Irene Zazians

Irene Zazians (Armenian: Իրեն Զազյանց; Persian: ایرن زازیانس‎‎; August 20, 1927 — July 28, 2012), best known as Iren in Iran, was an Iranian-Armenian actress. She cooperated with some famous Iranian new wave directors in Iran, both before and after 1979 revolution such as Samuel Khachikian, Amir Naderi, Nosrat Karimi, Masoud Kimiyayi, and Alireza Davood Nejad. Her two films after the revolution were banned, The Red Line directed by Kimiyayi and The Reward by Davood Nejad.
She also appeared in four TV series. She portrayed Mahde Olya (Nasereddin Shah's Mother) in Soltan-e Sahebgheran directed by Ali Hatami in 1976. Her role in Hezar Dastan, another TV series directed by Ali Hatami was cut outAfter the Iranian revolution she was banned from taking part in any artistic activities. She travelled to Germany, where she re-trained as a beautician. She returned to Iran in 1986, during the harshest time of the Iran-Iraq war. Her last performance in cinema was in Shirin in 2008, a film by Abbas Kiarostami. She died of lung cancer in 2012 in Tehran, Iran.

Irene was born in an Armenian family who had immigrated to Babolsar, Iran after surviving the Armenian Genocide. Irene's father was Alexander Zazians and her mother's name was Varia. Her father was from Western Armenia, while her mother was from the east. Irene was their fourth child, but all of the first three children died of causes such as disease. She went to "Shahdokht" school in Babolsar. She started acting in "Ferdowsi theater" when she was only 19. In 1951 she joined "Noushin group" in Sa'di theater. She played in Lady Windermere's Fan, a Oscar Wilde play in those days. She married Mohammad Asemi, an actor in Noushin theater when she was only 16.

Irene portrayed Mahd-e Olya, the mother of Nasereddin Shah, the 4th king of Qajar dynasty in the TV series, Soltan-e Sahebgheran directed by Ali Hatami in 1974

After some years in theater she joined cinema industry by acting in films such as "The Man who Suffered" directed by Jafari and "Waiting" by Ataullah Zahed. Her next film was "The Messenger from Heaven" directed by Iranian Armenian director, Samuel Khachikian. Before that Iranian women couldn't act in sexy clothes, but because Irene was of an Armenian family, she didn't have that limitation and she wore a two piece swim suitein "The Messenger from Heaven". The film was on screen for four days, but then was renditioned five times for its taboo scenes. In 1958 Siamak Yasemi invited her to perform in a movie namaed "The Spring of Life". This was Mohammad Ali Fardin's first film either. In the early 1970s she cooperated with many Iranian new wave directors such as Amir Naderi (Goodbye Friend), Masoud Kimiyai (Baluch), Khosrow Haritash (Speeding Naked till High Noon) and Shapoor Gharib (The Rooster). The most artistic role of her was portraying a traditional Muslim woman in "Mohallel" when she was Armenian.

Mohallel

The Islamic term, Mohallel (Nikah Halala), points to a man who should marry a divorced woman, so she could marry her ex-husband again. In other words, Couples cannot remarry until the ex-wife marries another man, to ensure that divorce is not taken lightly.

In 1972, Nosrat Karimi directed "Mohallel". He was not going to use an Armenian actress for the role of a traditional Muslim woman. But after all superstars of Iranian cinema rejected to play the role, He asked Irene to play it. Although her performance was great (She had spent a while in a traditional Iranian household to watch the lifestyle of the so-called family). Some Shia mojtaheds such as Morteza Motahhari wrote bitter criticisms on the film in Kayhan newspaper. Some other critics defended the performance of Irene and she was nominated for Sepas award that year. But the film only remained on screens for three days and was renditioned.

She played in 4 TV series. Soltan-e Sahebgheran, a historical TV series about Nasereddin shah Qajar and Amirkabir and the assassination of them. She portrayed Mahd-e Olya, Shah's mother in the series. Another TV series was "Abunasr's throne" (in Persian" تخت ِ ابونصر), based on a story of Sadegh Hedayat and a screenplay by Ahmad Shamlu. I love you, I love you, directed by Morteza Alavi was another TV series by her. Her last series was Hezar Dastan, also by Ali Hatami which screened after Iranian revolution and her role was totally cut out.

She married twice. Once when she was 16, with Mohammad Asemi, an actor in Noushin group. Asemi was also a poet and a writer and was a member of Tudeh Party of Iran. Their marriage was not stable and they got divorced. From this marriage, Irene was sometimes called Irene Asemi, her ex-husband's family name. After that, she married director and producer, Shahrokh Rafi'. But this marriage also turned into divorce. After the Iranian Revolution Irene was banned from performing as an actress, so she travelled to Germany to live with her sister. She only stayed there for two years and returned to Iran in 1986. During her time in Germany, she had retrained as a beautician and, after coming back to Iran, she also worked as a beautician.

She suffered lung cancer in the last decade of her life. She had three surgeries and was working less, as recommended by her doctors. She died in July 28, 2012 in Tehran. She is buried in the Armenian cemetery in Khavaran road in southeast Tehran.