Farrokhlagha Houshmand

Farrokhlagha Houshmand — Biography

Mothers and older relatives were the parts that made Iranian actress Farrokhlagha Houshmand, born Farrokh Lagha Poursol, best known in cinema and television. She became famous as Nene Agha, the mother of the character Samad. She worked in theatre, film and television, appeared in more than seventy films and died on 13 July 2009.

She was born in Rasht; her father was one of the founders of the Rasht Theatre, and she began studying acting there as a child. In 1945 she moved on to formal training at an acting academy and appeared at the Gilan Theatre. Her first film was the 1957 Ladder of Progress, about a taxi driver who climbs the social ladder after being mistaken for a wealthy accountant. In the 1960s she played in films such as Night of the Hunchback, and her filmography also includes Ali Hatami's Khastegar and Bahram Beyzai's Kalagh.

In 1966 she moved into television with a live programme on National Iranian Television. From 1967 to 1970 she played Nene Agha in the series Sarkar Ostvar, the precursor of the Samad franchise, and she continued the character in the Samad television series of the following years, besides appearing in the Samad films. Later she appeared in films such as Mina and Goncheh, Bashu, the Little Stranger, The Silent Hunt and Dear Wednesday, and, toward the end of her career, in the 2001 series The Lamp of Magic.