Mohammad Ali Keshavarz’s Life Office Closed
The actor of the series Hazaardestan and Uncle Napoleon and one of the legends of Iranian cinema history passed away at the age of 90. He, who had a 60-year history on the stage, initially studied medicine. Keshavarz’s cause of death was reported as a kidney complication.
Mohammad Ali Keshavarz was born in Farvardin 1309 in Isfahan and died in Khordad 1399 in Tehran. After abandoning his medical studies at the University of Tehran, he studied at the School of Performing Arts and the Faculty of Dramatic Arts. In 1339, in his first theater experience, he acted in the play “Suicide” directed by Ali Nassirian.
Keshavarz performed in various genres, and art critics described his acting as realistic, unexaggerated, and introspective. He collaborated with stylistic and pioneering filmmakers such as Farrokh Ghaffari (Night of the Genie), Ebrahim Golestan (Brick and Mirror), Bahram Beyza’i (Downpour), Nasser Taghvai (Sadegh Kordeh), Ali Hatami (Lovers), Dariush Mehrjui (Mr. Halo), Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Nasserdin Shah, the Actor of Cinema), and Abbas Kiarostami (Under the Olive Tree).
Older television viewers knew him in the role of “Shaban Skeletal” in the series Hazaardestan and “Uncle Colonel” in the series Uncle Napoleon, and the newer generation knew him in the guise of “Asdollah Khan” in the series “Paderssalar”.
Keshavarz, alongside Ezzatollah Entezami, Jamshid Mashayekhi, Ali Nassirian, and Davoud Rashidi, is considered one of the five legendary men of Iranian cinema; five men who were on the theater stage from the 1340s solar calendar and later came to television and cinema.
During several decades of cinema activity, Mohammad Ali Keshavarz was nominated for the Simorgh Crystal Award only once for acting in the film “Mother”, which was won by Khosrow Shakibai for his performance in the film “Hamoun”.
In this regard, he told the news agency “ISNA”: “The greatest award I received was from a young boy who had a grape cart. When he saw me, he came to me and said I have nothing to give you except to tell you my feelings and gave me a bunch of grapes as a gift, which was the greatest award I received in my life, and in fact, people are the best judges who give extraordinary critiques in the streets and alleys.”
Keshavarz mentioned in this interview that when he went to the dissection hall after being accepted to the medical field, he realized that medicine did not suit his spirit and withdrew.
Keshavarz was a well-read and cultured artist and, as long as his health permitted, he attended music concerts and art exhibitions. His only daughter lives in Belgium and is a university professor in the field of painting.
Mohammad Ali Keshavarz’s cause of death was reported as kidney failure and pneumonia. He had been hospitalized at Atiyeh Hospital in Tehran since early Khordad.
Mohammad Tabatabai, the CEO of the Institution of Veteran Artists, said: “Given the corona issues, we really don’t know what to do for the funeral ceremony. We are currently planning and after speaking with his daughter and relatives, we will inform the matter.”
Source: DW
