Hamideh Kheirabadi (Persian: حمیده خیرآبادی; 21 December 1924 – 19 April 2010) was an Iranian film and theatre actress. She played in more than 200[1] feature films and in over 20 television series. In Iran, she is affectionately referred to as Nādereh[2] and Mother of the Iranian Cinema.[3][4][5]
Life and career
Hamideh Kheirabadi was born in Rasht, the capital of the Gilan province, Iran. Whereas she married at the very young age of 13, she continued with her studies and completed her secondary-school education. In the middle of the 1950s she divorced from her husband and lived thereafter with her daughter, Soraya Ghasemi (born 1940). Kheirabadi's acting career began in 1947 with theatre.
Hamideh Kheirabadi worked with a large number of celebrated Iranian film directors, such as Ali Hatami, Dariush Mehrjoui, Masud Kimiai, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Sirus Alvand, Sirus Moghaddam and Tahmineh Milani. She was thrice nominated for the Crystal Simorgh Prize. During the second Iranian Celebration of Screen Actors, held on 5 January 2008 at Tehran's Arikeh-ye Iranian Hall, Kheirābādi was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award.[6]
Kheirabadi with her daughter, Soraya and her granddaughter, Parmida
It has been reported that[7] plans had been made that after six years of absence from acting, Kheirabadi would appear before camera on 23 April 2010, playing the role of herself in a series named The Land of the People (Zamin-e Ensān-hā), directed by Abolhasan Dāvoudi.
Hamideh Kheirābādi died at her home in Tehran on Monday night, 19 April 2010, at the age of 86. The cause for her death has been given as brain stroke.[8] Ms Kheirābādi was buried in Section 66 of Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery in Tehran, on Tuesday 20 April 2010.[9][10]
Filmography
A very extensive filmography of Hamideh Kheirabadi can be found on the Gilaki Wikipedia.[11] At present a less extensive filmography of Hamideh Kheirābādi is available at the Persian Wikipedia.[12] What follows is only a selected filmography.
Feature films
Amir Arsalān-e Nāmdār (Amir Arsalān the Great), 1955, directed by Shāpour Yāsami.
Almās 33 (Diamond 33), 1967, directed by Dariush Mehrjoui
^According to a this reportArchived 12 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine by Fars News Agency, in Persian, dated Monday 19 April 2010, this number should be 150.
^Nādereh appears to have been the artistic name of Ms Kheirābādi before the Iranian revolution of 1979. Aside from this, and importantly, Nādereh is the feminine form of the noun nāder, meaning rare, exceptional, inimitable, exquisite and precious.
^Hamideh Kheirābādi, the valued actress of cinema died yesterday night, in Persian, Official Site of The House of Cinema (Khāneh-ye Cinamā), 20 April 2010: "..::: خانه سینمای ایران :::". Archived from the original on 29 April 2010. Retrieved 20 April 2010..
^A mother with an unforgettable smile, in Persian, Mehr News Agency, 20 April 2010: [1].
^Hamideh Kheirabadi, the "Nādereh" of the Iranian cinema and television, died, in Persian, Radio Farda, 20 April 2010: [2].
^Mother of Iranian cinema Hamideh Kheirabadi dies at 86, Tehran Times, Wednesday 21 April 2010: [3].
^The sadness as intensive as the ingenious smiles of the mother of the Iranian cinema, ibid.
^Section 66 is not The Artists' Section of Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery where normally artists are buried. According to the Tehran Times (Wednesday, 21 April 2010), this was in conformity with Kheirabadi's own wish to be buried next to the graves of her departed family members. See: Mother of Iranian cinema Hamideh Kheirabadi dies at 86, Tehran Times, ibid.
Mother of Iranian cinema Hamideh Kheirabadi dies at 86, Tehran Times, Wednesday 21 April 2010: [4].
Some photographs, published by Iranian Students' News Agency, ISNA, taken in Behesht-e Zahra cemetery on Tuesday 20 April 2010: (1), (2), (3). Photograph (1) shows the graveside immediately after the burial. Photograph (2) shows Sorayyā Ghāsemi (r) in conversation with Ali Nasirian (l); the person in the middle is not identified. Photograph (3) shows the graveside of Ms Hamideh Kheirābādi, with Ali Nasirian sitting on the right.
A photo-reportage, by Fars News Agency, of the memorial service of Ms Hamideh Kheirābādi, held in Vali-yye Asr Mosque in Tehran, on Thursday 22 April 2010: [5].
