram editor Ahmed Bahaaeddin. As he said during the last round of the Luxor Painting Symposium, his Al-Ahram cartoons were published regularly until the regime deemed them too harsh towards the end of the 1980s.
Al-Touni belongs to the 1960s generation and he saw himself as an heir to folk artists through the ages, and his favourite motifs — windows, doves, horses, watermelons, and sometimes calligraphy — reflect ancient, Coptic, and Islamic art as much as grassroots culture. Utilising all this, the covers he designed for books by phenomenally celebrated authors such as Ihsan Abdel-Quddous and Anis Mansour, and his illustrations of such books as Hussein Ahmed Amin’s 1984 One Thousand and One Tales from Arabic Literature made his images a constant presence in the Arab household. He also produced colouring books for both children and adults. His trademark style is cheerful, with a balanced palette and a constant decorative element.
Women are his most frequent subject, from young girls jumping rope or combing their hair to swimming with the fish or playing the oud. The title of his last exhibition, Long Live Love, held at the Picasso Gallery last March, sums up his lifelong message: a constant pushing back against ugliness and violence. A lifelong supporter of the Palestinian cause, he employed his art in its service, developing motifs to refer to the house key, the olive branch, and the Dome of the Rock.
Nahed Roushdy (1956)
Nahed Roushdi passed away on 14 September at the age of 67. Through a long battle with illness she had never publicly spoken of her condition while she continued to work.
Roushdi graduated from the acting department of the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts in 1982, and she was a dedicated, talented actress who focused on television drama. In her early years she took part in the TV series La Ya Ebnaty Al-Aziza (No, My Dear Daughter, 1979), starring Abdel-Moneim Madbouli and Hoda Sultan and directed by Nour Al-Demerdash. She took part in many other TV series in minor roles, then played a bigger role in Samir Seif’s TV series Safar Al-Ahlam (Dream Travel, 1986), starring Mahmoud Morsi with a screenplay by Wahid Hamed.
In the 1990s her roles were more alluring as she participated in the famous TV series Arabesque: Ayam Hassan Al-Nomani (Arabesque: The Days of Hassan Al-Nomani, 1994), directed by Gamal Abdel-Hamid with a screenplay by Osama Anwar Okasha, starring alongside Salah Al-Saadani and Hoda Sultan. She also played Fatma in Al-Zeini Barakat (1995), based on Gamal Al-Ghitani’s famous novel and directed by Yehia Al-Alami, starring alongside Nabil Al-Halafawi, Tahani Rashed, and Abdel-Rahman Abu Zahra.
She’s always remembered as Saniya, playing her timeless and unforgettable role in the TV series Lan Aiysh fi Gelbab Abi (I Won’t Live in My Father’s Robe, 1996), with the late Nour Al-Sherif and the exceptional Abla Kamel: the daughter of Al-Haj Abdel-Ghaffour Al-Boraei (played by Al-Sherif).
She also played an exceptional role in the daring TV series Bedoun Zikr Asmaa (Without Mentioning Names) — directed by Tamer Mohsen — as Samiha, the wife of Rabei (Abdel-Aziz Makhyoun), a sweet street vendor, and the mother of two girls, Nawara and Taghreed, and a boy, Atef .The drama basically documents the rise of the Islamists during the second half of the 1980s and especially during the first few years of Mubarak’s rule.
More recently she starred in the TV series Aad Tanazoli (Countdown, 2014), starring Amr Youssef, Kinda Alloush, Mohamed Farrag, and Sabri Abdel-Moneim, directed by Hussein Al-Menbawi. She also starred in Kamla Abu-Zekri’s Wahet Al-Ghoroub (Sunset Oasis, 2017), based on the novel by the late Bahaa Taher, with a screenplay by Mariam Naoum and Hala Al-Zeghendi, starring alongside Khaled Al-Nabawi, Menna Shalabi, Ahmed Kamal, Roushdi Al-Shami, Sayed Ragab, and Khaled Kamal.
Last year Roushdi appeared in the TV series Al-Sandouk (Mystery Box), starring Ahmed Dash, Hoda Al-Mufti, Samah Anwar, Reham Abdel-Ghaffour, and Ali Qassem, directed by Marwan Abdel-Moneim, and Saffah Al-Giza (The Giza Killer, 2023), directed by Hadi Al-Bagouri, starring Ahmed Fahmi, Raken Saad, Bassem Samra, Dalia Shawki, and Hanan Youssef.
Roushdi made a few appearances on the silver screen, including the recent film Hazzak Al-Youm (Your Horoscope Today, 2022,) directed by Osama Orabi.
October
Hassan Youssef (1934)
The renowned actor Hassan Youssef was born on 14 April 1934 in Al-Sayeda Zeinab neighbourhood and graduated from the Higher Institute for Theatrical Arts and in his early beginnings he starred in one of Ihsan Abdel-Quddous’ film adaptations, scripted by the Naguib Mahfouz and directed by Salah Abu-Seif, Ana Horra (I’m Free, 1959). It also starred Lubna Abdel-Aziz and Shourki Sarhan. He acquired iconic status gradually in the 1960s, alongside stars like Soad Hosni — whom he participated with in some of the most successful films during this era — as well as Ahmed Ramzi, Lubna Abdel-Aziz, Nadia Lutfi, Roushdy Abaza, and Omar Sharif.
Among his numerous duets with Soad Hosni were Mafish Tafahoum (No Understanding, 1961), directed by Atef Salem, Al-Zawag Ala Al-Tarika Al-Haditha (Marriage in a Modern Way, 1968), directed by Salah Karim, and Hekayet 3 Banat (Story of 3 Girls, 1968), directed by Mahmoud Zul-Fakar.
He played the remarkable role of Shafik in Atef Salem’s Oum Al-Arousa (Mother of the Bride, 1963), starring alongside Emad Hamdi, Tahiya Kariouka, Samira Ahmed, Youssef Shaaban, and Madiha Salem.
Youssef was married to actress Lebleba (1964 to 1972). Afterwards he married the retired actress Shams Al-Baroudi, with whom he had four children. He played the character of Sheikh Mohamed Metwalli Al-Shaarawi in the TV series Imam Al-Douaa (The Leader of Preachers, 2002), directed by Mustafa Al-Shal.
Youssef announced his retirement a few months after the death of his son in 2023.
Mustafa Fahmy (1942)
A few days prior to the launch of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF), headed by renowned actor Hussein Fahmy, news of Fahmy’s younger brother Mustafa’s death shocked the whole team and other celebrities and viewers.
Born on 7 August 1942, Fahmy studied cinematography at the Higher Institute of Cinema, but it was as an actor that he made his name. His legacy spans over 40 years, and his relationship with the silver screen began as an assistant cinematographer for Abdel-Halim Nasr in the film Amira Hobi Ana (Amira My Love, 1974). A few months later he started his acting career, starring in Atef Salem’s Ayna Aakli (Where Is My Mind?) alongside Soad Hosni, Roshdy Abaza, and Mahmoud Yassin.
He also starred alongside Farid Shawki, Soheir Ramzi, Noura and many of this time’s greatest icons, collaborating with filmmaker Hassan Al-Imam in Qamar Al-Zaman (The Most Beautiful, 1976), and filmmaker Atef Salem in Hakaza Al-Ayam (That’s How the Days Are, 1977).
In 1980 he starred with Adel Imam in the TV series Demou fi Eyoun Waqiha (Tears in Bold Eyes), directed by Yehia Al-Alami and also starring Salah Qabil, Maali Zayed, Mushira Ismail, and Osama Abbas. In the 1990s he starred in numerous television productions like Bint Seyadet Al-Wazir (The Minister’s Daughter, 1992) with Mervat Amin, Abdel-Aziz Makhyoun and Salwa Othman, directed by Wafik Wagdy. As well as Layali Al-Ghorba (Nights of Exile, 1993) with Said Abdel-Ghani and Mimi Gamal.
He also worked with the great comedian Fouad Al-Mohandes and the international star Omar Sharif in Hany Lasheen’s Ayoub (1983), a Naguib Mahfouz adaptation that also featured Madiha Youssry and Mahmoud Al-Meligi.
He worked till his latest days, appearing in the two recent huge film productions in 2024: Amr Arafa’s Ahl Al-Kahf (People of the Cave), starring Khaled Al-Nabawi, Ghada Adel, Mohamed Mamdouh, and Mohamed Farrag; and Ahmed Nader Galal’s Al-Serb (The Squadron), starring Ahmed Al-Saqqa, Sherif Mounir, and Mohamed Mamdouh.
December
Nabil Al-Halafawi (1947)
With deep grief, Egyptians said goodbye to the renowned actor Nabil Al-Halafawi, who passed away on 15 December at the age of 77.
Al-Halafawi was born on 22 April 1947 in Al-Sayeda Zeinab neighbourhood of Cairo, and graduated from the Faculty of Commerce before pursuing his passion for acting by joining the Higher Institute of Theatrical Arts, from which he graduated in 1970. His acting career started in the theatre when he starred in the plays Antonio and Cleopatra (1976) and Afreit Li Kol Mowaten (A Goblin for Every Citizen), written by Lenin Al-Ramli, and in Saad Ardash’s Ragol fil Qalaa (A Man in the Citadel, 1987), written by Mohamed Abul-Ela Al-Salamoni.
The 1980s and 1990s were the peak of his acting career when he starred in films like Al-Mohakma (The Trial, 1982) by Nader Galal, also starring Mahmoud Yassin and Soheir Ramzi. He often played the role of an intelligence officer as in the comedy film Al-Amil Raqam 13 (Agent No. 13, 1989) directed by Medhat Al-Sebaei, starring alongside Mohamed Sobhi, Eman, Sabrine, and Shaaban Hussein. He played the role of intelligence officer Nadim Hashem in the espionage epic TV series Raafat Al-Haggan, inspired by the story of the Egyptian spy Refaat Al-Gammal, directed by Yehia Al-Alami and starring Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz, Youssra, and Youssef Shaaban.
Once again in 1994 he starred in the film Al-Tarik Ila Eilat (The Road to Eilat), directed by Inaam Mohamed Ali and starring Ezzat Al-Alaili and Salah Zulfiqar. This film holds a special place in the collective memory of Egyptians as it tells the story of a group of frogmen on a mission to destroy two Israeli warships at the Eilat Port during the War of Attrition. And for his role in this film he was nicknamed among his fans as Al-Qobtan (The Captain).
More recently he starred in Mohamed Khan’s film Supermarket (1990) alongside Naglaa Fathi, Adel Adham, and Mamdouh Abdel-Alim.
He was known for his love and longtime support of Ahly football team. In the 2000s he starred with Al-Fakharani in the TV series Dahsha (Wonder, 2014), with Youssra Al-Louzi, Fathi Abdel-Wahab, and Mohamed Wafik under the direction of Shadi Al-Fakharani, the actor’s son. He collaborated with Al-Fakharani and his son one more time in the Ramadan TV series Wannous in 2016, also starring in Li Aala Seir (For the Highest Price, 2017), starring Nelly Karim, Ahmed Fahmi and Zeina, and directed by Mohamed Gamal Al-Adl. In 2018 he appeared with Karim Fahmi and Naglaa Badr in the TV series Amr Wakei (Matter of Fact), directed by Mohamed Osama.
His last two appearances were in the Ramadan TV series Al-Qahira-Kabul (Cairo-Kabul, 2021), directed by Hossam Ali with the screenplay by Abdel-Rehim Kamal and starring Fathi Abdel-Wahab, Tarek Lotfi, Khaled Al-Sawi, and Hanan Mutawei; and, the following year, in a film directed by his son Khaled Al-Halafawi, Tasleem Ahali (Handing Them Over), also starring Hisham Maged, Donia Samir Ghanem, Dalal Abdel-Aziz, and Bayoumi Fouad.
Al-Halafawi was married twice, first to actress Fardous Abdel-Hamid, with whom he had Khaled, and later to Nadia Kamal, who is not a celebrity. With Kamal he had another son, Walid, also a filmmaker.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 26 December, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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