Omid Djalili

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

113

Gender

Male

Birthday

1965-09-30 (60 years old)

Place of Birth

Chelsea, London, England, UK

Omid Djalili

Biography

Omid Djalili is a British stand-up comedian, actor, television producer and writer. Djalili was born on 30 September 1965 in St Mary Abbots Hospital in Kensington, London, to Iranian Baháʼí parents Ahmad and Parvaneh Djalili. His parents emigrated from Tehran to London in 1958. He has a brother and sister. His mother was a dressmaker who at one point assisted Iranian singer Googoosh. His father was a liaison officer at the Iranian embassy in which he would provide medical assistance. He was also a photographer whose pictures ended up in the newspaper Kayhan. He attended Holland Park School where he failed A-level exams a record six times and faked his results to gain entry to Ulster University in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, studying English and theatre studies having been turned down by 16 drama schools. Djalili cited Jack Lemmon, Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and Julia Roberts as influences. The first significant success of his stand-up comedy career was at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1995 with "Short, Fat Kebab Shop Owner's Son", followed by "The Arab and the Jew" with Jewish comedian Ivor Dembina in 1996. Djalili has appeared in a number of films, most notably Gladiator, The Mummy, Mean Machine, The World Is Not Enough, Alien Autopsy, Spy Game, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Grow Your Own, Notting Hill, Mr Nice, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, Sex and the City 2 and provides his voice in Over the Hedge. He has observed that he usually appears as a generic Middle Eastern background character in many of these films, often commenting that he appears in the James Bond film as the "Second Azerbaijani oil pipe attendant". He appeared as Nasim in 22 episodes of the U.S. sitcom Whoopi, starring Whoopi Goldberg, and picked up an international film award for Best Supporting Actor in Casanova, starring alongside Heath Ledger and Jeremy Irons. Djalili has won awards for his comedy. These include the EMMA Award, Time Out Award, and LWT Comedy Award for Best Stand-up Comedian, Spirit of the Fringe Award as well as the One World Media Award for his Channel 4 documentary, Bloody Foreigners. He has also been nominated for awards, such as the Perrier Award for Best Comedian, the Gemini Award for Best Comedy Performance of 2003, the South Bank Award for Best Comedy of 2003, the Royal Television Society Award for Best Stand-up, and the European TV Award for his Bloody Foreigners.

Known For

  • Midsomer Murders

    Midsomer Murders

  • The Bad Guys 2

    The Bad Guys 2

  • The Graham Norton Show

    The Graham Norton Show

  • The One Show

    The One Show

  • The One Show

    The One Show

  • Top Gear

    Top Gear

  • Have I Got News for You

    Have I Got News for You

  • Have I Got News for You

    Have I Got News for You

  • Late Night with Conan O'Brien

    Late Night with Conan O'Brien

  • Never Mind the Buzzcocks

    Never Mind the Buzzcocks

  • Have I Got a Bit More News for You

    Have I Got a Bit More News for You

  • Gladiator

    Gladiator

  • GMTV

    GMTV

  • Question Time

    Question Time

  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

    Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

  • Deep Cover

    Deep Cover

  • Relic Hunter

    Relic Hunter

  • His Dark Materials

    His Dark Materials

  • Would I Lie to You?

    Would I Lie to You?

  • The Mummy

    The Mummy

  • Michael McIntyre's The Wheel

    Michael McIntyre's The Wheel

  • Notting Hill

    Notting Hill

  • Room 101

    Room 101

  • Beat the Chasers

    Beat the Chasers

  • Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law

    Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law

  • Over the Hedge

    Over the Hedge

  • The Ruth Rendell Mysteries

    The Ruth Rendell Mysteries

  • Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

    Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

  • Mean Machine

    Mean Machine

  • Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled

    Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled

  • Journey to Bethlehem

    Journey to Bethlehem

  • The World Is Not Enough

    The World Is Not Enough

  • Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

    Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow

  • The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

    The Nutcracker and the Four Realms

  • Black Books

    Black Books

  • Celebrity Mastermind

    Celebrity Mastermind

  • The Love Guru

    The Love Guru

  • Cold War Steve Meets the Outside World

    Cold War Steve Meets the Outside World

  • Love Again

    Love Again

  • The Comedian's Guide to Survival

    The Comedian's Guide to Survival

  • Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

    Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

  • Sex and the City 2

    Sex and the City 2

  • One Night Stand

    One Night Stand

  • Anita and Me

    Anita and Me

  • Lock, Stock...

    Lock, Stock...

  • Blankety Blank

    Blankety Blank

  • Whoopi

    Whoopi

  • Tomorrow Morning

    Tomorrow Morning

  • Insert Name Here

    Insert Name Here

  • In Your Dreams

    In Your Dreams

  • A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman

    A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman

  • Modigliani

    Modigliani

  • Spy Game

    Spy Game

  • Live at the Apollo

    Live at the Apollo

  • The Secret Policeman's Ball: The Ball in the Hall

    The Secret Policeman's Ball: The Ball in the Hall

  • Jason and the Argonauts

    Jason and the Argonauts

  • Dickensian

    Dickensian

  • The Michael Ball Show

    The Michael Ball Show

  • Les Dawson Lost Tapes

    Les Dawson Lost Tapes

  • Kate Garraway's Life Stories

    Kate Garraway's Life Stories

  • Mad Cows

    Mad Cows

  • Alien Autopsy

    Alien Autopsy

  • Coming Soon

    Coming Soon

  • Shaun the Sheep Movie

    Shaun the Sheep Movie

  • Deadlines

    Deadlines

  • Let's Dance for Sport Relief

    Let's Dance for Sport Relief

  • New Town

    New Town

  • Cinema Iran

    Cinema Iran

  • Casanova

    Casanova

  • The Great Sport Relief Bake Off

    The Great Sport Relief Bake Off

  • The Change

    The Change

  • Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism

    Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism

  • Dinotopia 2: The Temptation

    Dinotopia 2: The Temptation

  • Mr. Nice

    Mr. Nice

  • Dead Man Running

    Dead Man Running

  • Comedy World Cup

    Comedy World Cup

  • Headcases

    Headcases

  • My Family and Other Animals

    My Family and Other Animals

  • The Paul Reiser Show

    The Paul Reiser Show

  • Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive

    Rob Brydon's Annually Retentive

  • The Calcium Kid

    The Calcium Kid

  • All the Queen's Horses with Alan Titchmarsh

    All the Queen's Horses with Alan Titchmarsh

  • Dying Laughing

    Dying Laughing

  • The Omid Djalili Show

    The Omid Djalili Show

  • Retrospective

    Retrospective

  • TV Heaven, Telly Hell

    TV Heaven, Telly Hell

  • We Are Most Amused and Amazed

    We Are Most Amused and Amazed

  • Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round

    Alexei Sayle's Merry-Go-Round

  • We Are Most Amused

    We Are Most Amused

  • Grow Your Own

    Grow Your Own

  • Coming Soon

    Coming Soon

  • Going Forward

    Going Forward

  • Dinotopia 4: New Horizons

    Dinotopia 4: New Horizons

  • The Infidel

    The Infidel

  • Dinotopia 5: The Virus

    Dinotopia 5: The Virus

  • Winning Combination

    Winning Combination

  • Dinotopia 6: The Exit

    Dinotopia 6: The Exit

  • Big Fat Gypsy Gangster

    Big Fat Gypsy Gangster

  • Dinotopia 3: The Election

    Dinotopia 3: The Election

  • Britney

    Britney

  • Comic Aid

    Comic Aid

  • Just Like Us

    Just Like Us

  • Omid Djalili: Live in London

    Omid Djalili: Live in London

  • Christmas Comedy Club with Lost Voice Guy

    Christmas Comedy Club with Lost Voice Guy

  • The Egyptian Job

    The Egyptian Job

  • Dinotopia

    Dinotopia

  • Chopratown

    Chopratown

  • One-Night Stand: Omid Djalili

    One-Night Stand: Omid Djalili

  • The Way Out

    The Way Out

  • Omid Djalili: Tour of Duty

    Omid Djalili: Tour of Duty

  • Performance Live: The Way Out

    Performance Live: The Way Out

  • World's Greatest Stand Up: Volume One

    World's Greatest Stand Up: Volume One

  • Omid Djalili: No Agenda

    Omid Djalili: No Agenda