Mario Bassil (

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: ماريو باسيل) (born 12 January 1966) is a Lebanese comic actor, stand-up comedian, TV presenter, producer and director, best known for his controversial character Marioca and his daring work in the ''Comedy Night'' theatrical series since 2003, that showed nightly in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, which he directed, produced and took part in, that approaches social and political topics of the duration of an hour. He featured for five years in the TV comedy series ''Mouniaa Fi Loubnan (منع في لبنان)''. Mario is well known throughout the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

. He was awarded ''Best Comic Actor'' for 2009 at the Lebanese annual Murex D'or Awards.

Biography

Early life

He studied agricultural engineering and then changed his specialization to computer science and he did not like the specialization. He studied the communication at the

Lebanese American University The Lebanese American University (LAU; ) is a secular private American university with campuses in Beirut, Byblos, and New York. It is chartered by the board of regents of the University of the State of New York and is recognized by the Lebane ...

and then continued his studies and majored in

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ** Filmmaking, the process of making a film * Movie theate ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in 2006, where he gained the theatrical experience, as he worked in more than 30 plays for major authors from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

to Beckett to Eugène Ionesco. After his return from Paris, he established a troupe with his friend Marc Kodeih and presented his first work titled: ''TV or Not TV''. Then he separated from Marc afterwards, after the play's success and founded a band alone and was the first play titled ''Mercy Ktir'' and has been a success and was followed by the play ''Dar El Founoun'' which failed miserably, so he moved to the "chansonnier" theater style from the classical theater which he learned and experienced at the university.

Family

In October 2018, he civil-married Russian lawyer named Alexandra Chistyakova in

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. In March 2019 he had his first child, Sofia. In 2020, he went to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, the capital of

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, to spend the quarantine period there, publishing a video clip from a park with his wife and one-year-old daughter.

Career

His start was in the field of advertisements and theatrical and television shows. He played comedic roles for years in the television program ''Mouniaa Fi Loubnan (منع في لبنان)'' on

LBC LBC (originally the London Broadcasting Company) is a British phone-in and talk radio station owned and operated by Global and based in its headquarters in London. It was the UK's first licensed commercial radio station, and began to broadc ...

and presented works in the world of comedy theater with a critical nature, where he dealt in most of his plays with the political and social reality. In 2019, he participated in the Celebrity Duet (ديو المشاهير) program to support a charity.

His works

Television

* 1998-2006: Mouni'a Fi Loubnan (Program) * 2002: Mamnou'a (program) * 2008-2009: Jack Hunter and the Lost Treasure of Ugarit * 2014: El Layleh Jnoun (program) * 2018: Seiko (series)

Theater

* Comedy Night * Bala Din * Merci Ktir * Dar El Founoun * 'iem el Jem'a * Mhajer Prospen * 2016-2017: On The Road * 2016: One Angry Man * 2019: Rola and Mario

In the cinema

* 2012: Yalla Aaqbalakon * 2013: Heritages (Documentary) * 2015: The Story of Seconds

Singing

* 2010: Khales Khales * 2010: Batikha

Awards

* Murex d'Or award for Best Comedian in 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bassil, Mario Lebanese comedians Lebanese television presenters Living people 1965 births Lebanese American University alumni