Omid Djalili (; born 30 September 1965) is a British comedian, actor, and writer.
Early life and education
Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in
St Mary Abbots Hospital in
Kensington, London, to
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
ian
Baháʼí parents Ahmad and Parvaneh Djalili. His parents emigrated from
Tehran
Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...
to London in 1958. He has a brother and sister. His mother was a
dressmaker who at one point assisted Iranian singer
Googoosh. His father was a liaison officer at the Iranian embassy in which he would provide medical assistance. He was also a photographer whose pictures ended up in the newspaper ''
Kayhan''.
He attended
Holland Park School where he failed
A-level exams a record six times
and faked his results to gain entry to
Ulster University in
Coleraine
Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
, studying
English and
theatre studies having been turned down by 16 drama schools.
Djalili cited
Jack Lemmon,
Dustin Hoffman
Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor. As one of the key actors in the formation of New Hollywood, Hoffman is known for Dustin Hoffman filmography, his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable charac ...
,
Meryl Streep,
Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor, director, and film producer. He is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of List of awards and ...
,
Christopher Walken and
Julia Roberts as influences.
Comedy career
The first significant success of his stand-up comedy career was at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with "Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner's Son", followed by "The Arab and the Jew" with
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
comedian
Ivor Dembina in 1996.
Djalili has performed in numerous countries, including
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, where he had his own
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
Special.
Djalili took part in a show for
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
after the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
On 26 December 2004, at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7), a major earthquake with a magnitude of 9.2–9.3 struck with an epicentre off the west coast of Aceh in northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The undersea megathrust earthquake, known in the sci ...
and also in 2005 he appeared on the British TV show ''
Top Gear'' as a celebrity driver. The same year he broke Edinburgh Festival box office records with over 16,500 ticket sales.
In 2006,
Sky Television chose him to be the face of their Saturday night film premières, and he also announced a new tour of the UK called 'No Agenda', from January 2007 until March 2007, covering 23 different dates. The ''No Agenda'' tour DVD was released in late 2007.
On 26 October 2007, he guest-presented the BBC political quiz show ''
Have I Got News for You''. ''
The Omid Djalili Show'' started on
BBC1
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
on 17 November 2007. The series was a mix of sketches and stand-up material. A second series was recorded in late 2008 and broadcast on BBC 1 on 20 April 2009. He performed on ''We Are Most Amused'' on
ITV1
ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...
to mark
Prince Charles
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
's 60th birthday in 2008 and on ''We Are Most Amused and Amazed'' to mark his 70th birthday in 2018.
In 2023, Djalili was due to appear in the ''Omid Djalili and Friends'' show in
Market Drayton
Market Drayton is a market town and civil parish on the banks of the River Tern in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is close to the Cheshire and Staffordshire borders. It is located between the towns of Whitchurch, Shropshire, Wh ...
at the Festival Drayton Centre. Djalili did not appear in the tour due to threats against Djalili relating to the
Gaza war
The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
.
Acting career
Djalili has appeared in a number of films, most notably ''
Gladiator
A gladiator ( , ) was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their ...
'', ''
The Mummy'', ''
Mean Machine'', ''
The World Is Not Enough
''The World Is Not Enough'' is a 1999 spy film, the nineteenth in the List of James Bond films, ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions and the third to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional Secret Intelligence Service, MI6 agent Jam ...
'', ''
Alien Autopsy'', ''
Spy Game'', ''
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', ''
Grow Your Own'', ''
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...
'', ''
Mr Nice'', ''
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End'', ''
Sex and the City 2'' and provides his voice in ''
Over the Hedge''.
He has observed that he usually appears as a generic Middle Eastern background character in many of these films, often commenting that he appears in the
James Bond film as the "Second Azerbaijani oil pipe attendant". He appeared as Nasim in 22 episodes of the U.S.
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
Whoopi'', starring
Whoopi Goldberg, and picked up an international film award for Best Supporting Actor in ''
Casanova'', starring alongside
Heath Ledger
Heath Andrew Ledger (4 April 1979 – 22 January 2008) was an Australian actor. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, he moved to the United States in 1998 to further develop his film care ...
and
Jeremy Irons.
On 12 February 2009, producer
Cameron Mackintosh announced that Djalili would appear as the second
Fagin in the new
West End production of ''
Oliver! '' at the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. Omid took over from
Rowan Atkinson, who had been contracted until 18 July 2009.
In 2009, Djalili became the voice of Yusuf Amir in the popular gaming series ''
Grand Theft Auto
''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is prima ...
''. He took up the role in the ''
Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony'' spin-off game. In 2010, he starred in the
David Baddiel-scripted film ''
The Infidel''.
In 2017, Djalili appeared in an acclaimed performance of ''
Fiddler on the Roof
''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...
'' at the
Chichester Festival Theatre.
In 2023, Djalili reprised his role as the voice of Yusuf Amir in the fifth installment of the popular gaming series ''
Grand Theft Auto
''Grand Theft Auto'' (''GTA'') is an action-adventure video game series created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is prima ...
''. He reprised the role as part of the ''
Grand Theft Auto Online'' DLC, ''The Chop Shop''.
Other activities
In 2008, he was an official festival judge for the
Noor Iranian Film Festival. In June 2010, Djalili appeared in a
Meltdown Festival concert given by the
Philharmonia Orchestra
The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI Classics, EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Rich ...
at London's
Queen Elizabeth Hall
The Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) is a music venue on the South Bank in London, England, that hosts European classical music, classical, jazz, and avant-garde music, talks and dance performances. It was opened in 1967, with a concert conducted by ...
, performing the part of the narrator in 'Rubaiyat', a
tone poem
A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of orchestral music, usually in a single continuous movement (music), movement, which illustrates or evokes the content of a poem, short story, novel, painting, landscape, or other (non-musical) source. T ...
by American classical composer
Alan Hovhaness which sets the words of
Omar Khayyám to music.
In February 2022 he shot two pilots of a
chat show called ''Tonight With Omid'' for the BBC, one version in
Persian (for
BBC Persian
BBC Persian () is the Persian language broadcast station and subsidiary of BBC World Service which conveys the latest political, social, economical and sport news relevant to Iran and the world. Its headquarters are in London, United Kingdom.
Pe ...
) and another in English.
In August 2023, Djalili appeared on
ITV's ''
Kate Garraway's Life Stories'' series 22, episode 3.
Awards
Djalili has won awards for his comedy. These include the EMMA Award, ''
Time Out'' Award, and
LWT Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Comedian, Spirit of the Fringe Award as well as the One World Media Award for his
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
documentary, ''Bloody Foreigners''.
He has also been nominated for awards, such as the
Perrier Award for Best Comedian, the Gemini Award for Best Comedy Performance of 2003, the South Bank Award for Best Comedy of 2003, the
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
Award for Best Stand-up, and the European TV Award for his ''Bloody Foreigners''.
Personal life
In 1992, Djalili married actress Annabel Knight, with whom he has three children. He is a practising
Baháʼí.
Djalili was present for the Iran Solidarity Rally that took place in
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...
in January 2023 in support of
protests in the wake of
Jina (or Mahsa) Amini's custody and death.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Selected theatre
* ''
Oliver!'', as Fagin, Director
Rupert Goold, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 2009
* ''
Fiddler on the Roof
''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...
'', as Tevye, Director
Daniel Evans, Chichester Festival Theatre, 2017
See also
*
Iranian stand-up comedy
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Djalili, Omid
1965 births
Living people
20th-century Bahá'ís
20th-century English comedians
20th-century English male actors
21st-century Bahá'ís
21st-century English comedians
21st-century English male actors
Actors from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Alumni of Ulster University
British Bahá'ís
Comedians from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Edinburgh Comedy Festival
English Bahá'ís
English male film actors
English male television actors
English male voice actors
English people of Iranian descent
English stand-up comedians
People educated at Holland Park School
Male actors from London
People from Chelsea, London