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Fahrid Murray Abraham (born October 24 1939) is an Academy Award-winning American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
. He became known during the 1980s, after winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Amadeus
Amadeus (film)

Amadeus is a 1984 in film drama film directed by Milo? Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Based on Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the film is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the later half of the 18th century....
, and has since appeared in many roles, both leading and supporting, in films, television, and mainly on stage.

Biography
Early life
Abraham was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania with a population of 312,819. The population of the seven-county metropolitan area is 2,462,571....
, the son of Josephine, a housewife, and Fahrid Abraham, an auto mechanic
Auto mechanic

An auto mechanic is a mechanic who specializes in automobile maintenance, repair, and sometimes modification. A mechanic may be knowledgeable in working on all parts of a variety of car makes or may specialize either in a specific area or in a specific make of car....
.






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Fahrid Murray Abraham (born October 24 1939) is an Academy Award-winning American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
. He became known during the 1980s, after winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Amadeus
Amadeus (film)

Amadeus is a 1984 in film drama film directed by Milo? Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Based on Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the film is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the later half of the 18th century....
, and has since appeared in many roles, both leading and supporting, in films, television, and mainly on stage.

Biography


Early life


Abraham was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania with a population of 312,819. The population of the seven-county metropolitan area is 2,462,571....
, the son of Josephine, a housewife, and Fahrid Abraham, an auto mechanic
Auto mechanic

An auto mechanic is a mechanic who specializes in automobile maintenance, repair, and sometimes modification. A mechanic may be knowledgeable in working on all parts of a variety of car makes or may specialize either in a specific area or in a specific make of car....
. His father was an Assyrian
Assyrian people

The Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people are an ethnic group whose origins lie in the Fertile Crescent, their Assyrian/Syriac homeland today being divided between Northern Iraq, Syria, Western Iran, and Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia....
 Christian
Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism#Christian view religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus and interpreted by Christians to have been prophesied in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament....
 who immigrated from Syria
Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
 during the 1920s
1920s

The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the "Jazz Age" or the "Roaring Twenties", when speaking about the United States and Canada. In Europe the decade is sometimes referred to as the "Golden Twenties"....
 famine
Famine

A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any faunal species, which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased death....
; his paternal grandfather was a cantor
Cantor

Cantor may refer to:...
 in the Syriac Orthodox Church
Syriac Orthodox Church

The Syriac Orthodox Church is an autocephaly Oriental Orthodox church based in the Middle East, with members spread throughout the world. It schism with Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism over the Council of Chalcedon, which the Syriac Orthodox Church rejects....
. Abraham's mother, one of fourteen children, was an Italian American
Italian American

An Italian American is an United States of Italians descent and/or dual citizenship. The phrase refers to someone born in the United States or who has immigrated to the United States and is of Italian heritage....
, the daughter of an immigrant who worked in the coal mines
Coal mining

Coal mining is the extraction or removal of coal from the earth by mining. When coal is used for fuel in power generation it is referred to as steaming or thermal coal....
 of Western Pennsylvania
Western Pennsylvania

Western Pennsylvania consists of the western third of the state of Pennsylvania in the United States. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the largest city in the region, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic and cultural center....
. Abraham was raised in El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas

El Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, Texas, United States, and part of the . According to the United States Census Bureau 2006 population estimates, the city had a population of 606,913....
, near the Mexican
Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
 border, where he was a gang
Gang

A gang is a Group of people who through the organization, formation, and establishment of an assemblage share a common Identity . In current usage it typically denotes a organized crime or else a criminal affiliation....
 member during his teenage years. He attended Texas Western College (later named The University of Texas at El Paso), where he was given the best actor award by Alpha Psi Omega for his portrayal of the Indian nocona in 'Comanche Eagle' during the 1959-60 season. He attended the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a public university research university located in Austin, Texas, Texas, United States, and is the flagship#University campuses institution of University of Texas System....
, then studied acting under Uta Hagen
Uta Hagen

Uta Thyra Hagen was a Germany-born United States actress and acting teacher....
 in New York City
New York City

The City of New York is the List of United States cities by population in the United States, while the New York metropolitan area ranks among the List of urban areas by population....
. He began his acting career on the stage, debuting in a Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles is the largest city in the U.S. state of California and the List of United States cities by population in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles is rated as a beta global city, has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California....
 production of Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury

Ray Douglas Bradbury is an United States literature, fantasy, Horror fiction, science fiction, and mystery writer.Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury is widely considered one of the greatest and most popular American writers of speculative fiction of the twentieth century....
's The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit
The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and Other Plays

The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit and Other Plays is a collection of three plays by Ray Bradbury: The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit, The Veldt, and To the Chicago Abyss....
.

Career


Abraham can be seen as one of the undercover cops along with Al Pacino in Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet

Sidney Lumet is an Academy Award winning United States film director, with over 50 films to his name, including the critically acclaimed 12 Angry Men , Serpico , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict , all of which, except for Serpico , earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Director....
's Serpico
Serpico

Serpico is a 1973 in film Cinema of the United States crime film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on the true story of New York City police officer Frank Serpico....
 (1973). He also appears very early in All the President's Men
All the President's Men (film)

All the President's Men is a 1976 film based on the All the President's Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the two journalists investigating the Watergate scandal for the Washington Post....
 as one of the police officers who arrests the Watergate burglars in the offices of the Democratic National Headquarters.

Prior to his acclaimed role in Amadeus
Amadeus (film)

Amadeus is a 1984 in film drama film directed by Milo? Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Based on Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the film is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the later half of the 18th century....
, Abraham was perhaps best known to audiences as a talking leaf in a series of television commercials for Fruit of the Loom
Fruit of the Loom

Fruit of the Loom is an United States company which manufactures clothing, particularly underwear. The company's world headquarters are based in Bowling Green, Kentucky....
 underwear. He worked with Pacino again in the gangster film Scarface
Scarface (1983 film)

Scarface is a 1983 in film epic film crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone and starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana....
 in 1983, playing drug dealer Omar Suarez. Abraham won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri
Antonio Salieri

Antonio Salieri , was a Republic of Venice composer and Conducting. As the Austrian imperial Kapellmeister from 1788 to 1824, he was one of the most important and famous musicians of his time....
 in Amadeus
Amadeus (film)

Amadeus is a 1984 in film drama film directed by Milo? Forman and written by Peter Shaffer. Based on Shaffer's stage play Amadeus, the film is based loosely on the lives of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri, two composers who lived in Vienna, Austria, during the later half of the 18th century....
 (1984). After Amadeus he has mainly focused on classical theatre, and has starred in many Shakespearean productions such as Othello
Othello

Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian language short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio first published in 1565....
 and Richard III
Richard III (play)

Richard III is a Shakespearean history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591, depicting the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England....
, as well as many other plays by the likes of Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett

Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish people writer, dramatist and poet. Beckett's work offers a bleak outlook on human culture and both formally and philosophically became increasingly minimalism....
 and Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan

'Gilbert and Sullivan' refers to the Victorian era partnership of librettist W. S. Gilbert and composer Arthur Sullivan . Together, they wrote fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S....
. He is also known for his roles in The Name of the Rose
The Name of the Rose (film)

The Name of the Rose is a German-French-Italian 1986 in film film, directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco....
 (1986), where he played Bernardo Gui, nemesis to Sean Connery
Sean Connery

Sir Thomas Sean Connery is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award winning Scotland actor and film producer who is best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films....
's William of Baskerville, Woody Allen
Woody Allen

Woody Allen is an Cinema of the United States film director, writer, actor, comedian, musician and playwright.Allen's distinctive films, which run the gamut from dramas to Screwball comedy film, have made him one of the most respected living American directors....
's Mighty Aphrodite
Mighty Aphrodite

Mighty Aphrodite is a 1995 in film United States comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. The screenplay was inspired by the mythology tale of Pygmalion ....
 (1995) and Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant

Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an United States film director, screenwriter, photographer, musician, and author. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk , and won the Palme d'Or at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for his film Elephant ....
's Finding Forrester
Finding Forrester

Finding Forrester is a 2000 in film film, screenplay by Mike Rich and film director by Gus Van Sant, about a teenager, Jamal Wallace, played by Rob Brown , who is accepted into a prestigious private high school....
 (2000), where he once again played nemesis to Connery
Sean Connery

Sir Thomas Sean Connery is an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and BAFTA Award winning Scotland actor and film producer who is best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in cinema, starring in seven Bond films....
.

Abraham has focused on stage work throughout his career, giving notable performances as Pozzo in Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols

Mike Nichols is an United States television, stage and film director, writer, and producer. Nichols is one of the few people to have won List of persons who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards: an Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award....
' production of Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot

Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters wait for someone named Godot. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere....
, Malvolio in Twelfth Night for the New York Shakespeare Festival
New York Shakespeare Festival

New York Shakespeare Festival is the traditional name of a sequence of shows organized by the Public Theater in New York City, most often being held at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park....
, and Shylock
Shylock

Shylock is a fictional character in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice....
 in The Merchant of Venice
The Merchant of Venice

The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Although classified as a Shakespearean comedies in the First Folio, and while it shares certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedy, the play is perhaps more remembered for its dramatic scenes, and is best known for...
, for a New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 based theatre company called Theatre For A New Audience (TFANA) which has been performed in March 2007, at The Swan Theatre, part of the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company

The Royal Shakespeare Company is a British theatre company. Located primarily at Stratford-upon-Avon, with bases also in London and Theatre Royal, Newcastle, it is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly-funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal National Theatre....
.

Abraham's relatively low-profile film career subsequent to his Academy Award has been held by many as an example of the so-called "Oscar jinx." So linked is Abraham with the phenomenon of winning an Oscar and yet failing to maintain the trajectory toward a high-level film career that, according to film critic Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin

Leonard Maltin is an United States film critic and film historian. He has authored numerous mainstream books on the cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives....
, it is referred to in Hollywood circles as the F. Murray Abraham syndrome." Abraham himself rejects this notion. He once told an interviewer:
The Oscar is the single most important event of my career. I have dined with kings, shared equal billing with my idols, lectured at Harvard and Columbia
Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York , is a private university in the United States and a member of the Ivy League. Columbia's main campus lies in the Morningside Heights, Manhattan neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, in New York City....
. If this is a jinx, I'll take two.


In the same interview, Abraham said:
Even though, I won the Oscar, I can still take the subway, in New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
, and nobody recognizes me. Some actors might find that disconcerting, but I find it refreshing.


Personal life


Abraham has been married to Kate Hannan since 1962; they have two children. He taught Theater at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New York ....
.

Popular Culture References

In The Simpsons
The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an Television in the United States animated cartoon Situation comedy created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company....
 episode "Homer Simpson in: "Kidney Trouble"," Homer rushes home to see Abraham on Inside the Actors Studio
Inside the Actors Studio

Inside the Actors Studio is the Emmy-nominated, longest-running original series on the Bravo cable television channel, hosted by James Lipton....
 and not stopping for a bathroom break, consequently costing his father his kidneys.

In the season six episode of Monk
Monk (TV series)

Monk is an Television in the United States comedy-drama Television program created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the main character....
 "Mr. Monk and His Biggest Fan." Abraham is an object of obsession of the character Marci Maven.

Filmography



Theatre credits


  • Angels in America
    Angels in America

    Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is a theatre in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. It has been made into both a television Angels in America and an opera by Peter E?tv?s....
  • The Ritz
    The Ritz (play)

    The Ritz is a play by Terrence McNally. Actress Rita Moreno won a Tony Award for her performance as Googie Gomez in the 1975 Broadway production, which she and many others of the original cast reprised in a 1976 film version directed by Richard Lester....
  • Triumph of Love
    Triumph of Love

    Triumph of Love is a musical theatre with a book by James Magruder, lyrics by Susan Birkenhead, and music by Jeffrey Stock.Resembling a chamber musical more than a traditional book musical, it is based on the 1732 Pierre de Marivaux commedia dell'arte play Le Triomphe de l'Amour and centers on Spartan princess L?onide, whose love fo...
  • Othello
    Othello

    Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian language short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio first published in 1565....
  • Landscape of the Body
    Landscape of the Body

    Landscape Of The Body is a two-act play by John Guare, written in 1977....
  • Richard II
    Richard II of England

    Richard II was the eighth King of England of the House of Plantagenet. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III of England....
  • King Lear
    King Lear

    King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1603 and 1606, and is considered one of his greatest works....
  • Much Ado About Nothing
    Much Ado About Nothing

    Much Ado About Nothing is a romantic Shakespearean comedy by William Shakespeare set in Messina, Sicily. The story concerns a pair of lovers named Claudio and Hero who are due to be married in a week....
  • The Fantasticks
    The Fantasticks

    The Fantasticks is a 1960 musical theatre with music by Harvey Schmidt and lyrics by Tom Jones . It was produced by Lore Noto. It tells an allegorical story, loosely based on the play "The Romancers" by Edmond Rostand , concerning two fathers who put up a wall between their houses to ensure that their children fall in love, because they...
  • Waiting for Godot
    Waiting for Godot

    Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters wait for someone named Godot. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere....
  • Mauritius
    Mauritius (play)

    Mauritius is a play on Broadway theatre which opened on October 4, 2007 at the Biltmore Theatre and closed November 25, 2007. Written by Pulitzer Prize for Drama-nominee Theresa Rebeck, it is her Broadway debut....
  • Oedipus Rex
  • Twelfth Night
  • The Merchant of Venice
    The Merchant of Venice

    The Merchant of Venice is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Although classified as a Shakespearean comedies in the First Folio, and while it shares certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedy, the play is perhaps more remembered for its dramatic scenes, and is best known for...
  • Almost an Evening
    Almost an Evening (play)

    Almost an Evening is a series of three one act plays written by Academy Award winner Ethan Coen and directed by Neil Pepe. It premiered Off-Broadway in January 2008 at the Atlantic Theater Company Stage 2 ....


External links

  • at IMG Artists
    IMG Artists

    IMG Artists LLC is a top universal performing arts management corporation that was acquired by International Management Group in 1984. Chairman and CEO of IMG, Mark McCormack, bought out Hamlen/Landau, a small, New York based artist-management music agency, founded by Charles Hamlen and Edna Landau in 1979....