Abu Bakr Ezzat, who is from the Sayyeda Zeynab area of Cairo, was born on August 2, 1933. He studied at the Khedive School. Ezzat participated in school theater, and acted in Richard Sheridan’s play, “The Scandals,” directed by Kamal Yassin. Ezzat’s relationship with the theater developed where he worked in 1955. Throughout his school years, Ezzat directed several plays in schools, as well as at the Faculty of Arts where he was a student in the Department of Sociology. After graduating in 1959, he joined the Free Theater Group. During this time, he played the role of Kamal in the play “Qasr El Shoq” (Palace of Desire) and started working in television and film. He married screenwriter Kawthar Heikal. The plays he acted in include “El Mofatish El ‘Am” (The Inspector General), “El Dabor” (The Hornet), “El Ardh” (The Earth), “Sana Ma’ El Shoghl El Laziz” (A Year Of Enjoyable Work), “El Dukhol Bil-Melabis Rasmiya” (Entering With Official Clothes), “Sika El Salaama” (The Safe Way). He moved from the Television Theater to the Rehani Theater, and in 1996 received the Best Actor’s Award in the Cairo Film Festival for his role in the film “El Mar’a We El Satour” (The Woman and the Cleaver).

Playing with fire

1989