The funeral will be held on Saturday after noon prayers at the Police Mosque in Giza's Sheikh Zayed, Actors' Syndicate board member Ehab Fahmy said on Friday.

Sabri will be buried in Manara Cemetary in Alexandria.

In February, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi directed the government to pay for Sabri’s critical heart surgery, shortly after the actor announced he would undergo the procedure.

The late entertainer had recently revealed that he had been undergoing chemotherapy to treat cancer over the past year. Although he beat the cancer, he said that the treatment left his heart weakened.

The heart surgery was scheduled for February, according to reports, but was delayed for health reasons.

The news about Sabri’s passing was released by Mounir Makram, a member of the Actors Syndicate, and numerous artists on their social media.

One of the biggest names in Egyptian entertainment, Sabri was born in Alexandria in 1936.

He studied at Victoria College before going on to study in the English Language Department at the Faculty of Arts, Alexandria University.

Sabri’s career as an actor, entertainer, and TV and radio host began with hosting the English-language radio show At Your Request.

He is known to different generations in different capacities. For those above 50, he is best known for his very successful TV programme Al-Nadi Al-Dawli (The International Club) that aired for nine successive years in the 1970s and featured a wide range of interviews with art, culture and political figures.

Sabri first appeared in a movie in 1959 as an extra alongside the well-known radio star Amal Fahmy in Hekayet Hob (Love Story), which starred Abdel-Halim Hafez and Mariam Fakhr Eddin.

Throughout his career, he played roles in over 150 films and television series. His memorable roles include films such as Bint Min El-Banat (A Girl Among Girls, 1968); Hikayati Maa El-Zaman (My Story with Time, 1973); Bamba Kashar, 1974; Bil Walediyan Ihsana (Be Merciful To Your Parents, 1976); and Doaa Al-Mazloumeen (The Prayer of the Oppressed, 1977).

In memorable light songs in several films, Sabri lyrics combined more than one language, invoking the character of his upbringing in a once-cosmopolitan Alexandria.

Sabri’s Alexandrian origins combined with his stardom prompted the well-known TV personality Mofeed Fawzi to refer to him as "Ambassador of Alexandria.”

In recent decades he worked with many directors – Sherif Hamouda, Ahmed Sabaawi, Mohamed Marzouk, Omar El-Sheikh, Hussein El-Emam, Kamal Desouki – and shared screen with numerous stars.

Sabri’s last acting roles came in the Valentino TV series' starring Adel Emam (2020); and the comedy Dido (2021), starring Bayoumi Fouad.

Sabri also produced 16 films, including Ahlan ya Kabten (Hello Captain, 1978); Shifah la Tarif El-Kidhib (Lips That Do Not Know Lying, 1980); Gahim Taht El-Maa (Hell Under Water, 1989).

In 2021, Sabri released his autobiography titled Hekayat Alomr Koloh (Tales of My Whole Life).

In her review of the autobiography for Al-Ahram Weekly, Dina Ezzat described the book as "rich, and full of cleverly dozed stories on the thin-line between politics and art and others and how it affects palace intrigues.”