Nosrat Karimi

Nosrat Karimi (‎; 22 December 1924 – 3 December 2019) was an Iranian actor, director, make-up artist, professor, scriptwriter, and sculptor. His career spanned six decades. He was perhaps best known for his role as Agha Joon in My Uncle Napoleon and The Carriage Driver. Career After finishing elementary school, Karimi attended the German Polytechnic Institute. He then registered at the only drama school existing at that time in Tehran. There from 1938 to 1941 he studied dramatic art, the art of make-up and stage design. In 1940, Karimi worked as actor, make-up artist, and as stage designer in various Tehran theaters. At the beginning of 1953, Karimi travelled to Europe in order to complete his art degrees. In Rome, where he spent the first months of his stay, he became acquainted with famous Italian film directors Luchino Visconti and Vittorio De Sica. The neo-realistic films of De Sica ("The Bicycle Thief", "Miracle in Milan "... ) made an impression on him. After approximately six months, Karimi traveled to Vienna and finally to Prague. There he studied film direction and TV production, specializing in puppet and animation movies. His most important teacher at The Academy of Arts in Prague was Karel Zeman, the famous Czech animation artist. After Prague, he returned to Rome and stayed there for three years. He worked as assistant director for Vittorio De Sica, performed on the stage, appeared in musicals and dubbed a number of Italian movies for distribution in Iran.