TEHRAN -- Veteran actor Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz has been honored by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with the First Grade Order of Art and Culture.
“In appreciation of your merit and the efforts you have made in the elevation of the nation’s art and your long service to the Islamic Republic of Iran, you are honored with the First Grade Order of Art and Culture,” Ahmadinejad wrote in a mandate published by the Presidential Office on Saturday.
“I was informed about this news by some calls I had received from my friends,” Keshavarz told the Persian service of ISNA.
“I am happy and very grateful to all the people of Iran,” he added.
Keshavarz, 82, is currently at home to convalesce after an operation he had on his leg several months ago.
Keshavarz made his stage acting debut with “Much Ballyhoo for Nothing” in 1948. “Night of the Hunchback” directed by Farrokh Ghaffari in 1964 is his screen debut.
He has appeared in many films directed by Ali Hatami, Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and several other outstanding filmmakers.
He has acted in Hatami’s “Mother”, “Kamalolmolk”, “Delshodegan” and “Hezar-Dastan”.
He also starred in Kiarostami’s “Through the Olive Trees” and Makhmalbaf’s “Once Upon a Time, Cinema”.
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