On Thursday, the 21st of January, Google Doodle celebrated Naguib El-Rihani's 127th birthday.
To start with, who was Naguib El Rihani and what was he known for?
Rihani was an Egyptian actor and comedian born in Bab El Shereya, in Cairo, Egypt to an Assyrian father from Iraq who was a member of the Chaldean Catholic Church . His father worked as a horse expert and trader, eventually settling in Cairo.
He had a whirlwind marriage to a belly dancer named Badia Masabni of Lebanese origin who established her own cabaret, "Casino Badia". Years later, she left him to focus on her career.
After she left him, Naguib El-Rihani wanted to convert to Islam because he fell in love with a Jewish woman who also wanted to convert.
He also married a German woman named Lucy De Ferney from 1919 to 1937 and had a daughter named Gina. On their paperwork, it was stated that she married a German because during that time, Hitler had banned German women from marrying non-German men.
Rihani was also known as "Charlie Chaplin of the Middle East". Rihani and Chaplin had several things in common, some which were their difficult beginnings, their points of view and the main themes they chose for their artistic work. Both actors dealt with the psychological insight of the lower class against the unjust aristocratic class by making fun of aristocracy in a sarcastic way.
His most notable – and last – role was in the movie "Ghazl El- Banat" or "The flirtation of girls" in 1949 along with the last appearance of Mohamed Abdel Wahab on film.
Naguib El Rihani died from a disease called Typhus, caused by an infection with the Rickettsia bacteria, that same year . The news of his death came as a shock to everyone and caused the producer of the film to change the ending of the movie.