The owner of happiness and the king of comedy, who among us can forget the Trio of Stage Lights, Fattouta, the character Masoudi in the play “The Married,” and the star of Ramadan quizzes in the nineties? Throughout his extensive artistic career, he presented more than 250 works since 1963. He possessed a unique comedic style that set him apart from his generation. He is the comedic actor Samir Ghanem.
Born in 1937 in Arab Al-Atoola, Assiut Governorate, an icon of Egyptian comedy emerged, although it was not planned for him to be an actor. He started his career by joining the Police Academy, following in the footsteps of his father, who was a police officer. However, due to failing two consecutive years, Ghanem was expelled and turned toward art, enrolling in the Faculty of Agriculture at Alexandria University and joining the university's artistic groups.
His active years began in 1963 when he participated with both Al-Daif Ahmed and George Sidhom in the theatrical troupe known as the Trio of Stage Lights. Ghanem’s stardom significantly shone after presenting the play “The Angels’ Cooking,” directed by the late Hassan Abdelsalam in 1964. Together, the trio performed several films and sketches, including the sketch “Kotomoto” and numerous plays such as "What Happened in Azbet El Ward", "The Man Who Married His Wife", and "Hawadit."
But Ghanem separated from them in the early seventies after the troupe disbanded following Al-Daif Ahmed's death in 1970. In 1982, Ghanem’s brother and manager, Sid Ghanem, passed away, plunging Samir into a period of depression and leading him to change his work style, which resulted in a professional split between Ghanem and George Sidhom.
In 1983, Samir had a date with a new style by collaborating with director Fahmy Abdelhamid to launch the first episodes of the Fattouta quizzes named “Fattouta and the Movies,” which met with tremendous success, encouraging them to recreate the experience in “Fattouta and the Characters” in 1986. In the nineties, he presented the “Married” quizzes in 1992, the “Funny People” quizzes in 1993, and the “Song Enthusiasts” quizzes in 1994.
Samir presented many theatrical works deeply etched in the memory of the Egyptian audience, exceeding thirty works, such as the play “The Married” in 1976, “Hello Doctor” in 1981, and “Do Re Mi Fasolia” in 2001. Among his most famous films are “4-2-4”, “Men Are in Danger,” his brilliant participation in “Oh Lord, a Boy,” and "You Bring It Like This, It Comes Like This, That’s How It Is."
His personal life is rich in details; in 1984, Samir Ghanem married actress Dalal Abdelaziz, and they had two daughters, Donya and Amal (known as Amy Samir Ghanem). His last works were in 2019, "Bedil El Hadouta Talata" and "Super Miro." His last appearance on screen was in a commercial for a telecommunications company during Ramadan 2021.
On April 30, 2021, it was announced that Samir Ghanem and his wife were transferred to the hospital, where he passed away on May 20, 2021, leaving behind an artistic legacy filled with comedic works.
