Adel Emam

Adel Emam
عادل إمام
Born	Adel Mohamed Emam (1940-05-17) May 17, 1940 (age 81) Mansoura, Egypt
Nationality	Egyptian
Other names	Al-Zaeem, El Wad Sayyed el Shaghal, shahed ma shafsh haga
Occupation	Actor, Comedian
Years active	1962–present
Known for	Acting comedian philanthropist
Spouse(s)	Hala Al Shalaqani
Children	3

Adel Emam (Arabic: عادل إمام‎; born 17 May 1940) is an Egyptian film, television, and stage actor.^[1] He is primarily a comedian, but he has starred in more serious works and, especially in his earlier films, has combined comedy with romance.

Emam earned a bachelor's degree in Agriculture from Cairo University. Since then he has appeared in over 103 movies and 10 plays. He is one of the most famous actors in Egypt and the Arab world.

His contributions to the stage and film industries through addressing social and political issues in film and television earned him a cult following and a worldwide reputation that made him one of the most influential arab public figures in the 80’s and 90’s. Adel Imam is considered by a huge mass of cult followers as a cultural icon in the history of modern Egypt.

In January 2000, the United Nations appointed Emam as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR.

Career[]

He is an important national figure in Egypt largely because of the Egyptian political roles he took on in many of his films and plays, he always focused on Egypt's politics and religious problems. These roles, whether he intended it or not, often put him in a critical position vis-à-vis the president or the government. He has been cast several times by the producer Emad Adeeb in movies like Morgan Ahmed Morgan and Hassan and Marcus.

In 2005, he starred in The Embassy in the Building, playing a Cairene everyman inconvenienced when the Embassy of Israel moves into his apartment building. In the following year, Emam was one of the ensemble cast of The Yacoubian Building, a film reputed to be the highest-budgeted in Egyptian cinema and adapted from the novel of the same name. The story is a sharp look at contemporary Egyptian life through the prism of a faded downtown Cairo apartment building. Emam portrays an aging roué whose misadventures form a central strand of the film's complex narrative.^[2][3]

Personal life[]

Adel Emam is married and has three children: the director Rami Imam, Sarah Emam, and Mohamed Emam, who also starred in the movie The Yacoubian Building as Taha ElShazli. He is the brother of Esam Imam and Iman Imam. His brother-in-law was actor Mustafa Metwalli.

Adel Emam stated on a talk show hosted by Hala Sarhan that Amin Shalaby and the late Younes Shalaby as well as Saeed Saleh were his best friends since university.

In February 2012, Emam was sentenced (in absentia) to three months in jail for offending Islam.^[4] Imam said he would appeal the sentence.^[5] On September 12, 2012, Emam won his appeal when a Cairo misdemeanours court cleared him of defaming Islam in his films.^[6]

Awards[]

Adel Emam received numerous awards through his five decades career. He won "Horus" Award twice for his leading roles in Omaret Yakobean and Al-irhabi at Cairo International Film Festival.^[7] He won the Honorary Award of the Festival at 2014 Marrakech International Film Festival.^[8] He won International Jury Award at São Paulo International Film Festival.^[9] In 2005 and 2008 Dubai International Film Festival awarded Adel Emam the Lifetime Achievement Award. He received the first Career Achievement Award in El-Gouna Film Festival in 2017.^[10]

Honours[]

•  Algeria : Knight (Achir) of the National Order of Merit (Algeria)
•  Egypt : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit (Egypt)
•  Lebanon : Commander of the National Order of the Cedar
•  Morocco : Commander of the Order of Ouissam Alaouite
•  Tunisia : Grand Officier of the ^[11]

Selected works[]

References[]

External links[]

• Adel Emam at IMDb 
• All Adel Imam films online in English, Arabic and French