RIP Hani ar-Romani

Hani ar-Romani هاني الروماني [Picture] was always on Syrian TV in some Syrian series or another for as long as I can remember. The announcement came out from the Syrian capital today that he just died. Here is an English translation of the short news report about this that appeared in Arabic in the Syrian newspaper, Tishreen:

Syrian actor and director Hani ar-Romani died this morning at the age of 70

Syrian actor and director Hani ar-Romani died this morning at the al-Assad University Hospital [in Damascus] at the age of 70.

Emergency Medicine physician Dr. Bashir Khankan told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) that ar-Romani died in the hospital at 10:45 AM after he was transported there for cardiopulmonary arrest related to a chronic pulmonary disease.

ar-Romani, who was born in Damascus in 1939, was a veteran actor and director who had a long career dating back to the days when television and cinematic work first started in Syria. At one point, he was also a member of the Syrian Parliament.

Mr. ar-Romani made big contributions during his long artistic career, including many television series and TV and cinematic films, starting with the TV series As'ad al-Warraq in 1975, and ending with a new version of the same series, which has not been shown yet.