Youssef Wahbi

Youssef Wahbi — Biography

Youssef Wahbi (born Youssef Abdallah Wahbi Qotb) was an Egyptian stage and film actor, director, and writer, born on 14 July 1898 in the Faiyum region of Egypt and died on 17 October 1982 in Cairo. Although he was raised as the son of a senior government official, he set aside his family's comfortable life and moved to Rome in 1919 to study theatre, where he married Italian actress Elena Lunda.

Regarded as one of the pioneers of stage arts in Egypt and the wider Arab world, Wahbi became one of the most recognized names of his era in both theatre and cinema during the 1930s and 1940s. His film career began with the 1932 production Awlad al-Zawat (Sons of Aristocrats) and, spanning roughly fifty films, closed with Alexandria... Why? in 1978. He also worked as a director and screenwriter.

Wahbi served on the jury of the Cannes Film Festival in 1946 and is remembered as one of the most important Egyptian stage actors of all time.