Ahmad Ramzy (Arabic: أحمد رمزي; 23 March 1930 – 28 September 2012) was an Egyptian actor who played the leading roles in many Egyptian films in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Early life
Ramzy was born 'Ramzy Mahoud Bayoumi in 1930 to Dr Mahmoud Bayoumi, an Egyptianorthopedist and university professor father and a Scottish mother.
Ramzy graduated from Alexandria's Victoria College where he met someone by the name of Michel Dimitri who later on was known as Omar Sharif, they became friends since then.
After finishing his school, Ramzy joined the Medical school for 3 years, before transferring to the Faculty of Commerce, which he eventually dropped to pursue his career in acting.
Ramzy has one brother, Dr. Hassan Bayoumi, who followed in their father's footsteps and has his practice in London.
Career
Ahmad Ramzy was discovered by Helmy Halim in 15–2–1955, while playing snooker in a club. He was cast by Halim in his first role, as "Ramzy" in Ayyamna al-Holwa (Our Best Days), along with Faten Hamama, Abdel Halim Hafez, and his lifelong friend and schoolmate Omar Sharif, The film was a box office hit. In this film he also starred the first time with very close lifetime friend Abdel Halim Hafez. Next year 1956 saw Ramzy's first starring role in Hob wa Dumoo` (Love and Tears) with Faten Hamama.
The late 1950s were very good to Ramzy, as he participated in many movies and was highly famous for the role of the funny playboy and romantic womanizer, while the 1960s begun, new young actors begun to appear taking more roles of those that Ramzy was playing but that did not stop him from going his way.
Ramzy in late 1950s
By the early 1960s, making films with more than one leading star was in favor, Ramzy teamed up with other stars or younger actors like Hassan Youseff, Youssef Fakhr Eddine, Mohamed Awad and others in a film and the fashion of trio stars films begun with titles like The 3 wild ones, The 3 adventures and more which lasted to early 1970s.
During the 1970s, Ramzy began participating in foreign movies shot outside Egypt, He participated in movies produced in Italy (such as Il Figlio di Spartacus (The Son of Spartacus)), Lebanon (such as Fondok El Saada (Hotel of Joy)) and Syria (such as Banat lil Hob (Girls for Love)).
Ramzy's active years began to be fade due to age and cinema changing moods, his 1974 film Al Abtal (The Heroes) that co-starred Farid Shawki was notable for the fact it was Egypt's first martial arts film and used the soundtrack of Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon. By mid 1970s Ramzy was saying goodbye to the cinema as from 1979 to 1981 saw only two films, then he focused on his trading business, though he was convinced to make a comeback in 1999 in the film " Ket El Saharaa (Desert Cat) followed by a TV series Wajh al-Qamar (Face of the Moon) with Faten Hamama in 2001.