Abderrahim Tounsi, figure of Moroccan humor, died on the night of Sunday to Monday at his home in Casablanca, at the age of 86. This was announced by the union of theater professionals to the Moroccan press agency MAP.
According to Observer from Morocco, the one nicknamed by the public Abderraouf died after a long heart disease. He had been admitted to the Cheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nayhan hospital in Casablanca two months ago for discomfort.
“Best Moroccan humorist of the 20th century”
Born in 1936, Abderrahim Tounsi enjoyed success in the 1960s creating the character of Abderraouf, with whom he would become inseparable. Morocco Weekly describes a hilarious and simple character, who has become so popular that he has crossed generations and that his name is now used in everyday language to describe a naive person.
The Moroccan media also evoke a politically committed personality: even according to Observer from MoroccoAbderrahim Tounsi was jailed for a year in the early 1950s for supporting the movement against the French and Spanish protectorates. The morning reports that it was during his year behind bars that he would have discovered his passion for the theater.
Abderrahim Tounsi’s career has also led him to the cinema, according to the Moroccan media Releasewith movies like Driver, majid Y Ba Larbi’s bicycle. He was named the best Moroccan humorist of the 20th century by the Antwerp Nights of Arab Humor Foundation in 2011.
Source: BFM TV
