Fouad el-Mohandes, 82, Beloved Egyptian Comedian
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Fouad el-Mohandes, one of Egypt’s most beloved comedians whose plays and movies made over a half century brought him fans across the Arab world, died Saturday in Cairo. He was 82.
El-Mohandes suffered from liver problems during the past few years, according to Egypt’s state-run news agency MENA.
Born in 1924 to an affluent family in the Abbassiya district of Cairo, el-Mohandes’ father, Zaki, was a linguistics scholar who encouraged his son to act after obtaining a bachelor of arts degree in commerce.
El-Mohandes’ idol was Naguib el-Rihani, a master of Arab comedy whose films were box office hits.
During the 1950s, el-Mohandes played supporting roles in movies and his voice was heard every morning on a 30-minute radio program “To Housewives.” Later, he presented “Just a Few Words,” playing the role of social critic and reformer for a quarter century.
Performances in the 1960s in comedies on the stage and screen with his ex-wife, actress Shwikar, catapulted him to stardom.
