Between the magic of European art in France and the attractiveness of Egyptian cinema, art kidnapped the young artist Jamil Rateb, the owner of oriental features, and the owner of an artistic career that spanned more than 70 years, and whose 95th birthday August 18 passes, as he was born in 1926.

From aristocrat to bartender

The introversion and extreme shyness that accompanied the personality of Jamil Ratib in his youth did not prevent him from rebelling against the ideas of his aristocratic family, which rejected his work in art, although the seeds of rebellion within him were inherited from that family as well;

His father and uncles participated in the 1919 revolution against the British occupation of Egypt, and his mother - and her origins are from Upper Egypt - her aunt is the feminist activist Hoda Shaarawy.

The young man found himself on the school and university stage, breaking the barrier of extreme shyness and receiving the first actor award at the level of Egyptian and foreign schools in Egypt. Director Togo Mizrahi nominated him at that time to present a scene with the artist Marie Mounib in the movie "The Three Musketeers" in 1941;

However, his family insisted that the scene be deleted.

Jamil Ratib was forced to agree to his family's decision to study politics at the French Law School in Egypt in 1945, and to travel to France to complete his education. Al-Hayat decided to work as a "compare" in some jobs and as a translator if necessary. He also worked as a waiter in a café.

Vegetable market

Jamil Ratib grew up in an aristocratic family that did not allow him to get to know the poor classes closely, but the decision to work as a porter in the vegetable market to save his expenses was one of the lessons that added a state of human wealth to his personality, and helped him in his career, as he was able to diversify in the embodiment of different personalities With the same dexterity.

The presence of Jamil Ratib in France made him mix with the French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and the French historian Pierre Villar. He began his career in Paris by working in small bands, until the artist Suleiman Naguib nominated him for the French band participating in performances at the Egyptian Opera House to be salary among the main artists in the performances. What gave him opportunities to participate in major and major roles in the theater;

He presented performances in Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey, and presented plays in front of a wide and different audience, in addition to his participation in presenting Shakespeare's works on stage.

Absolute championship with a French star

Despite the large spaces and the main roles he obtained in the theater, he continued to participate in small roles in the cinema, until he had the opportunity to present a main character in the movie "Trapeze" in 1956, and in the same year was his first absolute starring in an Egyptian movie starring a star. French, Claude Godard (I am the East), and the director of the film dubbing her voice in Arabic.

After that, Jamil Ratib participated in international films, including "Lawrence of Arabia". He also participated in the voice performance in the movie "Omar Mukhtar" for the character of the Italian officer Tomelli, and the French movie "To Commit a Murder".

world of piano

Jamil Rateb's preoccupation with cinema and theater in France made him absent from Egypt since the forties, to return in 1974 to follow up on some family matters, where he decided to stay in Egypt for 6 months that changed his life when the theater director and artist Karam Mutawa offered him a major role in the play "Donia Al-Bianola", After that, Ratib was nominated to present a TV movie about the life of Kamel Al-Khelaei from his childhood to his death, the figure who opened the doors of television and cinema in Egypt for him.

Far from Karnak

Jamil Ratib did not decide to leave France and settle in Egypt, but the offers that flooded him after his participation in theater and television made him nominated to play an important role in the movie “Al-Karnak”, after his friend at this time, poet Salah Jahin, persuaded him, but days before the start of work he was surprised by his exclusion and exclusion. Ahmed Zaki, to be replaced by Nour El-Sharif and Kamal El-Shennawy, to be nominated to work in the movie "Al-Lidab" with the great director Salah Abu Seif.

The Good, the Bad, and the Khawaja

The different human dimensions that bear good and evil were the focus of the various personalities that Jamil Ratib succeeded in presenting. His career came with very diverse and different roles; He is the authoritarian, "Nabil Bey Al-Arboutli" in the movie "The Beginning" with Salah Abu Seif, "The Pomegranate Excess" in "Farewell, Bonaparte" with director Youssef Chahine, and he is the "Baz Bey" drug dealer in "Al-Kif", and the retired ambassador "Mofeed Abu" The Laurel, which fights distortion and corruption in the series "The White Flag", and "Lutfi Bey" in "Sunbul after the Million" and "Abu al-Fadl" in "Yawmiyat Wanis" and "Al-Khawaja" in "Zizinia".

He also participated in "Shafiqa and Metwally", "The Innocent", "The Conscience of Abla Hekmat", "Dreams of the Flying Boy", "Tour of Darkness" and other important works.

The presence of Jamil Ratib in Egypt was in place of important actors in the history of cinema, such as Mahmoud El-Meligy and Zaki Rostom.

Maghreb cinema

Gamil Ratib’s stability in Egypt did not prevent him from participating in international films again;

He participated in the Moroccan film "Kesh Malek", which he co-starred with Sherihan, the Tunisian film "Sheeshkhan", and the Moroccan film "The Summer of Farid Shaq".

Actor in a wheelchair

Preoccupation with art made Jamil Ratib refuse to have children with his wife, the French artist Monica Monteverde, who retired from acting after marriage and devote herself to working as a production manager, then an executive producer, then a director of the Champs-Elysees theater.

Although he separated from her years later, he refused to marry again, and remained in good relations with her.

Advanced age made Jamil Rateb unable to walk well, so he used a wheelchair, and said in an interview on one of the satellite channels that he also no longer hears well and that his health was affected, but Jamil Ratib remained for the last moment participating in works of art, a few months before his death a guest appeared Sharaf is in the series "Family Size" while he is in a wheelchair.

He died on September 19, 2018, at the age of 92, and he had recommended his burial in Egypt, as recommended by those close to him, to fulfill his wish.

Despite his will that only a funeral be held for him, and that no funeral be held, the Representative Professions Syndicate held a funeral for him, which was attended by a small number of the artistic community, including Ashraf Zaki, the captain of the actors.