Parviz Sayyad
Parviz Sayyad (Persian: پرویز صیاد) was born on 22 March 1939 in Lahijan, Iran. He is an Iranian actor, director, translator and screenwriter. He studied at the University of Tehran and later earned a PhD from the City University of New York.
Sayyad became one of Iran’s first television stars in the 1960s, acting in plays adapted for TV and in Amir Arsalan, one of the early Iranian TV programs. His first film, the comedy Hasan Kachal (Hasan the Bald), came out in 1970. He rose to fame as Samad in the TV series Sarkar Ostvar, and in the popular Samad films, where the character became a beloved comedic figure in 1970s Iran. He also played Asdollah Mirza in My Uncle Napoleon. In 1977 his dramatic film Dead End was shown at the Moscow International Film Festival.
After the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Sayyad moved to the United States, where he continued to act, write, direct and produce. In 1983 he directed and starred in The Mission (Ferestadeh); the film was shown at the Berlin Film Festival and won the Jury Grand Prize at Locarno.
He is married to Parvin Sayyad and they have two children. His career spans acting, directing, writing and translating, and he has remained active since the 1970s.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 02:35 (CET).