Art Malik
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| Art Malik | |
|---|---|
| Born | Athar Ul-Haque Malik 13 November 1952 Bahawalpur, Pakistan |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Spouse(s) | Gina Rowe (1980-present) |
| Children | Jessica and Keira |
Art Malik (born 13 November 1952) is a Pakistani-born British actor who achieved international fame in the 1980s through his starring and subsidiary roles in assorted British and Merchant-Ivory television serials and films. He is especially remembered as the doomed Hari Kumar in The Jewel in the Crown at the outset of his career.
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Early life[edit]
Malik was born Athar Ul-Haque Malik in Bahawalpur, West Punjab, Pakistan, the son of Zaibunisa and Mazhar Ul-Haque Malik, a physician who would soon qualify as an ophthalmic surgeon in Britain.[1] Malik was thus brought to London in 1956 with his four older brothers. At age 10 he was sent to school in Quetta, Balochistan for one year, and then Bec Grammar School, a selective state school in Upper Tooting, London.
Malik is mildly dyslexic and found academic studies trying; after an unsatisfactory stint of business studies and a term studying acting at the Questors Theatre, he won a scholarship to Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Before long, he was working with the Old Vic and Royal Shakespeare companies, where he played the title role in the Shakespeare play Othello.
Career[edit]
In 1982, five years after leaving the Guildhall, Malik was cast as the doomed young Indian Hari Kumar in the ITV production of The Jewel in the Crown, based on Paul Scott's Raj Quartet. During filming, David Lean cast him in his film production of A Passage to India; the two high profile and successful productions assuring his professional future. He also appeared in a television serialisation of M.M. Kaye's The Far Pavilions. All three were released in 1984. In 1986 he played in the film The Harem with Omar Sharif and Nancy Travis.
In 1985, Malik played Julius Court, in "The Black Tower" by PD James (Anglia Television).
Malik has been closely associated with Tom Stoppard's play Indian Ink, creating the role of Narid in the work's London premiere, and returning to the role for the 1999 American premiere at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater.
Malik appeared as Shamy, an Anglo-Indian petty criminal and con-man in "What Makes Shamy Run?", an episode of the British television series Minder.
He played the role of the son of an Indian mobster in the 1992 film City of Joy. He played an art professor in the 1994 film Uncovered. Malik also played the villain Salim Abu Aziz opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies (1994). Additionally, he played Orpheus of the Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice in a second season episode of The Storyteller, directed by Jim Henson.
He made a move to American television in 1988 playing Dr. Ved Lahari on the ABC series Hothouse. He had a major role as an Afghani mujahadeen ally of James Bond in the film The Living Daylights (1987). He also played the role of Ramzi Ahmed Yousef in Path to Paradise, a 1997 made-for-TV film about the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. In 1998, he starred in Catherine Cookson's Colourblind.
In 2000, he appeared in the Mystery Theatre series Second Sight, starring Clive Owen as a detective who is losing his vision. Malik appears in the "Hide and Seek" episode as Dr. Faiz Ahmed, the accused murderer of his lover, a violinist named Vicky Inghams (Helen Hathorn).
In 2001, he narrated the television documentary Hajj: The Journey of a Lifetime for British television. He played Mr Zubin Khan in the BBC hospital drama Holby City from 2003 to 2005. Also in 2005 he starred in a television adaptation of the novel The English Harem as Sam, a West London Muslim who owns a restaurant. Martine McCutcheon plays a young working class girl, Tracy, who—against the wishes of her parents and racist ex-boyfriend—becomes one of his three wives.
Malik had a supporting role in the 2010 film, The Wolfman. He also appeared in the 2010 and 2012 series of Upstairs Downstairs as Mr Amanjit Singh, secretary to Lady Holland. In 2011-2013, he played the role of Francesco Gacet in the television series Borgia, directed by Tom Fontana.
Personal life[edit]
Malik took a major role in fundraising for relief work for victims of the Gujarat earthquake in 2001, and also appeared on the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal advertisement in 2010. He lives with his wife Gina Rowe, a fellow student at the Guildhall, and whom he married in 1980. They have two daughters, Jessica and Keira.
References[edit]
External links[edit]
- Art Malik at the Internet Movie Database
- Art Malik at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
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