Between his birth on 6 September 1924 and his passing on 16 September 2006, Fouaad al-Mohandess made a major mark on Egyptian theatre, cinema, radio and television. Devoted since childhood to the performing arts, al-Mohandess' first introduction to the stage took the form of school plays, followed by university theatre at the Faculty of Commerce, Cairo University. Al-Mohandess modeled himself for a while on the great comedian Nagueeb al-Reehaany, rehearsals of whose troupe he regularly attended. In 1953, al-Mohandess joined the radio program “Saa'a le-albak i.e. An hour for your heart”. Two years later, he was one of the co-founders of the “Saa'a le-albak” theatre troupe. He directed their first play, “Kaan mel-awwal i.e. It was about time”, and performed in most of the productions subsequently staged by the troupe.
