Farewell to great actor Salim Kallas

Syrian people bade farewell today to great Syrian actor Salim Kallas who passed away yesterday at his house aged 77. The late actor’s body will be laid to rest in Bab al-Saghir cemetery following noon prayers. His death is a grave loss to Syrian TV drama as he was one of the pioneers who played different roles successfully since the early beginning of Syrian TV.

As a pioneer of Syrian TV drama, Kallas played roles in scores of TV series that reflected his prodigious skill in playing various characters skilfully. The most famous among these series is Maraya (mirrors), a social drama that started in the early 1980s and continued until the present. In cooperation with famous comedian Yasser al-Azmeh, Kallas was able to address a number of important social problems and other issues related to people’s livelihood in comic panels that gave the duet a wide popularity not only in Syria but throughout the Arab world.

The late actor was also famed for playing roles in the series that cast light on the history of Damascus and Syria. These include “The Nights of al-Salehia” and Damascene Days which shed light on the city of Damascus at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century and the struggle of the Syrian people against the Ottoman and the French occupation. He appeared as the polygamist barber highlighting the distinctive features of this character and his pivotal role in the Damascene society.

Another important role for Kallas was in Hammam al-Qishani, (al-Qishani Public Bathhouse) which documents the modern history of Syria focusing on the post independence period and the social and political changes that took place in the country in the 1950s and the 1960s.

His great success pushed TV drama directors to make him play parts in most of Syrian TV series which included Bab al-Hara, (The Gate of the Alley),Tahoun al-Shar, (The Grind of Evil) and Bait Jaddi (My Grandfather’s House).

Theatre has a share in Kallas’s eventful career. While a university student, Kallas played roles at the stage of the University Theatre. He excelled at playing roles in Shakespearean plays, especially The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth.

In radio, he was an active participant in “The Rule of Justice”, a weekly TV programme that is based on cases taken from the criminal courts. The programme has been broadcast on Damascus Radio since the late 1970s.

In cinema, the late actor played parts in four feature films; the most famous was Naji al-Ali along with the Egyptian movie star Noor al-Sharif. The film sheds light on the biography of famous Palestinian cartoonist Naji al-Ali who was assassinated in London in 1987 by the Israeli Mossad because of his daring cartoons that disclosed the occupation racist practices and the treacherous stands of some Palestinian and Arab leaderships.

K.Q.