Before They Were Famous: Weird Jobs of Arab Artists

From dressing in drag to working with wood, these artists had some humble beginnings. What did your favorite Arab talent do before they reached the Hall of Fame?

This hilarious and controversial satirist’s career path used to be a very serious one. After 10 years of working as a cardiothoracic surgeon, Youssef’s calling for humor came after the January 2011 Egyptian Revolution when he assisted the wounded in Tahrir Square. That may have been the final push that led him to create "The Program", which uses the tense political situation as fodder for his jokes .

The former photographer to King Hussein and King Abdullah II of Jordan, Zohrab used to be bass guitarist in a band called “The Believers.” Performing songs by The Beatles, the band had a fan base in the crème de la crème of Amman society .  Markarian then decided to take on photography. After winning the grand prize in the “Jordanian Flowers” photography competition, he was appointed as the official photographer of the Hashemite Royal Family. Talk about the prize of a lifetime!

No stranger to controversy, this actor who famously slapped a female fan at a recent Qatar film festival was once a scholarly young chap who studied mathematics, physics and languages at the British Victoria College in Alexandria, Egypt .  After obtaining a degree in mathematics and physics, he worked for five years at his father’s lumber business before launching his acting career.

This actor, comedian and playwright was the hairdresser for one of the late King Hussein's brides on their wedding day .  And although that might not be indicative of his future career, he recalls consoling another one of the queens after she was publicly criticized. Perhaps that is where he learned the deft art of political parody?

Her father was an imam  at the local mosque who taught her to recite the Qur'an . She was said to have perfect mastery of the pronunciation of difficult words. Kulthum's father was initially against her singing in front of strange men but needed extra money for the family, so when she was 12 years old, he disguised her as a young boy and entered her in a small performing troupe he directed. In the early 1920s her family moved to Cairo where she launched her performing career, eventually winning the hearts and minds of the Middle East. She became lovingly dubbed as “Kawkab al-Sharq” or “Star of the East” and apparently is one of Bob Dylan’s favorite artists .

Even though Tamer is the son of Egyptian singer Hosni Sherif Abbas, he had no financial support from his father after his parents split up when he was seven years old .  He grew up with an interest in football and played the sport for nine years until he met Nasr Mahrous who mentored and managed him till he reached stardom. Now that’s a song worth singing .

Raised in an orphanage, Negm was known for being outspoken, a trait that became the ammo for his popular writings. After being accused of forgery, his first prison stint triggered him to begin writing poems about the oppression of the Egyptian people. He later worked as a shepherd in his village and then helped with guerrilla operations in a British camp. A couple more prison stints later, Negm became partners with Sheik Imam Essa, a blind Egyptian singer, and together they developed a raw style of poetic satire that won the hearts of Egyptians. As most of his writings were done in prison, maybe it is time to rethink work spaces?

Fertile pickings sow the seeds to great things. Before the creation of the emblematic and now iconic "Handala", a cartoon illustration of a disappointed 10-year old refugee kid with his back turned to the world, al-Ali was forced to move to Beirut and lived in Shatila, a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Beirut . In 1957, after he earned a diploma in mechanics and electrical engineering, he worked as a farm laborer picking oranges and lemons. He then traveled to Saudi Arabia, where he worked as a car mechanic for two years. Despite imprisonment, detainment and death threats, al-Ali’s drawings prove the pen is mightier than the sword.