Veteran actor Ezzatolah Entezami has joined the 600,000 philanthropists in the country who are contributing to school construction in deprived areas.
In a ceremony at the Organization for Development, Renovation and Equipping Schools of Iran in Tehran on Tuesday, a MoU was signed between the actor and the organization by which an educational center will be established in the western city of Ilam, capital of Ilam Province.
As the actor is dealing with age-related problems, his son Majid Entezami, a notable musician, attended the program on his father’s behalf. A video recording showed Ezzatolah explaining his humanitarian gesture, IRNA reported.
The celebrated actor said: “Schools lay the foundation for imbibing compassion and culture in people; some of our best doctors and surgeons have come from schools in deprived regions.”
He hoped that once the school project in Ilam is completed he would be able to visit it in person. “There is no need for the school to be named after me.”
Master Actor
Conferred the title ‘Master Actor’ for his unforgettable roles in films during his long professional career, Entezami celebrated his 91st birthday at the Iranian Theater Forum in Tehran last month.
Managing director of the forum Iraj Rad who also participated in the event said, “Everybody knows Master Entezami’s artistic skills and talent, but he has always been involved in philanthropic gestures like raising funds for Afghan children in Iran.”
“Building a school for the needy has been his dream, which is now being realized,” Rad said.
Entezami has acted in more than 100 plays, movies and TV serials. He was awarded the Crystal Simorgh for the Best Actor twice at the Fajr International Film Festival. His numerous roles in different fields of performance are indeed memorable.
Entezami started his career on stage in 1941. He graduated in theatre and cinema school in Hanover, Germany in 1958 and has acted in over 50 plays.
In 1969 he began his debut in movies and performed in Darius Mehrjui’s admired classic film ‘The Cow’ which received the Golden Hugo at the Chicago International Film Festival in 1971. He shone in the role of a naive villager who cannot endure the death of his beloved cow and starts to believe that he is the cow himself.
Known as one of the most prominent actors in Iranian cinema, Entezami has worked with prominent Iranian film directors, including Darius Mehrjui (eight films), Ali Hatami (four films) and with Nasser Taqvaee, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Behrouz Afkhami, Masoud Kimiai and Rakhshan Bani-Etemad.
The Crystal Simorgh was conferred on him for ‘Grand Cinema’ and ‘The Day of Angel’. His work and accomplishments were hailed in October 2006 at the Iran Cultural Center in Paris.
