SAEED JAFFREY. Born in Maler Kotla, India, 1929. Attended the University of Allahabad, MA in history; Staff Training Institute, All India Radio; Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, 1956; Catholic University, Washington, D.C., 1956-57, MA. in drama; Actors' Studio, New York. Married: Madhur (divorced); three children. Radio director, All India Radio, 1951- 56; began stage career in India as founder, Unity Theatre, New Delhi, 1951-56, as actor, 1954; performed with his own company in U.S. tour of Shakespeare, 1957; various stage performances and tours, 1960s; director of publicity and advertising, Government of India Tourist Office, U.S., 1958-60; began U.S. television career with guest appearances, 1960s; began film career in The Guru, 1969, numerous film performances, including roles in Gandhi, 1982, A Passage to India, 1984, and My Beautiful Laundrette, 1986. Member: Actors' Equity Association; Screen Actors Guild; American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

TELEVISION

1975-76         Gangsters
1985              Tandoori Nights
1994              Little Napoleans

TELEVISION MINISERIES

1984             The Far Pavilions
1984             The Jewel in the Crown

MADE-FOR-TELEVISION MOVIES

1979              The Last Giraffe

FILMS

The Guru, 1969; The Horsemen, 1971; The Man Who Would Be King, 1975; The Wilby Conspiracy, 1975; The Chess Players, 1977; Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures; 1979; Sphinx, 1981; Gandhi, 1982; The Courtesans of Bombay (documentary), 1982; Pandit Nehru (narrator), 1982; Masoom, 1983; A Passage to India, 1984; The Razor's Edge, 1984; My Beautiful Laundrette, 1986; The Deceivers, 1988; Just Ask for Diamond, 1988; Partition, 1988; Manika, 1988; Dil, 1990; Masala, 1991; Bollywood 1994; Kartavya, 1995.

STAGE

Othello, The Firstborn, A Phoenix Too Frequent, Under Milk Wood, Auto-Da-Fe, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Cocktail Party, and Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (All With Repertory Company, Unity Theatre, New Delhi, India 1951-56); The Eagle Has Two Heads, 1954; Blood Wedding; 1958; Twelth Night; 1960; King of the Dark Chamber, 1961; India: A Dancer's Pilgrimage, 1961; A Passage to India, 1962; A Tenth of an Inch Makes the Difference, 1962; Nathan Weinstein, Mystic Connecticut; 1966; Captain Brassbound's Conversion, 1971.

Saeed Jaffrcy is one of Britain's best known and most experienced actors, playing a wide variety of roles in comedy and drama with equal enthusiasm. He started his performing career in India, setting up his own English theatre company in Delhi after completing his post-graduate degree in history. His early theatrical work included roles in produc-tions of Tennessee Williams, Fry, Priesdy, Wilde, and Shakes-peare. Having completed his studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, he went to the United States on a Fuibright scholarship and took a second post-graduate degree in drama from the Catholic University in America. From these firm foundationsJaffree set out as the first Indian actor to tour Shakespeare, taking his company across the United States and subsequendy joining the Actor's Studio in New York, where he played the lead in off-Broadway productions of Lorca's Blood Wedding, Rashomon, and Twelfth Night. Jaifrey is an accomplished stage actor and has appeared on Broadway and at London's West End in a diverse range of characterisations.

His work in television has been just as varied. He appeared as Jimmy Sharma in Channel 4's first "Asian" comedy, Tana'oori Nights and as the elegiac Nawah in Gra-nada Television's adaptation of The Jewel in the Crown. It was arguably his performance as the smooth Rafiq in the BBC cult-classic Gangsters that brought him to national recognition, even though he had been acting in both theatre and television for several years previously.

In some ways, Jaifrey's character types have been broadly similar and, like Clint Eastwood, he always plays himself playing a character. His impeccable English accent, his dapper style and his catch-phrases-"My dear boy"-are part of his acting persona. His smooth charm is used to good effect whether he plays the archetypal oily, corrupt Asian businessman or the kindly, knowing father figure. In 1994 he co-starred with Norman Beaton in Michael Abbensett's new TV series, Little Napokons, for Channel 4, playing once again a successful lawyer-cashmere coats, flashy car, doting daughter-who wants political as well as economic power.

Jaffrey's career has spanned several decades and it is still unfortunately the case that he is one of a handful of Indian actors who is regularly in employment, be it for radio, television, or the stage. Although this is good news for him, his prodigious success and his ability to talk the right lan-guage means that he is a hard act to follow for younger talent trying to penetrate a hard-faced industry.

-Karen Ross