Ismail Yasin

Who was Ismail Yasin?

Ismail Yasin was an Egyptian comedian/actor. He is famous for a series of films with his name in the title. Ismail Yassin had a difficult childhood in Suez where he was born. His mother died at an early age and his father was jailed thus forcing him to leave school before completing his primary education. He worked as a parking valet to support himself.

He started his career as a monologue singer and headed for Cairo after Abo El Seoud El Ebiary, the comic screenwriter and his best friend and life partner had discovered him and had helped him to join Badi'a Masabny's troupe. His break into the movie industry came when Fouad El-Gazaery gave him his first role in the movie "Khalf El-Habayeb" in 1939. He later joined Ali El-Kassar's troupe and started to gain widespread recognition eventually becoming one of most popular stars in the Arab world. A record 15 movies used his name in their titles to capitalize on his fame, most of them were written by Abo El Seoud El Ebiary.

He was not particularly attractive but he had great control of his facial expressions and often made fun of his 'large mouth' in his films. His trademark gimmick was to act terrified bringing his wobbling knees together, stretching his shaking arms in front of him, stammering silently, and suddenly snapping out of his panic with a loud inhalation of air. In the 1960s his health began to deteriorate. He moved to Lebanon where he participated in a number of films, and later when he returned to Egypt he was heavily in debt. He died of a heart attack in 1972. His son, Yasin Ismail Yasin, is also famous Egyptian film director.