Actor Garsha Raufi dies at 74

Family, friends and colleagues participated in his funeral procession which took place today and commenced from the House of Cinema.

His body was laid to rest in the artists’ section of Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra Cemetery.

Iranian actor Jafar Vali, who attended the funeral, referred to the late Raufi as a distinguished artist with whom others took pleasure in collaborating.

Iran’s cinema could have benefited more from his great potential; Raufi, due to poor health, had not been very active in recent years which had caused him to be depressed, Vali mentioned.

Veteran Iranian actor Morteza Ahmadi, speaking about the times he had worked together with Raufi, mentioned that he was an excellent artist.

“Raufi was already a well-known actor when I began my career. He was a benign person,” veteran actor Reza Banafshehkhah recalled.

“Raufi starred alongside Fakhri Khorvash, Jaleh Olov and Ahmad Qadakchian in my film ‘The Homeless’ about 50 years ago,” director Mohammad Ali Vahdat said during the ceremony.

“Although I lived in his neighborhood for many years, I was unaware of his disease. Unfortunately artists die in solitude nowadays-- and this might also be my fate,” he added.

Iranian actor Garsha Raufi was born in 1933. He began his career in 1958 acting in Samuel Khachikian’s “Storm in our City”. Overall he took part in about 50 films including Masud Kimiaii’s “The Deer”, Jahangir Kosari’s “Agitators” and Kianush Ayyari’s “Two Halves of the Apple”. His latest role was in Mohammad Hossein Latifi’s “Iranian Girl”. 

He underwent coronary bypass surgery two years ago, which unfortunately led to kidney failure, and he was subsequently on dialysis for a couple of years prior to his death.

SB/MA

END

MNA