Nosrat Karimi
Encyclopedia
Nosrat'Allah Karimi is an award winning Iran
ian actor, director, make-up artist, University professor, scriptwriter and sculptor. His career spans 6 decades. He is best known for his role as Agha Joon in My Uncle Napoleon
and The Carriage Driver.
, Iran
. His father was a wealthy and respected retailer. As a young child he had a strong passion for the arts. At the age of six, he was fascinated by Charlie Chaplin
and was captivated by the figure of the poor vagabond who refused to be beaten by the trials of life. Quickly Karimi learned to imitate Chaplin and found his first audience amongst relatives and friends.
At the age of nine, he began to make himself up for his roles and thus gained his first experiences with the art of make-up. His older brother, the later master of miniature, Ali Karimi, recognized Nosrat’s liking for acting and encouraged him in this direction. In his brother’s company, Nosrat made his first visit to the theater. At the age of ten, he made a bust of the famous Persian poet Ferdowsi
, for which he was awarded a respected prize.
In 1940, Karimi worked as actor, make-up artist, and as stage designer in various Tehran theaters. At the beginning of 1953, Karimi travelled to Europe in order to complete his art degrees. In Rome, where he spent the first months of his stay, he became acquainted with famous Italian film directors Luchino Visconti
and Vittorio De Sica
. The neo-realistic films of De Sica ("The Bicycle Thief", "Miracle in Milan "... ) made an impression on him.
After approximately six months, Karimi traveled to Vienna
and finally to Prague
. There he studied film direction and TV production, specializing in puppet and animation movies. His most important teacher at The Academy of Arts in Prague
was Karl Zeman, the famous Czech animation artist. After Prague, he returned to Rome and stayed there for three years. He worked as assistant director for Vittorio De Sica
, performed on the stage, appeared in musicals and dubbed a number of Italian movies for distribution in Iran.
In 1964, after eleven years in Europe
, Karimi went back to Iran
. In 1965, he was engaged by The Ministry of Art and Culture to run and extend the state workshop for animated cartoons. A little later, Karimi began his activity as professor at The Faculty of Fine Arts at Tehran University, as well as at The Academy of the Dramatic Arts, where he taught different art styles for more than twenty years.
At the same period, Karimi produced two TV series: "Mr. Plaintiff", a puppet show and "The Marriage", a twenty-part family series about married life. Through these popular series, Karimi became known to a wide section of society of Iran.
In 1969, Karimi began shooting the film The Thief and the Policeman - a Persian adaptation of the story of cops and robbers. However, after having finished the film for the most part, he gave up the direction due to interference from the producer. In the same year, the British director Terence Young shot some scenes of the film Poppy is also a Flower in Iran. He engaged Karimi as make-up artist for his lead Yul Bryner and other actors.
From 1971 to 1973, Nosrat Karimi made three feature films: The Carriage Driver, The Solution and A Bed for Three where he not only acted as director, but also wrote the film scripts and played the title roles.
The Carriage Driver was a great success and went down well with the critics. This movie was chosen as the Iranian contribution for international film festivals. However, film authorities banned it from being shown abroad. Only years later could the film be performed in European cinemas. The internationally acclaimed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami
, honoured with The Golden Palm of Cannes 1997 and numerous other international motion picture awards, praised the film as an important work of the Iranian Cinema.
Karimi’s fame and great success resulted in attractive offers from many producers. Thus in the 1970s he played in a number of commercial films that were directed by others. He also played a supporting role in a Japanese-Iranian co-production. In 1975, the director and actor made his fourth and last movie The Miserable One. Again, he wrote the screenplay. The film, a satire about the mounting tensions in the 1970s in Tehran, went down well and received notable reviews.
In 1976, Karimi played one of the main characters of the TV series My Uncle Napoleon
. This is regarded as the most successful series ever run on Iranian television. A year later, the artist produced the TV series Khosro Mirsa II. This 16-part series was a grotesque comedy about an aristocratic family descended from the Qajar dynasty
. He then wrote another film script and was preparing his next movie, but for the time being film production was stopped during the Iranian Revolution
.
Karimi was banned, for a long period, from working as a filmmaker or actor. during that time, he rediscovered his former interest for making sculptures. He made many mimic-sculptures which were shown in numerous national and international exhibitions. In addition, Karimi wrote a number of screenplays for movie and TV productions; a few of them were commercialized under the name of others and others have not been realized until this day.
Not until 1987, was Karimi allowed to perform a puppet piece again – The Uninvited Visitor. Then, he made the animated cartoon Playmate. In 1996/97, he produced for a private channel the puppet show Unruly, a TV series that has been re-run repeatedly at the request of the spectators. His other works in the post-revolutionary era include the production and direction of a series of short TV films about pollution control and health care, as well as books about theatre and cinema.
Nosrat Karimi currently lives with his wife Parvin Teymouri in the north of Tehran.
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian actor, director, make-up artist, University professor, scriptwriter and sculptor. His career spans 6 decades. He is best known for his role as Agha Joon in My Uncle Napoleon
My Uncle Napoleon
My Uncle Napoleon is a coming of age novel by Iranian author Iraj Pezeshkzad published in Tehran in Persian in 1973. The novel was adapted to a highly successful TV series in 1976 directed by Nasser Taghvai...
and The Carriage Driver.
Early life
Nosrat Karimi was born in 1925 in TehranTehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. His father was a wealthy and respected retailer. As a young child he had a strong passion for the arts. At the age of six, he was fascinated by Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
and was captivated by the figure of the poor vagabond who refused to be beaten by the trials of life. Quickly Karimi learned to imitate Chaplin and found his first audience amongst relatives and friends.
At the age of nine, he began to make himself up for his roles and thus gained his first experiences with the art of make-up. His older brother, the later master of miniature, Ali Karimi, recognized Nosrat’s liking for acting and encouraged him in this direction. In his brother’s company, Nosrat made his first visit to the theater. At the age of ten, he made a bust of the famous Persian poet Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi
Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...
, for which he was awarded a respected prize.
Career
After finishing elementary school, Karimi attended the German Polytechnic Institute. He then registered at the only drama school existing at that time in Tehran. There from 1938 to 1941 he studied dramatic art, the art of make-up and stage design.In 1940, Karimi worked as actor, make-up artist, and as stage designer in various Tehran theaters. At the beginning of 1953, Karimi travelled to Europe in order to complete his art degrees. In Rome, where he spent the first months of his stay, he became acquainted with famous Italian film directors Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti
Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo was an Italian theatre, opera and cinema director, as well as a screenwriter. He is best known for his films The Leopard and Death in Venice .-Life:...
and Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio de Sica
Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement....
. The neo-realistic films of De Sica ("The Bicycle Thief", "Miracle in Milan "... ) made an impression on him.
After approximately six months, Karimi traveled to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
and finally to Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. There he studied film direction and TV production, specializing in puppet and animation movies. His most important teacher at The Academy of Arts in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
was Karl Zeman, the famous Czech animation artist. After Prague, he returned to Rome and stayed there for three years. He worked as assistant director for Vittorio De Sica
Vittorio de Sica
Vittorio De Sica was an Italian director and actor, a leading figure in the neorealist movement....
, performed on the stage, appeared in musicals and dubbed a number of Italian movies for distribution in Iran.
In 1964, after eleven years in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Karimi went back to Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
. In 1965, he was engaged by The Ministry of Art and Culture to run and extend the state workshop for animated cartoons. A little later, Karimi began his activity as professor at The Faculty of Fine Arts at Tehran University, as well as at The Academy of the Dramatic Arts, where he taught different art styles for more than twenty years.
At the same period, Karimi produced two TV series: "Mr. Plaintiff", a puppet show and "The Marriage", a twenty-part family series about married life. Through these popular series, Karimi became known to a wide section of society of Iran.
In 1969, Karimi began shooting the film The Thief and the Policeman - a Persian adaptation of the story of cops and robbers. However, after having finished the film for the most part, he gave up the direction due to interference from the producer. In the same year, the British director Terence Young shot some scenes of the film Poppy is also a Flower in Iran. He engaged Karimi as make-up artist for his lead Yul Bryner and other actors.
From 1971 to 1973, Nosrat Karimi made three feature films: The Carriage Driver, The Solution and A Bed for Three where he not only acted as director, but also wrote the film scripts and played the title roles.
The Carriage Driver was a great success and went down well with the critics. This movie was chosen as the Iranian contribution for international film festivals. However, film authorities banned it from being shown abroad. Only years later could the film be performed in European cinemas. The internationally acclaimed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami is an internationally acclaimed Iranian film director, screenwriter, photographer and film producer. An active filmmaker since 1970, Kiarostami has been involved in over forty films, including shorts and documentaries...
, honoured with The Golden Palm of Cannes 1997 and numerous other international motion picture awards, praised the film as an important work of the Iranian Cinema.
Karimi’s fame and great success resulted in attractive offers from many producers. Thus in the 1970s he played in a number of commercial films that were directed by others. He also played a supporting role in a Japanese-Iranian co-production. In 1975, the director and actor made his fourth and last movie The Miserable One. Again, he wrote the screenplay. The film, a satire about the mounting tensions in the 1970s in Tehran, went down well and received notable reviews.
In 1976, Karimi played one of the main characters of the TV series My Uncle Napoleon
My Uncle Napoleon
My Uncle Napoleon is a coming of age novel by Iranian author Iraj Pezeshkzad published in Tehran in Persian in 1973. The novel was adapted to a highly successful TV series in 1976 directed by Nasser Taghvai...
. This is regarded as the most successful series ever run on Iranian television. A year later, the artist produced the TV series Khosro Mirsa II. This 16-part series was a grotesque comedy about an aristocratic family descended from the Qajar dynasty
Qajar dynasty
The Qajar dynasty was an Iranian royal family of Turkic descent who ruled Persia from 1785 to 1925....
. He then wrote another film script and was preparing his next movie, but for the time being film production was stopped during the Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
.
After the Revolution
After the Iranian RevolutionIranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
Karimi was banned, for a long period, from working as a filmmaker or actor. during that time, he rediscovered his former interest for making sculptures. He made many mimic-sculptures which were shown in numerous national and international exhibitions. In addition, Karimi wrote a number of screenplays for movie and TV productions; a few of them were commercialized under the name of others and others have not been realized until this day.
Not until 1987, was Karimi allowed to perform a puppet piece again – The Uninvited Visitor. Then, he made the animated cartoon Playmate. In 1996/97, he produced for a private channel the puppet show Unruly, a TV series that has been re-run repeatedly at the request of the spectators. His other works in the post-revolutionary era include the production and direction of a series of short TV films about pollution control and health care, as well as books about theatre and cinema.
Nosrat Karimi currently lives with his wife Parvin Teymouri in the north of Tehran.