274) Tribute to 3amo Fouad!

This day last year, we lost one of the best actors in the Arab World in all eras, El Ostazz or 3amo Fouad or Fouad El Mohandes. He was a great icon of respect, dedication, and fun on stage theatre, TV& Radio, in addition to some of the hilarious 60s movies with soul-mate Shwekar.

He was born on 6 September 1924 in Cairo. He was a son of a linguist named Zaki el-Mohandes, the Dean of the Faculty of Dar Al Oloom and a member of the Arabic language Academy of Cairo. He was my grandpa classmate and used to sit closely as they were both named Fouad (like the King of Egypt when they were born).

Fouad el-Mohandess was an amateur actor when he was young. Inspired by the plays of comedian Naguib Al Rehani during his study at the Faculty of Commerce, el-Mohandess decided to pursue a career in drama. He joined a group named Sa'a li Qalbak during its early run. In 1954, he starred in his first motion picture, Bent El Giran for Mahmud Thul-Fuqqar. However, he returned to acting as a minor character for about ten years afterwards.

The 1960s were el-Muhandes' golden age. He made some successful plays such as El-Sekerteir El-Fanni, Sayydati El-Gameela, and Hawwa' El-Sa'aa 12.Later in his career, his interest shifted back to theater, working in plays like Innaha Haqqan Aa'ila Muhtarama. At the time, he also presented a radio show called Kilmitein Wi-Bas, which was broadcast daily for years (was a great 5 mins show..just to the point).

Fouad El Mohandes was a student of Naguib El Rihani and a mentor for Adel Emam. Although Adel Emam is el za3eem and Naguib El Rihani was a GREAT actor, still Fouad El Mohandes El Ostazz who was loved by everyone.

He used to star in 3amo Fouad Fawazeer that was great in mid-80s (we were very sad when then replaced it with geddo Abdo) and again during whole 90s.

Fouad el-Mohandes died on 16 September 2006, 10 days after his 82nd birthday & a month after his life-time friend Madbouli died...Allah Yer7amo.

Mohaly

Sources: Personal, Wikipedia, Microfann.