Saeed Jaffrey
Saeed Jaffrey
Indian Actor
Saeed Jaffrey. Born in Maler Kotla, India, 1929. Attended the University of Allahabad, M.A. in history; Staff Training Institute, All India Radio; Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, 1956; Catholic University, Washington, D.C., 1956-57, M.A. in drama; Actors' Studio, New York. Married: Madhur (divorced); three children. Radio director, All India Radio, 1951-56; be gan stage career in India as founder, Unity Theatre, New Delhi, 1951-56, as actor, 1954; performed with his own company in U.S. tour of Shakespeare, 1957; various stage performances and tours, 1960s; director of publicity and advertising, Government of India Tourist Office, United States, 1958-60; began U.S. television career with guest appearances, 1960s; began film career in The Guru, 1969, numerous film performances, including roles in Gandhi, 1982, A Passage to India, 1984, and My Beautiful Laundrette, 1986. Member: Actors' Equity Association; Screen Actors Guild; American Federation of Television and Radio Artists
Gangsters Tandoori Nights Little Napoleons Coronation Street
Bio
Saeed Jaffrey is one of Britain's best-known and most experienced actors, playing a wide variety of roles in comedy and drama with equal enthusiasm. He started his performing career in India, setting up his own English theater company in Delhi after completing his postgraduate degree in history. His early theatrical work included roles in productions of Tennessee Williams, Fry, Priestly, Wilde, and Shakespeare. Having completed his studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, he went to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship and took a second postgraduate degree in drama from the Catholic University in Washington, D.C. From these firm foundations, Jaffrey set out as the first Indian actor to tour Shakespeare, taking his company across the United States and subsequently joining the Actor's Studio in New York, where he played the lead in off-Broadway productions of Lorca's Blood Wedding, as well as Rashomon and Twelfth Night. Jaffrey is an accomplished stage actor and has appeared on Broadway and at London's West End in a diverse range of characterizations.
His work in television has been just as varied. He appeared as Jimmy Sharma in Channel 4's first "Asian" comedy, Tandoori Nights and as the elegiac Nawah in Granada Television's adaptation of The Jewel in the Crown. It was arguably his performance as the smooth Rafiq in the BBC cult-classic Gangsters that brought him to national recognition, even though he had been acting in both theater and television for several years previously.
In some ways, Jaffrey's character types have been broadly similar and, like Clint Eastwood, he always plays himself playing a character. Jaffrey's impeccable English accent, his dapper style, and his catchphrases ("My dear boy") are part of his acting persona. His smooth charm is used to good effect whether he plays the archetypal oily, corrupt businessman or the kindly, knowing father figure. In 1994 he co starred with Norman Beaton in Michael Abbensett's new TV series, Little Napoleons, for Channel 4, playing once again a successful lawyer who wants political as well as economic power.
Jaffrey's career has spanned several decades, and it is still unfortunately the case that he is one of only a handful of Indian actors who is regularly employed, be it for radio, television, or the stage. Although this is good news for him, his prodigious success and his ability to talk the right language means that he is a hard act to follow for younger talent trying to penetrate a hard-faced industry.
Works
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1975-76 Gangsters
1985 Tandoori Nights
1994 Little Napoleons
1999- Coronation Street
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1984 The Far Pavilions
1984 The Jewel in the Crown
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1979 The Last Giraffe
2003 The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: Deception on His Mind
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The Guru, 1969; The Horsemen, 1971; The Man Who Would Be King, 1975; The Wilby Conspiracy, 1975; The Chess Players, 1977; Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures, 1979; Sphinx, 1981; Gandhi, 1982; The Courtesans of Bombay (docu mentary), 1982; Pandit Nehru (narrator), 1982; M,z soom, 1983; A Passage to India, 1984; The Razor's Edge, 1984; My Beautiful Laundrette, 1986; The Deceivers, 1988; Just Ask for Diamond, 1988; Par tition, 1988; Manika, 1988; Di/, 1990; Masala,
1991; Bollywood, 1994; Kartavya, 1995; Uff! Yeh Mohabbat, 1997; Raja Ki Ayegi Barrat, 1997; Ju daai, 1997; The Journey, 1997; Deewana Mastami, 1997; Achanak, 1998; Guru in Seven, 1998; Being Considered, 2000; Second Generation, 2000; Pyar Ki Dhun, 2001; Mr. In-Between, 2001; Albe/a, 2001; Pyarr Ki Dhun (The Song of Love), 2002; Day of the Sirens, 2002; Cross My Heart, 2003.
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Othello; The Firstborn; A Phoenix Too Frequent; Under Milk Wood; Auto-Da-Fe; The Importance of B, ing Earnest; The Cocktail Party; and Le Bourgeoi:: Gentilhomme (all with Repertory Company, Unity Theatre, New Delhi, India 1951-56); The Eagle Has Two Heads, 1954; Blood Wedding, 1958; Twelfth Night, 1960; King of the Dark Chamber, 1961; India: A Dancer's Pilgrimage, 1961; A Passage to India, 1962; A Tenth of an Inch Makes the Difference, 1962; Nathan Weinstein, Mystic, Connecticut, 19615; Captain Brassbound' s Conversion, 1971.