TEHRAN – Stage and screen actor Ali Soleimani, who played roles in acclaimed productions such as Asghar Farhadi’s TV series “Story of a City” and Bahram Beizai’s movie “Killing Mad Dogs”, died from coronavirus in a Tehran hospital on Thursday. He was 51.

Early last week, his close friend, actor Javad Hashemi, announced his illness and asked people to pray for him.   

Soleimani studied theater at a Tehran university and began his career in theater as a property master in 1992.

He began his acting career on stage with director Kiumars Moradi’s “Morning Doesn’t Dawn” in 1994, made his debut in cinema shortly afterwards with “Bon Voyage!”, a comedy by actor and director Dariush Moaddabian.

The following year, he appeared in the war drama “Journey to Chazzabeh” directed by Rasul Mollaqolipur who also cast him in a role for his “The Poisonous Mushroom” in 2002. 

He also played a role in director Bahram Beizai’s 2001 neo-noir “Killing Mad Dogs”, which became a box-office hit.

Director Hamid Nematollah’s comedy drama “Penniless”, Ali Vaziri’s “A Span of Heaven” are also among his films.

He made his last appearance in cinema with Bahram Tavakkoli’s acclaimed war film “The Lost Strait” in 2018. 

Soleimani played roles in over 20 theatrical productions, including “You’re the Beloved of Us” by Mehrdad Rayani-Makhsus, “Gate of the Watches” by Javad Hashemi and “Waiting for the Hangman” by Hossein Kiani.

He also directed several plays, including “A Man in the Mirror”, which was staged at Tehran’s Vahdat Hall in 2018.

Several directors such as Hassan Fathi and Asghar Farhadi worked with Soleimani in their TV series made for Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.

Farhadi hired him for his 2000 TV series “Tale of a City”, which indirectly featured social problems facing Iranian society by way of the assignments that were given to a group of reporters working for a TV program named “Dar Shahr”.

Soleimani was also praised by critics for his portrayal of a Muslim cleric in the fourth season of the popular TV series “Paytakht” (“Capital” 2015) by director Sirus Moqaddam.

Soleimani is survived by his wife Soheila Javadi and daughter Saba.

Photo: Actor Ali Soleiamni in an undated photo. (Honaronline/Mahdieh Babai)

MMS/YAW