TEHRAN – Iranian dubber Hossein Erfani who lent his voice to many leading actors of the world cinema such as Humphrey Bogart, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L. Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone died of lung cancer at a Tehran hospital on Wednesday. He was 76.

Erfani began his career at the Moulin Rouge Studio in Tehran at 19, dubbing minor characters in foreign films. 

He also voiced characters played by Iranian actors such as Jamshid Hashempur, Akbar Abdi, Mohammad Moti and Kazem Afrandnia when all Iranian films used to be dubbed.

He soon progressed to directing many dubbing groups and sometimes he voiced several characters in a film. All seven characters played by German actor Dieter Hallervorden in “Nonstop Trouble with the Family” were voiced by Erfani.

Erfani also began an acting career in 1974, playing a role in “Bitter and Sweet”, a popular TV series directed by Mansur Purmand. 

He played his last role in Mohammad Rahmanian’s 2016 drama “Bench Cinema”.

He is survived by his wife Shahla Nazerian, who is a veteran dubber, and daughters Mahsa and Rasta.

They also worked with actor and director Manuchehr Nozari in “Friday Morning with You” and many other radio programs.

Photo: Iranian voice actor Hossein Erfani in an undated photo
 
MMS/YAW