Remembering Egyptian Black Tiger Ahmed Zaki

Today marks 14 years on the harrowing death of the iconic Egyptian actor Ahmed Zaki after bravely fighting with lung cancer for over a year.

Known as Tiger”, Zaki influenced generations and entertained his fans in the Arab world throughout his 30-year career.

Born in 1949 in the village of Zagazig in Al-Sharqia province, Zaki studied mechanical engineering. He joined the Higher Institute for Theatrical Arts in the mid-1960s. His first hit came in the early 1970s when he portrayed famous writer and thinker Taha Hussein in the TV series, Al-Ayam (Days).

With his big smile and subtle facial expressions, his characters were visually impressive, if not at times overwhelming, and nearly always evoked a smile.

Zaki was a real Egyptian with his subtle sense of humor  which was proved in “Sawa2 al Hanem”, “Al Beeh al Bawab” and the very special one “Al Beeda Wel 7agar”, the movies that where he has really showed the Egyptian identity and touched the believes and thoughts of the Egyptian society

He has also played powerful roles in movies such as Al-Beih Al-Bawab (Mr. Doorman), Al-Awama 70 (The Houseboat 70), Shafiaa and Metwali, and Ahlam Hind we Kamiliah (The Dreams of Hind and Kamiliah).

However, He made a great leap in his career when he portrayed Egyptian Presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat, which showed the uniqueness of his talent.

His biggest dream to finish the film Halim which was about the life of legendary singer Abdel Halim Hafez who also died in March 28 years ago and had a similar background, both being orphans who grew up in the same village,  yet he but the actor died prior to the film’s completion, so his son (Haitham Ahmed Zaki) filled in several scenes. The film was released in July 2006 a year after his death.