Great talent and eventful career

Renowned Syrian actor Abdel Rahman Al Rashi passed away at the age of 83 leaving behind rich legacy through his eventful career in cinema, theatre, TV and radio.

With his death, the Syrian drama has lost a prominent pioneer actor who enriched the Syrian drama, cinema and theatre and left a permanent mark on the Syrian art through his distinguished roles. His eventful career included over 200 TV series and movies, and his booming voice allowed him to perform a number of national songs and anthems that are always screened on Syrian and Arab TVs.

The late actor’s roles were characterized with brutality, strength and evilness. But his real life is completely the opposite.  

Al Rashi has expressed strong belief in the younger generation of Syrian actors to press ahead with the current flurry of Syrian TV drama. He expressed hope that they will find their own way quietly as they need work and practice at the TV and Broadcasting Corporation because this profession depends on words and on how to convey your ideas in an attractive way that leaves positive impact on the audience. The TV and Broadcasting Corporation encourages the actor to perform properly because it polishes his performance and refines his talents. He also believes that the artist should continue learning until his death, because knowledge is infinite and the actor is always in need for more knowledge to develop his performance.

Starting his career in the 1950s, the late actor worked as an amateur actor in Art clubs before joining the National Theatre in 1960 where he played roles in plays based on masterpieces of world literature, especially the plays of Shakespeare and Moliere.

In cinema, he played important roles in many films including “The Duped” and “Kafer Qassem” which casts light on the atrocious massacre perpetrated by the Israeli forces of occupation against the people of Kafer Qassem village in 1956.

With the establishment of the Syrian TV, He started a successful career that included scores of roles in TV series including The Bird, Ras Gleis and many social and Bedouin series. However, the most important role for Al Rashi was his role as the leader of the neighbourhood in the popular historical drama Bab al-Hara, “The Gate of the Neighbourhood” whose script was written by Marwan Qaouk and directed by distinguished Syrian director Bassam al-Malla who is specialized in directing drama about the city of Damascus. The series is one of the most popular dramas in the Arab world as it records the daily happenings and family dramas in a neighborhood in Damascus, Syria in the inter-war period under French rule when the local population yearned for independence. The series was a great success in the Arab World. Bab al-Hara takes place in the 1930s, a time when the Middle East was colonized by France and Britain. Syria was under French control and Palestine was under the British mandate forces. One important axis of the series was depicting the national struggle of Syrian people against the French mandate forces and the help offered by Syrian nationalists to their Palestinian brothers who were fighting the British forces.

Syrian and Arab people will always remember the late Al Rashi through his distinguished roles.

K.Q.