CAIRO: Abdel Moneim Madbouly, a comedian and playwright who entertained millions of Arabs for more than 60 years, died Sunday in Cairo. He was 85. Madbouly died of heart failure at the Arab Contractors Hospital in Cairo, where he had been treated for heart problems, Egypt s official news agency reported. He wrote, directed and acted in dozens of plays, movies and television soap operas, and coined a straight, simple comedy style known across the Arab world as Madboulism. Many of Egypt s top comics, like Adel Imam, adopted the style. Madbouly was born on December 28, 1921 in Bab Al Shariya, a low-income district of Cairo. As a child, he memorized dialogues from plays and radio soap operas and at age seven started working as a theater actor to make a living after the death of his father. First, Madbouly worked with a troupe owned by Fatma Rushdi, Egypt s leading actress at the time, before joining another theater run by the famous Egyptian stage direct. George Abyadh. Madbouly is survived by a daughter, Ammal. AP
