Zia Mohyeddin

Zia Mohyeddin (1931-2023) was a British-Pakistani polymath and actor famed for his voice.Born in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), British India in a Urdu-Speaking family, he spent his early life in Karachi. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London from 1953-1956. After stage roles in Long Day's Journey Into Night and Julius Caesar, he made his West End debut in A Passage to India in 1960. His film debut was in Lawrence of Arabia in 1963, playing the role of Tafas (the Arab guide who is shot by Omar Sharif for drinking water from the wrong well). He then made numerous TV and film appearances, and starred as Dr Aziz in the 1965 BBC television version of A Passage to India.He returned to Pakistan in the late 1960s. There he founded and ran the PIA Arts and Dance Academy, and h...show more