Youssef Wahbi

Youssef Wahbi was born to a high ranking and very rich family in 1898. However, he renounced his family rank and wealth and traveled to Rome in the 1920s to study theater.

He remains to this day one of the greatest actor and director of the Egyptian film industry. He acted both on the stage and in films. He was a giant of a man in every sense of the word. He filled the screen, gripped you, and left you transfixed. The character he played stayed with you long after you’ve seen the movie.

Due to his fluency in English, French, Italian, and his native Arabic, he translated several foreign plays to Arabic, and acted and/or directed them both for the stage and for the cinema. Whether he ever translated some of Shakespeare’s plays into Arabic, I do not know. I remember him in some roles that were of Shakespearean stature, therefore, perhaps he did.

He played many roles that were different and unusual for Egyptian audiences. Over 50 years, he acted and/or directed some 60 movies.

He remains a respected and beloved artist; Egyptians freely acknowledge that the like of him will never be seen again. His fame goes beyond Egypt’s borders; several French and English companies tried to save his movies by republishing them again.

He suffered from arthritis, and broke his pelvis as a result of a fall. He died in 1982.

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