Iranian actor Homayoun Ershadi dies at 78
Iranian actor Homayoun Ershadi, whose debut in Abbas Kiarostami’s Palme d’Or-winning ‘Taste of Cherry’ (1997) brought him international acclaim, died on Tuesday at age 78 after a battle with cancer, Iran’s House of Cinema confirmed.
Born on March 26, 1947, in Isfahan, Ershadi studied architecture before relocating to Vancouver in the 1980s, where he worked for over a decade, IRNA reported.
He returned to Iran in the 1990s and Kiarostami asked him, saying, “I want to make a film. Would you like to be in it?”In ‘Taste of Cherry’, Ershadi played a man driving across the outskirts of Tehran, searching for someone to bury him after his planned suicide. The film won the Palme d’Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival, establishing Ershadi’s late-blooming acting career.
He later gained international attention for roles in Marc Forster’s Afghanistan-set ‘The Kite Runner’ (2007), Kathryn Bigelow’s ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ (2012), Alejandro Amenábar’s ‘Agora’ (2009), and Hassan Nazer’s UK-set ‘Utopia’ (2015). In Iran, he starred in the female racing drama ‘Lelah’, the mountain village story ‘Mahoor’, and posthumously in ‘The Hill of Kites’.
Ershadi amassed over 90 credits in less than three decades, earning a reputation for bringing understated intensity to his characters. The House of Cinema hailed him as “a prominent figure of cinema, theatre and television,” extending condolences to the artistic community.
Known for his quiet presence and versatility, Ershadi bridged Iranian cinema with global audiences, proving that a late start could still yield a profound and lasting impact.
He is survived by his children, who reside in Vancouver.