TEHRAN -- Reza Arham-Sadr, considered to be the master of critical comedy performances in Isfahan, died at his home in the historical city.

He was one of the pioneers of theatrical performance in Isfahan.
For his last performance, he appeared in “Arham-Sadr Becomes President”, a comedy that was staged for 44 nights in the United States and Canada in 2005.
Born in Isfahan, Arham-Sadr studied Persian literature at Isfahan University. He learned the theater empirically. He was retired from a career with an insurance company.
His skill in theatrical performance was discovered by his mathematics teacher when he was a high school student, he once said in an interview with ISNA in 2005.
The teacher later became his father in-law.
Arham-Sadr began his career with school performances in 1947. Then, he was invited by the founder of the Isfahan Theater, Nasser Farahmand, whom Arham-Sadr considered as his master to take part in performances staged by his troupe.
After a short time, he found playing simple comedy performances boring as he was being type cast as a clown and a wisecracking jestor.
So, he decided to spice up his performances with social criticism.
“The Dodgy Friend”, “The Turkeys”, “Which One of the Two”, “The Clowns”, “Out”, and “Talker out of Turn” are among the great number of plays in which he acted.
Starring in “A Party in Hell,” directed by Samuel Khachikian and Mushegh Soruri in 1956, he first experienced cinema.
Afterward, he appeared in “Ali, the Shoe Shiner”, “A Star Twinkled”, “The Woman and Her Dolls”, “The Pasteurized Spouse”, and several other films. He previously staged “Mr. Teacher” and “Proposal” in some European countries and the United States.
However, the cinema could not satisfy him.
“I received many proposals from filmmakers, but I responded to them saying that I have not been made for cinema,” once he said.
After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, he was not allowed to act in some of his pre-revolution roles, then considered below the dignity of the art by the new Iranian cultural officials.
In 1985, he got a permit to play in Ali Hatami’s comedy “Jafar Khan Has Returned from Europe” and Mohammad-Ali Najafi’s “The Legend of the Azure City”, the latter of which was banned for its Sama performance.
Leaving Iran to travel to the United States for heart surgery in 2005, he rejected Reza Attaran’s proposal for playing in “Aqaqia Alley”, a comedy TV series for IRIB.
He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and a son.