“The Naughty” Saeed Saleh .. A political comedy that closed the doors of prison on his talent

Cairo -

Said Saleh was one of the most prominent comedy stars in Egypt for decades, but his "riot" attitudes against the ruling regime and his inclinations for the benefit of citizens - which he translated with political projections on stage - put him in the trench of the wrath of them.

He is the late Egyptian artist Said Saleh, whose birthday and death anniversary are successive (July 31, 1940 and August 1, 2014). During his career, he participated in dozens of cinematic and theatrical works, and was one of the pioneers of Egyptian art during its history.

Critics and fans were expecting a brilliant success for the late artist, but his artistic and social life was full of situations and crises, as he was imprisoned 3 times;

For political and other reasons he had denied it;

It is drug use, in addition to his threat to kidnap his only daughter because of a play in which he presented criticism of Israel.

Saeed Saleh formed a duo with his old friend, Adel Imam, in many theatrical and cinematic works, the most prominent of which was the play “The School of Rioters” in cooperation with Ahmed Zaki, Younis Shalaby and others, and the films “The Suspect” and “Ragab on a Hot Tin”, as he was a guest of honor in the works of the leader. (Adel Emam);

Including "Prince of Darkness" and "Alzheimer".

He was a comprehensive artist and presented many works as a first hero or in supporting roles, and participated in more than 500 films, including "My Dear We Are All Thieves", "Sonia and the Majnun", "The Bullet is Still in My Pocket", and dozens of television works, including series "The Fall in Beersheba", "Al-Masrawiya" and "I am Al-Quds", in addition to radio works such as "Said Saleh Ghawi problems" and "Al-Barari and Al-Hamoul".

Despite his cinematic success;

Saleh usually used to say that he was "the first theater boy", as he performed more than 300 plays, including "Kabulun", "Our Children in London", and "A game called money".

Born to act

Saleh was born in one of the villages of Menoufia (one of the governorates of the Egyptian Delta), and did not study acting academically, like many of his peers, but rather practiced it as a hobby, and at the beginning of his 20 spring he completed his university studies to obtain a Bachelor of Arts in 1960.

His starting point was on stage, when the artist Hassan Youssef presented him with the play "Hello Shalaby", while the play "The School of Rioters" represented the real beginning of the explosion of the talent of Saleh and his companion, Adel Imam, where he was shown for 6 years on stage, then he presented the play "The Children Have Grown Up" And the two theatrical works testify to their success, audiences and critics.

In his book “The Laughers,” Mahmoud Al-Saadani, a journalist and writer, describes Saeed Saleh as “capable of making bricks laugh with a movement, a gesture, or a gesture from his little finger.. He is an actor because he was created to professionalize this profession, and he shares with Ali al-Kassar an important advantage in that he does not depend acting, but he moves on the stage as he moves in the street and talks among a group of close friends."

And about the late artist, Al-Saadani adds, “The idiot boy with an open heart, who is heedless of sweet and cheerful for everything that happens in life of joys, sorrows, black misfortunes, and tumultuous afflictions. ".

Israeli threat

In a television interview, Saeed Saleh spoke of threats he received to kidnap his only daughter, Hind;

If he does not remove a song criticizing former Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin from the performance of the play "Sweet Words" in America.

Saleh says that the play stopped showing because of a poem written by the poet Ahmed Fouad Negm attacking Begin and criticizing him for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, noting that the audience during one of the play's performances was very fanatic about the Palestinian cause, and refused that Israel be a friendly country.

political projections

Saleh was very famous for deviating from the text in his theatrical works, and he was always mocking the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak, which caused his artistic delay, unlike Adel Imam and others, which made the regime wait for opportunities to punish him.

The feud between the late artist and the censorship authority for artistic works began in 1981, when he presented the play “A game called money”, where he said, “My mother married 3, the first we ate meat, the second taught us to cheat, and the third neither blush nor dent,” where he meant the former presidents of Egypt. ;

Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar Sadat and Hosni Mubarak, respectively.

Some linked the reason for Saleh entering prison - for the first time - with this sentence, which was referred to by the late artist in the play "Kaablon", where he replied to one of the audience jokingly, "You are the owner of you?! The text and imprisoned again, or what.”

However, the scriptwriter and journalist Bilal Fadl made it clear - on the program "The Gifted in the Land" - that the Mubarak regime did not interfere from near or far in the imprisonment of Saleh.

Fadl said that the first imprisonment of Saeed Saleh had nothing to do with deviating from the text, as some spoke, but his bad luck made him mock a sleeping person during the play "The Bogeyman" and stopped the play to blame him, and he did not imagine that the days would turn and this person would become the judge who judges him. What the late artist confirmed on more than one occasion.

execution room

The case of Saeed Saleh turned into a public opinion case, before a ruling was issued to release him on bail after 17 days in prison, and the most difficult thing he faced in detention was waking up early, and the presence of his cell next to the execution room, according to Bilal Fadl, who confirmed that the incident of Saleh’s imprisonment was “the first time.” An artist is being held in pretrial detention, pending investigation, for deviating from the script.

Saleh often considered his departure from the text and its political projections as an "artistic creation", saying, "I was happy when I entered prison and it was one of the most beautiful days of my life, and I did not regret my criticism of the Mubarak regime and I meant that, even if I was in prison."

Contrary to this time, he was imprisoned twice in 1991 (he was released for lack of evidence) and 1996 on charges of smoking hashish, and in the second he was sentenced to one year in prison and the sentence was executed.

Regarding that experience, Saleh said, "The first time (from imprisonment) I was frozen and kept in prison (permanent imprisonment), but I was sure of the integrity of the Egyptian judiciary," while stressing that he was innocent of drug use and that the regime stalked him because of "the length of his tongue."

In one of his television interviews, Saleh said, "The prison period was a turning point in my life, and the first time I prayed, fasted and memorized the Qur'an was in prison, and I performed Hajj 14 times continuously, and my father was an Azharite and he wanted my self-prayer, but I was running away from him."

revolutionary troublemaker

The late artist’s theatrical work was not devoid of songs, including those of a revolutionary nature, and he dreamed of achieving more fame in singing than in acting.

Press reports indicate that Saeed Saleh sought membership in the Musicians Syndicate, but musician Helmy Bakr refused (in the Voices Test Committee) to authorize his voice or melodies, and Bakr - in previous statements - attributed the reason to the fact that most of Saleh's melodies were from heritage and folklore, despite their cooperation. in a number of businesses.

Among his most famous songs on stage is the song "Forbidden to Travel", in which he narrates, through the words of poet Ahmed Fouad Negm, the list of prohibitions imposed by the regime on Egyptians.

He also presented the song "The Revolution", the words of which say, "When the heart remains honest and the son of a revolution, and the wounds of the heart are like the red sun, all the light of the world gathers in a look, you will live and you will sing, my children."

While the late artist talked about the revolution in his theatrical songs, he was one of the most prominent supporters of the revolution of January 25, 2011, and he said - in a press interview at the time - "I am with the revolution, wholeheartedly (..) Corruption for 30 years (Mubarak's rule) was to the knees. And I was one of the victims of the previous regime because I was imprisoned during his reign."

Long before his death due to illness, Saleh moved away from the world of art, before leaving our world in early August 2014 at the age of 74.