Ismail Yassine

Ismail Yassine had a difficult childhood in Suez where he was born. His mother died at an early age and his father was jailed thus forcing him to leave school before completing his primary education. He worked as a parking valet to support himself.

He started his career as a monologue singer and headed for Cairo after Abo El Seoud El Ebiary, the comic screenwriter and his best friend and life partner had discovered him and had helped him to join Badi'a Masabny's troupe. His break into the movie industry came when Fouad El-Gazaery gave him his first role in the movie "Khalf El-Habayeb" in 1939. He later joined Ali El-Kassar's troupe and started to gain widespread recognition eventually becoming one of the most popular stars in the Arab world. A record 15 movies used his name in their titles to capitalize on his fame, most of them were written by Abo El Seoud El Ebiary.

He was widely known for manipulation of his facial expressions and often made fun of his 'large mouth' in his films. His trademark gimmick was to act terrified bringing his wobbling knees together, stretching his shaking arms in front of him, stammering silently, and suddenly snapping out of his panic with a loud inhalation of air. In the 1960s his health began to deteriorate. He moved to Lebanon where he participated in a number of films, and later when he returned to Egypt he was heavily in debt. He died of a heart attack in 1972. His son, Yassine Ismail Yassine, is also a famous Egyptian film director.

After a military regime took over in the 1952 revolution, another conscription narrative was swiftly established. From 1955 to 1959, Ismail Yassin, who had made numerous films with his name in the title, released five films as light propaganda for the army, e.g., Ismail Yassine fil-Geish (Ismail Yassine In the Army) in 1955.

A Google Doodle on 15 September 2011 commemorated Yasin's 96th birth anniversary.[1]

• 1973 Essabet el Nissae
• 1969 Easabat Al'nisa
• 1963 El majanin fi naim
• 1962 Malek el petrol
• 1961 Ismail Yassine fil sijn
• 1960 Hamati malak
• 1960 Shar assal basal
• 1960 Fanous el Sehry
• 1959 El ataba el khadra
• 1959 Ismail Yassine bolis harbi
• 1959 Ismail Yassine fil tayyaran
• 1959 Ismail Yassine lal baie
• 1959 Lokandet el mofagaat
• 1959 Rehla ilal kamar
• 1959 Hassan wa Marika
• 1958 Bahbah effendi
• 1958 Ismail Yasseen fi mostashfet al-maganin
• 1958 Ismail Yassine fil Dimashq
• 1958 Ismail Yassine fil ustul
• 1958 Ismail Yassine Tarazane
• 1957 El kommissariate el fatenate
• 1957 Ibn Hamidu
• 1957 Ismail Yassine fi janainit al haiwanat
• 1957 Ismail Yassine fil madhaf el shami
• 1956 Ismail Yassine fil bolis
• 1956 Sahibat el azama
• 1956 Al-mufattish al-aam
• 1955 Ismail Yassine fil geish
• 1955 Ismail Yassine yukabel Raya wa Sekina
• 1954 Beyt al Taa
• 1954 El anessa Hanafi
• 1954 El dunia lamma tidhak
• 1954 El hamawat el fatenat
• 1954 El liss el sharif
• 1954 El zulum haram
• 1954 Fail kheir
• 1954 Ismail Yassin Meets Frankenstein
• 1954 Kidbet April
• 1954 Lahn hubi
• 1954 Mughammarat Ismail Yassine
• 1954 Nachala hanem
• 1954 El sittat maarfoush yiktibu
• 1954 Afritet Ismail Yassine
• 1953 Bayn kalbain
• 1953 Bint el akaber
• 1953 Dahab
• 1953 Halal alayk
• 1953 Kalimat el hak
• 1952 Al-hawa maluush dawa
• 1952 Beit el nattash
• 1952 Hamati kombola zorria
• 1952 Katr el nada
• 1952 Min aina laka haza?
• 1952 Mismar Goha
• 1952 Soultanat al-sahra
• 1952 El saada el muharrama
• 1952 El muntasir
• 1951 El moallem Bulbul
• 1951 Fil hawa sawa
• 1951 Habibi katir
• 1951 Taa la salim
• 1950 Akbal el bakari
• 1950 Felfel
• 1950 Habibti Susu
• 1950 Sibuni aghani
• 1950 Sitt al hosn
• 1950 Akher kedba
• 1949 Agaza fel gahannam
• 1949 Ahebbak inta
• 1949 El nasseh
• 1949 Gawaher
• 1949 Sahibat el malilim
• 1949 Shari al-bahlawan
• 1949 Little Miss Devil
• 1949 Kalam el naas
• 1948 Khulud
• 1948 Ibn el fellah
• 1947 Al-sittat afarit
• 1947 Habib al omr
• 1946 Bolbol effendi
• 1945 Al-bani adam
• 1944 Naduga
• 1944 Tahia el sittat
• 1942 Ali Baba wa al arbain harame

• List of Egyptian films of the 1960s
• List of Egyptians

• Ismail Yassine at IMDb 
• Ismail Yasin at ElCinema.com (Arabic)