Salim Daw (also spelled Salim Dau, ; born 1950) is a Palestinian Israeli actor. With appearances in more than 60 works of stage, television and film, he is perhaps best known for portraying

Mohamed Al-Fayed Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed (; 27 January 192930 August 2023) was an Egyptian businessman whose residence and primary business interests were in the United Kingdom from the mid-1960s. His business interests included ownership of the Hôtel R ...

on seasons 5 and 6 of

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

's ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

.''

Early life and education

Daw was born in

Bi'ina Bi'ina or al-Bi'na (also el-Baneh) () is an Arab citizens of Israel, Arab local council (Israel), town in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. It is located east of Acre, Israel, Akko. In 2003, Bi'ina merged with Majd al-K ...

, a Palestinian village in Israel in 1950; he is a Palestinian citizen of Israel. As a young child, his father's friends would often ask him to entertain them with

impressions An impression is the overall effect of something. Impression or impressions may also refer to: Biology * Colic impression, a feature of the gall bladder * Duodenal impression, medial to the renal impression * Gastric impression, a feature of th ...

. “I was an expert even at five, and the funny thing was that they used to reward me with fruits, sweets, and a little money," he told ''

Al-Ahram ''Al-Ahram'' (; ), founded on 5 August 1876, is the most widely circulating Egyptian daily newspaper, and the second-oldest after '' Al-Waqa'i' al-Misriyya'' (''The Egyptian Events'', founded 1828). It is majority owned by the Egyptian governm ...

'' in 2021. "So being an actor was the thing for me at a very early stage in my life." In 1972, Daw enrolled at the

Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts Beit Zvi School for the Performing Arts, and Theater () is a school of acting and theatre arts, located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel, established in 1950, and is named after Zvi Klir, who fell in the War of Independence. The ...

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

. He went on to study at the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, graduating in 1979.

Career

Daw had a recurring role as Sheikh Awadalla in the 2015 Israeli political TV drama ''

Fauda ''Fauda'' (, from ''fawḍā'', meaning "chaos" or "mess") is an Israeli television series developed by Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff drawing on their experiences in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It tells the story of Doron, a commander in ...

''. He starred as Issa in the 2020 international drama film ''

Gaza mon amour ''Gaza mon amour'' (, referencing ''Hiroshima mon amour'') is a romantic dramedy film, directed by Tarzan Nasser and Arab Nasser and released in 2020.Jonathan Romney"'Gaza Mon Amour': Venice Review" ''Screen Daily'', September 4, 2020. It is a c ...

''. In 2021, Daw was cast as the Egyptian billionaire and

Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...

owner Mohamed Al-Fayed for ''The Crown's'' fifth season. The role earned him a 2023

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He also played Tarek, the protagonist's father, in the Palestinian film '' Let It Be Morning'', and

PLO The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinian people in both the occupied Palestinian territories and the diaspora. ...

minister

Ahmed Qurei Ahmed Ali Mohammad Qurei (also spelled Qureia or Qurie; , ; 26 March 1937 – 22 February 2023), also known by his '' kunya'' Abu Alaa ( ), was a Palestinian politician who served as the second prime minister of the Palestinian National Authori ...

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 ...

's adaptation of the play ''Oslo''. Daw reprised the role of Al-Fayed in ''The Crown'''s sixth season. He expressed "deep sadness" and a connection to Al-Fayed upon the businessman's 2023 death.

Personal life

Daw lives in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

with his wife. His daughter, Maysa Daw, is a musician.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daw, Salim 1950 births Living people Palestinian television actors People from Bi'ina