The late Rafiq Sebaie blazed a trail for all Syrian actors

Born in February 1930 in an old district of Damascus, Sebaie began his career as a monologist, actor and singer on Damascus Radio.

“Artiste of the people” Rafiq Sebaie passed away on Thursday. Louai Beshara / AFP Photo
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He was known as the “artiste of the people”.

It was a name bestowed by none other than the late Syrian president, Hafez Al Assad, father of Bashar, Syria’s current president. The death of Rafiq Sebaie, on Thursday from natural causes at age 86 in Damascus, is a veritable loss to the region’s artistic community.

After Syria proclaimed its independence from France in the mid-1940s, it was no easy feat to ­venture into a career in theatre. There was also no film or ­television industry to speak of. People looked down upon actors in ­theatre groups, and it was a social taboo to pursue as a career.

It was Sebaie who tackled the ignorance and bestowed a sense of respectability to the art form. The fact that Syria is viewed as one of the region’s leading lights when it comes to producing top notch actors is largely down to Sebaie’s pioneering work. He reached out to an audience and showed how acting is a useful way to celebrate Syrian culture and folklore.

For six decades, Sebaie helped influence the radio, film, television and theatre industry of Syria and the Arab world.

His key iconic role was as the cantankerous Abu Sayyah in the classic comedy series Maqaleb Ghawar (The Pranks of Ghawar) which began on radio and continued to the stage before becoming a popular TV show.

It is a role credited as one of the founding pillars of Syrian television in the early 1960s. When he first landed the role of the tough and brave Abu Sayyah, Sebaie said he did not sleep that night for joy.

“To me, it felt that the role was a sort of test that would pave the way for me as an actor,” he said. “I borrowed the sherwal [old-­fashioned, baggy pants popular to that time] and the rest of the accessories so I could truly live the role naturally. Things just went upwards from there.”

Born in February 1930 in an old district of Damascus, Sebaie ­began his career as a monologist, actor and singer on ­Damascus ­Radio. It was during the mid 1950s Abu Sayyah arrived in a ­series of radio skits.

He shared a stage with legendary Lebanese singer Fairuz in the 1964 musical The Ring Seller, as well as Egyptian screen legends Farid Shawqi and Nabila Obaid in 1968's The Three Crooks.

His pedigree and status as a ­national treasure allowed him space to delve into more ­controversial material as well.

Despite his involvement in a political satire mocking the ­Arabs’ performance in the 1967 war against Israel, the prolific actor was often hosted at the presidential palace in Damascus and was received by every president from Nazim Al Qudsi in 1961 to Bashar Al Assad in 2008, who awarded ­Sebaie with a medal of honour.

Sebaie has often been vocal about his support of his country’s ruling family.

After the breakout of the present Syria conflict in 2011, Sebaie appeared on state television several times to support the government. He criticised opposition fighters and deemed their actions as part of a conspiracy against Syria.

Last year, he lent his raspy vocals to a new song: La Taz'Ali Ya Sham (Do Not Be Woeful Oh Damascus), which Sebaie described as a love letter to his ravaged homeland.

His last role was in 2015 as Al Zaeem, or The Leader, in the ­Syrian-Lebanese produced TV drama series Bint Al Shahbandar (Al Shahbandar's Daughter).

Soon after, Sebaie ­reportedly suffered a fall in his home and broke his pelvis, which kept him housebound in Damascus and required a number of surgeries. Bullish to the end, Sebaie dismissed his ill health in interviews with the Arab press late last year.

He said it was “the problems of the Arab nations” that were bringing him down.

Sebaie remained patriotic to the end: “After the events and experiences that I have witnessed with my own eyes, it is apparent the impossibility of Arabs getting along, and they will remain scattered just as the West wants them to be,” he said.

“I dream that before I die, I will once again see an independent Syria, free from all the different sides that want to spoil her. From time immortal, us Syrians have never succumbed to outside pressures. To the youth, I say: believe in a unified Syria that can hold its head up high, as it has since the beginning of time.”

artslife@thenational.ae