Obituary: Actor and producer Samy El-Adl dies at 69

The prolific Egyptian actor and producer Samy El-Adl, 69, died in the early hours of Friday morning in Cairo due to complications with a heart problem, his family announced.

His funeral took place this afternoon at Al-Rashdan Mosque. The actor was then buried at his family’s plot on the Cairo-Suez Road.

Colleagues and fans of the widely admired actor quickly took to social media on Friday to mourn Adl’s death.

Adl was “one of the kindest and most stand-up people I’ve known in my life,” actor Asser Yassin wrote on Facebook. “We will miss you, Uncle Samy, and I will never forget you."

At 69, Adl had several television, theatre and film titles under his belt as an actor. He was also one of Egypt's most prominent producers of both films and television series. He established his own production company El-Adl Film before merging with his brothers to establish El-Adl Group in 1997.

The actor appeared in this summer’s controversial Ramadan series “Haret al-Yahood” (The Jewish Alley) and “Bein al-Sarayat,” both of which were produced by El-Adl Group. The actor reportedly first fell ill while the shows were still in production, leading to the deletion of certain scenes in which he was meant to appear, according to a statement El-Adl Group made to the privately owned media outlet Al-Arabiya.

This year, El-Adl group was also behind the hit series “Taht al-Saytara” (Under Control).

Sayed Mahmoud, a journalist and chief editor of the cultural newspaper Al-Qahira, praised Adl for his appearances in this summer’s shows, writing on Facebook on Friday afternoon, “Samy El-Adl impressed everyone with his role in ‘Bein al-Saryat’ this Ramadan. It is as if he wanted to leave without being forgotten.”

Adl was born in 1946 in a village near Mansoura and began his career in theatre after graduating from the Institute for Dramatic Arts. He participated in 177 productions across his career, according to elcinema.com. The actor was famed for his supporting roles — he rarely took the lead, but become a familiar and beloved presence on both the large and small screen.

Some of his most moving roles include his performance in the hit films Ahla al-Awkat (The Best of Times, 2004) as the protagonist's step-father, and his roles in Harb al-Farawla (The Strawberry Wars, 1993) and America Shika Bika (1993).