Adel Emam

Adel Imam (sometimes credited as: Adel Emam), (Egyptian Arabic: عادل إمام‎‎), born May 17, 1940 in Shaha (شها) near El Mansoura (المنصورة), is a popular Egyptian movie and stage actor. He is primarily a comedian, but he has starred in more serious works and, especially in his earlier films, has combined comedy with romance.

Emam earned a bachelor's degree in Agriculture from Cairo University. Since then he has appeared in over 100 movies and 10 plays. He is one of the most famous actors in Egypt, and has received critical and popular praise throughout his career. Emam's roles have displayed a wide range of humour including slapstick, farce, and even the occasional double entendre. His character archetype is an individual down on his luck who rises above powerful outside pressures.

In January 2000, the United Nations appointed Emam as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR. Since then, he has worked tirelessly for the cause of refugees.

He is an important figure in Egypt and the Arabic-speaking countries largely because of the political roles he took on in many of his films and plays. These roles, whether he intended it or not, often put him in a critical position vis-à-vis the president or the government. He has been cast several times by the producer Emad Adeeb in movies like Morgan Ahmed Morgan and Hassan and Marcus.

In 2005, he starred in El-Sefara fi El-Omara (The Embassy Is In The Building), playing a Cairene everyman inconvenienced when the Embassy of Israel moves into his apartment building. In 2006, Emam appeared as one of the many stars of The Yacoubian Building, a film reputed to be the highest-budgeted in Egyptian cinema and adapted from the novel of the same name. The story is a sharp look at contemporary Egyptian life through the prism of a faded downtown Cairo apartment building. Emam portrays an aging roué whose misadventures form a central strand of the film's complex narrative.

Adel Emam is married and has three children: the young director Rami Imam, Sarah Emam, and Mohamed Imam, who also starred in the movie The Yacoubian Building as Taha ElShazli. He is the brother of Esam Imam and Iman Imam. His brother-in-law is the late actor Mustafa Metwalli.

Adel Emam stated on a talk show hosted by Hala Sarhan that Amin Shalaby and the late Younes Shalaby as well as Saeed Saleh were his best friends since university.

In February 2012, Emam was sentenced (in absentia) to three months in jail for offending Islam. Imam said he would appeal the sentence. On September 12, 2012, Emam won his appeal when a Cairo misdemeanours court cleared him of defaming Islam in his films.

Selected Filmography

Adel Imam 2009

• Ana Wa Howa Wa Heya (1964)
• Al-Nassabeen (1966)
• Dhat Al-Bijama Al-Hamraa (1967)
• Ana Feen W Enti Feen (1970)
• Madrast Al-Mushaghebeen (1973)
• Gharameyat Afifi (1975)
• Shahed Ma Shafsh Haga (1975)
• Al-Wad Sayed Al-Shaghal (1984)
• Al-Zaeem (1993)
• Body Guard (1999)
• Ramy Gabriel Asad el osood (1984)