Omid Djalili

Early life and education

Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in St Mary Abbots Hospital in Kensington, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents Ahmad and Parvaneh Djalili. His parents emigrated from Tehran to London in 1958. He has a brother and sister. His mother was a dressmaker who at one point assisted Iranian singer Googoosh. His father was a liaison officer at the Iranian embassy in which he would provide medical assistance. He was also a photographer whose pictures ended up in the newspaper Kayhan. He attended Holland Park School where he failed A-level exams six times. He subsequently faked his results to gain entry to Ulster University in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, studying English and theatre studies having been turned down by 16 drama schools. Djalili cited Jack Lemmon, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Julia Roberts as influences.

Comedy career

Djalili begins his 2014 autobiography, Hopeful, with mention of his success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with "Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner's Son." He followed that up with "The Arab and the Jew," which he performed with Jewish comedian Ivor Dembina in 1996.

Djalili took part in a show for Comic Relief after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and also in 2005 he appeared on the British TV show Top Gear as a celebrity driver. The same year he broke Edinburgh Festival box office records with over 16,500 ticket sales.

In 2006, Sky Television chose him to be the face of their Saturday night film premières, and he also announced a new tour of the UK called 'No Agenda', from January 2007 until March 2007, covering 23 different dates. The No Agenda tour DVD was released in late 2007.

On 26 October 2007, he guest-presented the BBC political quiz show Have I Got News for You. The Omid Djalili Show started on BBC1 on 17 November 2007. The series was a mix of sketches and stand-up material. A second series was recorded in late 2008 and broadcast on BBC 1 on 20 April 2009. He performed on We Are Most Amused on ITV1 to mark Prince Charles's 60th birthday in 2008 and on We Are Most Amused and Amazed to mark his 70th birthday in 2018.

In 2023, Djalili was due to appear in the Omid Djalili and Friends show in Market Drayton at the Festival Drayton Centre. Djalili did not appear in the tour due to threats against Djalili relating to the Gaza war.

Acting career

Djalili has appeared in a number of films, most notably Gladiator, The Mummy, Mean Machine, The World Is Not Enough, Alien Autopsy, Spy Game, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Grow Your Own, Notting Hill, Mr Nice, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Sex and the City 2 and provides his voice in Over the Hedge. and In Your Dreams

He has observed that he usually appears as a generic Middle Eastern background character in many of these films, often commenting that he appears in the James Bond film as the "Second Azerbaijani oil pipe attendant". He appeared as Nasim in 22 episodes of the U.S. sitcom Whoopi, starring Whoopi Goldberg, and picked up an international film award for Best Supporting Actor in Casanova, starring alongside Heath Ledger and Jeremy Irons.

On 12 February 2009, producer Cameron Mackintosh announced that Djalili would appear as the second Fagin in the new West End production of *Oliver! * at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London. Omid took over from Rowan Atkinson, who had been contracted until 18 July 2009.

In 2009, Djalili became the voice of Yusuf Amir in the popular gaming series Grand Theft Auto. He took up the role in the Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony spin-off game. In 2010, he starred in the David Baddiel-scripted film The Infidel.

In 2017, Djalili appeared in an acclaimed performance of Fiddler on the Roof at the Chichester Festival Theatre.

In 2023, Djalili reprised his role as the voice of Yusuf Amir in the fifth installment of the popular gaming series Grand Theft Auto. He reprised the role as part of the Grand Theft Auto Online DLC, The Chop Shop.

Other activities

In 2008, he was an official festival judge for the Noor Iranian Film Festival. In June 2010, Djalili appeared in a Meltdown Festival concert given by the Philharmonia Orchestra at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, performing the part of the narrator in 'Rubaiyat', a tone poem by American classical composer Alan Hovhaness which sets the words of Omar Khayyám to music.

In February 2022 he shot two pilots of a chat show called Tonight With Omid for the BBC, one version in Persian (for BBC Persian) and another in English.

In August 2023, Djalili appeared on ITV's Kate Garraway's Life Stories series 22, episode 3.

As an Iranian Baháʼí, Djalili writes about and supports "the struggle for women's rights in Iran," which he promotes on his website. On 2 July 2023, he published an article on The Telegraph denouncing the killing of Baháʼí women by the Iranian state.

In September 2025, Djalili was announced as a headlining act for Saudi Arabia's Riyadh Comedy Festival. The event was characterized by Human Rights Watch as an attempt by the Saudi government to whitewash its human rights abuses.

On an interview he made on 14 January 2026, Djalili who has been a longtime critic of the Iranian regime, stated "My friend’s brother was killed in Iran this week", While referring to the 2025-2025 Iranian protests, the 2026 Iran massacres and the government’s internet shutdown. He also added that the family had to pay $5000 to release the body and sign a false document stating that, the brother was killed by protestors as he was a member of security forces.

Awards

Djalili has won awards for his comedy. These include the EMMA Award, Time Out Award, and LWT Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Comedian, Spirit of the Fringe Award as well as the One World Media Award for his Channel 4 documentary, Bloody Foreigners.

He has also been nominated for awards, such as the Perrier Award for Best Comedian, the Gemini Award for Best Comedy Performance of 2003, the South Bank Award for Best Comedy of 2003, the Royal Television Society Award for Best Stand-up, and the European TV Award for his Bloody Foreigners.

Personal life

In 1992, Djalili married actress Annabel Knight, with whom he has three children. He is a practising Baháʼí.

Djalili was present for the Iran Solidarity Rally that took place in Trafalgar Square in January 2023 in support of protests in the wake of Jina (or Mahsa) Amini's custody and death.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Selected theatre

• Oliver!, as Fagin, Director Rupert Goold, Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 2009
• Fiddler on the Roof, as Tevye, Director Daniel Evans, Chichester Festival Theatre, 2017

References

References

1. (5 December 2009). "My family values: Omid Djalili | Omid Djalili | the Guardian". The Guardian.
2. (28 August 2014). "HOPEFUL – an autobiography". Headline.
3. (12 February 2006). "Omid Djalili: Everybody's fool". [[The Independent]].
4. Djalili, Omid. (20 August 2007). "[[TV Heaven, Telly Hell]]".
5. "ITV Kate Garraway's Life Stories".
6. "In the Arena with Omid Djalili".
7. (27 August 2008). "extract on Youtube - Comic Aid 2005 Compilation".
8. (7 August 2005). "Top Gear: Series 6, Episode 4 – TopGearbox".
9. "Omid Djalili: Live 2008 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide".
10. "Omid Djalili - Hire & Book For Parties & Events - Classique".
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12. (26 October 2007). "Have I Got News for You". [[BBC]].
13. (14 November 2018). "Royal family pictures of the week". The Telegraph.
14. (2023-10-19). "Omid Djalili show cancelled over 'personal threats over Israel situation'". BBC News.
15. Crossley, Becki. (20 September 2018). "Omid Djalili brings 'Schmuck For A Night' to Wilton's Music Hall, London". [[The List (magazine).
16. "Djalili cuts out Iran jokes. - Free Online Library".
17. Iqbal, Nosheen. (11 February 2009). "Omid Djalili pockets Fagin role in Oliver!". [[Guardian News and Media Limited]].
18. (2 December 2017). "Fiddler on the Roof". [[Chichester Festival Theatre]].
19. (2010-06-13). "Philharmonia Orchestra: Hovhaness". Southbank Centre.
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26. O'Reilly, Luke. (Jan 8, 2023). "Iran protesters told they are 'bringing down the patriarchy'". [[The Independent]].
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36. (1 October 2009). "Interview: Omid Djalili". The Jewish Chronicle.
37. Gardner, Lyn. (19 July 2017). "Fiddler on the Roof review – Omid Djalili delivers the laughs as a terrific Tevye". The Guardian.