Kevork Malikyan

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Kevork Malikyan
Born (1943-06-02) 2 June 1943 (age 80)
Alma materRose Bruford College
Years active1968–present
Spouse
Maida Kupelian
(m. 1965)
Children2, including Sevan

Kevork Malikyan (born 2 June 1943) is an English-Armenian actor and teacher.[1] He is known for his roles as Kazim in the film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Max Papandrious in the television sitcom Mind Your Language (1977–1979) and Rady in the film Flight of the Phoenix (2004) and Parvus in paytaht Abdülhamid (2017).

Early life

Malikyan was born to Armenian parents in Diyarbakır, Turkey. When he was 10 years old, an archbishop decided to open a religious seminary in Üsküdar, Istanbul, with the intention of taking in the poor children of Armenian parents from various parts of Turkey and bringing them up as priests. Malikyan was questioned by a priest who wanted to determine whether or not he was a good candidate for the priesthood. His father told him to go to the seminary because he could not afford to give him an education due to financial problems. Though Malikyan was worried because he had no friends in Istanbul and had to leave his parents behind, he went to the city to become a priest.

Malikyan was sent to the Karagözyan Orphanage in Şişli where he spent two years before attending the religious seminary in Üsküdar. In the seminary, there was a small stage where the students acted in Turkish and Armenian. When he was 16, an Anglican priest was invited to the school to teach them English. He was an Oxford graduate who wrote history books. The man was also fond of acting and had prepared Richard III by Shakespeare in English, wherein Malikyan played Richard. The priest must have liked Malikyan's acting, because he told the headmaster of the school that Malikyan should become an actor rather than a priest. The patriarch asked Malikyan his opinion on the matter, but Malikyan was unsure because of financial concerns. Father Harding, a British priest, found him a scholarship in Britain.[1]

Malikyan graduated from the Surp Haç Armenian High School[2] in Istanbul, then moved to London in 1963 for acting education. At the drama school Rose Bruford College,[3] he received diplomas for acting and teaching.

Career

Malikyan made his first television appearance in an episode of the British

The Avengers. Malikyan got his big break in the British film The Man Who Haunted Himself in 1970, starring Roger Moore
, in which Malikyan played Luigi the butler of the Pelham family.

In 1977 Malikyan embarked on his most notable role on British television, in the ITV sitcom Mind Your Language, which was about an Adult education centre and followed the story to the ‘English as a foreign language’ class. In the series Malikyan played Maximilian (Max) Papandrious, a Greek shipping worker from Athens. The show was very successful and at its height attracted 18 million viewers,[4] Malikyan appeared in 29 episodes from 1977 to the series conclusion in 1979. Although the series was briefly revived in 1986 he did not make any appearances in it. Malikyan's next big film role came in the 1978 prison film Midnight Express, in which he played the part of the prosecutor at Billy Hayes's trial. The film was directed by Alan Parker and starred Brad Davis, Irene Miracle and Bo Hopkins. The film was very popular and went on to win two Academy Awards. His performance did not go unnoticed, one director who especially noticed him was Steven Spielberg. Malikyan tried to audition for the part of Sallah in Raiders of the Lost Ark, but was prevented from doing so by heavy traffic.

In 1988 Spielberg cast Malikyan in the third in the

action-thriller film Taken 2
, which was a sequel of the highly successful 2008 film.

Two years later Malikyan appeared in the epic biblical film

drama film The Cut. In 2016 Malikyan featured in the historical drama The Promise which was set in the final years of the Ottoman Empire
.

Personal life

Malikyan married Maida Kupelian in Kensington, London in 1965. They have a daughter Sonia and a son Sevan. Malikyan now works as a teacher in Istanbul.[1]

Partial filmography

Television

References

  1. ^ a b c "'I came to die in Turkey, my homeland,' says Armenian actor". Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  2. ^ This students will out of school
  3. ^ Back to Turkey after 50 years
  4. ^ Powell, Vince (22 July 2009). The Daily Telegraph. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

External links