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Omid Djalili

Actor, Producer, Director, Writer, Additional CreditsBorn September 30, 1965 (59 years)
Omid Djalili is a British stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and writer.

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 a record six times and 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.

The first significant success of his stand-up comedy career was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with "Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner's Son", followed by "The Arab and the Jew" with Jewish comedian Ivor Dembina in 1996.

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. 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.

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.

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • Black Books
  • Midsomer Murders
  • Modigliani
  • Relic Hunter
  • Mr. Nice
  • The Infidel
  • Dead Man Running
  • Cleopatra

Known For

  • Shaun the Sheep Movie
  • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
  • Casanova
  • The Infidel
  • Modigliani
  • Black Books
  • Love Again
  • Mr. Nice
  • Alien Autopsy
  • Journey to Bethlehem
  • The Calcium Kid
  • Animals United
  • Dinotopia
  • My Family and Other Animals
  • The Change
  • Big Fat Gypsy Gangster
  • The Omid Djalili Show
  • Grow Your Own
  • Whoopi
  • The Paul Reiser Show
  • Anita & Me
  • Omid Djalili: No Agenda - Live at the London Palladium
  • Headcases
  • Going Forward

Filmography

2025
In Your Dreams · as Sandman (voice)
2025
The Bad Guys 2 · as Mr. Soliman (voice)
2025
Deep Cover · as Sagar
2023
Journey to Bethlehem · as Melchior
2023
The Change (TV Series) · as Steve
2023
Love Again · as Mohsen
2022
2020
The Letter for the King (TV Series) · as Sir Fantumar
2019
His Dark Materials (TV Series) · as Dr. Martin Lanselius
2019
Queens of Mystery (TV Series) · as Guy Ashton
2018
2018
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again · as Greek Official
2017
Snatch (TV Series) · as Lenny Clarke
2016
Going Forward (TV Series) · as Dave Wilde
2016
Stan Lee's Lucky Man (TV Series) · as Kalim
2015
Dickensian (TV Series) · as Mr Venus
2015
2015
Thunderbirds Are Go! (TV Series) · as Horse Williams
2015
Shaun the Sheep Movie · as Trumper (voice)
2014
Retrospective · as Nabil Sr
2013
Moonfleet (2013) (TV Series) · as Aldobrand
2013
Mr Invisible · as Fishmonger
2011
Big Fat Gypsy Gangster · as Jik Jickkles
2011
The Paul Reiser Show (TV Series) · as Habib
2010
Little Crackers (TV Series) · as Tobacconist
2010
Mr. Nice · as Saleem Malik
2010
Animals United · as Bongo
2010
The Infidel · as Mahmud Nasir
2010
Sex and the City 2 · as Mr. Safir, Hotel Manager
2009
Dead Man Running · as Fat Bald Man
2009
Bookaboo (TV Series) · as Cast
2009
2009
Purves + Pekkala · as Walter
2008
The Love Guru · as Guru Satchabigknoba
2008
Headcases (TV Series)
2007
2007
Grow Your Own · as Ali
2007
2007
The Abbey · as Tony
2006
Lead Balloon (TV Series) · as Mr. Tilak
2006
Annually Retentive (TV Series)
2006
Over the Hedge · as Tiger (voice)
2006
Alien Autopsy · as Melik
2005
2005
Casanova · as Lupo
2005
2005
Brave New World · as Kaji
2004
Deadlines · as Abdul Sayyaf
2004
Modigliani · as Pablo Picasso
2004
2004
Live at the Apollo (TV Series)
2004
The Calcium Kid · as Herbie Bush
2003
Whoopi (TV Series) · as Nasim Khatenjami
2003
Between Iraq and a Hard Place · as Iraqi Television Host
2002
Dinotopia 6: The Exit · as Zipeau (voice)
2002
Dinotopia 5: The Virus · as Zipeau (voice)
2002
Dinotopia 4: New Horizons · as Zipeau (voice)
2002
2002
Dinotopia 3: The Election · as Zipeau (voice)
2002
Dinotopia 2: The Temptation · as Zipeau (voice)
2002
Anita & Me · as Uncle Amman
2002
Dinotopia (TV Series) · as Zipeau
2002
Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway (TV Series) · as Genghis Khan
2001
Mean Machine · as Raj
2001
Spy Game · as Doumet
2001
Lee Evans: So What Now? (TV Series) · as Ken
2001
Baddiel's Syndrome (TV Series) · as Chef
2000
Lenny Henry in Pieces (TV Series) · as Cast
2000
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (TV Series) · as Perfectionist
2000
Black Books (TV Series) · as Trebor
2000
Lock, Stock... (TV Series) · as Ali Gadaffi
2000
Jason and the Argonauts (TV Series) · as Castor
2000
Gladiator · as Slave Trader
1999
1999
Mad Cows · as George
1999
Relic Hunter (TV Series) · as Sayid Ahmed Habris
1999
Coming Soon (TV Series)
1999
Coming Soon · as Amir Hassan
1999
Cleopatra (TV Series) · as Storemaster
1999
Notting Hill · as Coffee Shop Cashier (uncredited)
1999
The Mummy · as Gad Hassan
1998
1997
Midsomer Murders (TV Series) · as Othello Khan
1995
Dressing for Breakfast (TV Series) · as Turkish Man
1989
One Night Stand (TV Series)
1987
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (TV Series) · as Mr Kaiafas
1984
The Bill (TV Series) · as Yilmaz Demirtas

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