Zia Mohyeddin
Encyclopedia
Zia Mohyeddin is a Pakistani actor famed for his voice.
He was born in Faisalabad
, (formerly Lyallpur), British India in a Urdu Speaking Family. He passed his early life in Karachi. He was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London
from 1953-1956. After stage roles in Long Day's Journey Into Night
and Julius Caesar
, he made his West End
debut in A Passage to India
in 1960. He made his film debut in Lawrence of Arabia
in 1963, playing the role of Tafas (the Arab guide who is shot by Omar Sharif
for drinking water from the wrong well). He then made numerous TV and film appearances, and starred as Dr Aziz in the 1965 BBC
television version of A Passage to India
.
He returned to Pakistan in the late 1960s. There he founded and ran the PIA Arts and Dance Academy, and hosted his own TV talk show. Around this time he met and subsequently (in 1973) married the classical dancer Naheed Siddiqui. However after difficulties with the regime Mohyeddin returned to England in the late 1970s, shortly followed by his wife. During the 1980s Zia worked in Birmingham, Great Britain, where he produced Central Television's flagship multicultural programme Here and Now.
He resumed his acting career in Europe, appearing in small roles in various films and television programs. He has since traveled the world giving Urdu poetry and prose recitations. In the late 1990s, Zia remarried, and had a daughter with his wife, Azra. In February 2005 President Pervez Musharraf
invited Mohyeddin to act as Chairman of the new National Academy of Performing Arts
in Karachi
.
To this date, despite his growing age, Zia is still active among Pakistani media as a speaker and hosts several TV programs both for National and Private Channels. He is also involved in narrating some abstract short films and commercials
He was born in Faisalabad
Faisalabad
Faisalabad , formerly known as Lyallpur, is the third largest metropolis in Pakistan, the second largest in the province of Punjab after Lahore, and a major industrial center in the heart of Pakistan. Before the foundation of the city in 1880, the area was very thinly populated. The population has...
, (formerly Lyallpur), British India in a Urdu Speaking Family. He passed his early life in Karachi. He was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
from 1953-1956. After stage roles in Long Day's Journey Into Night
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Long Day's Journey Into Night is a 1956 drama in four acts written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play is widely considered to be his masterwork...
and Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar (play)
The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...
, he made his West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
debut in A Passage to India
A Passage to India
A Passage to India is a novel by E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Time...
in 1960. He made his film debut in Lawrence of Arabia
Lawrence of Arabia (film)
Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through his British company, Horizon Pictures, with the screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the title role. It is widely...
in 1963, playing the role of Tafas (the Arab guide who is shot by Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
for drinking water from the wrong well). He then made numerous TV and film appearances, and starred as Dr Aziz in the 1965 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television version of A Passage to India
A Passage to India
A Passage to India is a novel by E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of English literature by the Modern Library and won the 1924 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Time...
.
He returned to Pakistan in the late 1960s. There he founded and ran the PIA Arts and Dance Academy, and hosted his own TV talk show. Around this time he met and subsequently (in 1973) married the classical dancer Naheed Siddiqui. However after difficulties with the regime Mohyeddin returned to England in the late 1970s, shortly followed by his wife. During the 1980s Zia worked in Birmingham, Great Britain, where he produced Central Television's flagship multicultural programme Here and Now.
He resumed his acting career in Europe, appearing in small roles in various films and television programs. He has since traveled the world giving Urdu poetry and prose recitations. In the late 1990s, Zia remarried, and had a daughter with his wife, Azra. In February 2005 President Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf
Pervez Musharraf , is a retired four-star general who served as the 13th Chief of Army Staff and tenth President of Pakistan as well as tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. Musharraf headed and led an administrative military government from October 1999 till August 2007. He ruled...
invited Mohyeddin to act as Chairman of the new National Academy of Performing Arts
National Academy of Performing Arts
The National Academy of Performing Arts is located in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.NAPA was established as an institution to conserve and teach performing arts and music to students in Pakistan.- NAPA :...
in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
.
To this date, despite his growing age, Zia is still active among Pakistani media as a speaker and hosts several TV programs both for National and Private Channels. He is also involved in narrating some abstract short films and commercials
Selected films
- The Assam GardenThe Assam GardenThe Assam Garden is a 1985 British drama film made by Moving Picture Company and distributed by Contemporary Films Ltd. The film was directed by Mary McMurray and produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark with Peter Jaques as associate producer. It was written by Elisabeth Bond...
(1985) - Ashanti (1979)
- Bombay TalkieBombay TalkieBombay Talkie is a film by Merchant Ivory Productions, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala and James Ivory. Bombay Talkies was a film studio that made films in the early part of the Hindi film industry.-Plot:...
(1970) - Work Is a Four-Letter WordWork Is a Four-Letter Word-External links:*...
(1968) - They Came from Beyond SpaceThey Came From Beyond SpaceThey Came From Beyond Space is a 1967 British science fiction film directed by Freddie Francis, written by Milton Subotsky and based on the book The Gods Hate Kansas by Joseph Millard. It was produced by Amicus Productions.- Plot summary :...
(1967) - KhartoumKhartoum (film)Khartoum is a 1966 film written by Robert Ardrey and directed by Basil Dearden. It stars Charlton Heston as General Gordon and Laurence Olivier as the Mahdi and is based on Gordon's defence of the Sudanese city of Khartoum from the forces of the Mahdist army during the Siege of Khartoum.Khartoum...
(1966) - Deadlier Than the MaleDeadlier Than the MaleDeadlier Than the Male is a 1967 British action film featuring the character of Bulldog Drummond. It is one of the many take-offs of James Bond produced during the 1960s but based on an established detective fiction hero...
(1966) - Behold a Pale HorseBehold a Pale Horse (film)Behold a Pale Horse is a 1964 film directed by Fred Zinnemann, and starring Gregory Peck, Omar Sharif and Anthony Quinn. The film is based on the novel Killing a Mouse on Sunday by Emeric Pressburger, which loosely details the life of the Spanish anarchist guerrilla, Francisco Sabaté Llopart. The...
(1964) - Sammy Going South (1963)
- Lawrence of ArabiaLawrence of Arabia (film)Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 British film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence. It was directed by David Lean and produced by Sam Spiegel through his British company, Horizon Pictures, with the screenplay by Robert Bolt and Michael Wilson. The film stars Peter O'Toole in the title role. It is widely...
(1962) - Dhun Hamari Tumharay Naam Hui (1999)
Selected TV
- Family PrideFamily Pride (TV series)Family Pride was a short lived 1990s British soap opera produced by Central Television which ran for two series in 1991 and 1992. It was written by Mahmood Jamal and Barry Simmer and centred around the lives of three Asian families living in Birmingham...
(1991–92) - BergeracBergerac (TV series)Bergerac was a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the Seven Network, and screened on BBC1, it starred John Nettles as the title character Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac, a detective in "Le Bureau des Étrangers" Bergerac was a British television show...
(1984) - The Jewel in the Crown (1984)
- MinderMinder (TV series)Minder is a British comedy-drama about the London criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television and shown on ITV...
(1980) - Death of a PrincessDeath of a PrincessDeath of a Princess is a British 1980 drama-documentary, produced by ATV, produced in cooperation with WGBH in the United States. The drama, be based on the true story of Princess Masha'il, or Mish'al is the story of a young princess from Saudi Arabia Islamic nation and her lover who had been...
(1980) - GangstersGangsters (TV series)Gangsters is a British television series made by the BBC and shown from 1975 to 1978.Created by Philip Martin, and produced at the BBC's Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham by David Rose, Gangsters began televisual life as an edition of Play for Today in 1975, followed by two series transmitted in...
(1978) - Z-CarsZ-CarsZ-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
(1978) - HadleighHadleigh (TV series)Hadleigh was a British television series made by Yorkshire Television which originally ran from 1969 to 1976. Developed by Robert Barr, it was a sequel to the writer's earlier Gazette for the same company...
(1969) - The ChampionsThe ChampionsThe Champions is a British espionage/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure series consisting of 30 episodes broadcast on the UK network ITV during 1968–1969, produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company...
(1969) - Man in a SuitcaseMan in a SuitcaseMan in a Suitcase is a 1967 television series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.-Origins and overview:Man in a Suitcase was effectively a replacement for Danger Man, whose production had been curtailed when its star Patrick McGoohan had decided to create his own series, The Prisoner...
(1968) - JackanoryJackanoryJackanory is a long-running BBC children's television series that was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first transmitted on 13 December 1965, the first story being the fairy-tale Cap o' Rushes read by Lee Montague. Jackanory continued to be broadcast until 24 March 1996,...
(1967) - Adam Adamant Lives!Adam Adamant Lives!Adam Adamant Lives! is a British television series which ran from 1966 to 1967 on the BBC. Proposing that an adventurer born in 1867 had been revived from hibernation in 1966, the show was a comedy adventure that took a satirical look at life in the 1960s through the eyes of an Edwardian .- Character...
(1967) - The AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
(1966) - Danger ManDanger ManDanger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
(1966) - The Adventures of Sir Francis Drake (7 Jan 1962 episode "Visit to Spain").